Replace my G1 with a G3?

[Charlie Schumacher]

I'm itching to upgrade my G1 and want to know if photos taken with a G3 would be a noticible improvement.

My quibbles with the G1 are the autofocus (often my subjects are soft and the more contrasty backgrounds are crisp... even with spot focus)... and washed-out subjects using a 420EX (bounced, different settings, distance, it doesn't matter too much!).

Have these things improved with the G3, or are they inherant to digital cameras?

Your thoughts are appreciated!
Charlie

[ScottGregory]

Charlie:

I can't speak for the G1>G3 upgrade, but can from the G2>G3 standpoint.
I have found that I do find the pictures from the G3 a bit sharper, and assume that this may come from the digic processing improvement. But in most case I can't see a really big difference.
The G3 certainly seems faster to operate as far as startup, picture taking and recording of the scene. But probably in milliseconds, so I don't know if that aspect is really too important.
What I really like is the fact that a lot of the settings can now be used across the program functions and not just in one or two as is the case with the G2.
Buy it and I'm sure you will love this camera as I and so many other users do. It is fantastic for the price.

[rrosener]

They're both great cameras....but I'd wait for Canon's next Powershot G4. You're not going to see that big of a jump from the G1 to G2, or even the G3. The G1 still does some really cool things, like shoot infrared! in fact, when you do upgrade, please contact me and I'll make a fair offer on your G1. Until then, happy shooting!

[Charlie Schumacher]

I'll be interested to hear specifics about the G4. The prices on the G3 are really dropping, though! About that fair offer... hmmm. Need a B-300 to go with it?

Hehe.

Charlie

[astro]

I smell a bidding war!!!!

[PacAce]

Charlie Schumacher wrote:
I'll be interested to hear specifics about the G4. The prices on the G3 are really dropping, though! About that fair offer... hmmm. Need a B-300 to go with it?

Hehe.

Charlie

If I were to venture an educated guess, I'd say take a look at the S50 and then add all the advanced features of the G3 like hot shoe, fast lens, etc. and you'll probably have a G4. But that's just my guess.

Re the G3, I guess the prices are dropping because now they're starting to sell the G3 in volume retail outlets like BestBuy.