tharmsen
19th of October 2010 (Tue), 12:44
I bought a G12 last night to replace my G11. I thought I would share my initial thoughts.
http://www.intempusphotography.com/photos/1054754245_eFSNn-L.jpg
The first thing I noticed was that the G12 had a slightly rougher texture to it whereas the G11 felt more "slick". Aside from this minor change, the feel of the two cameras is identical.
I also notice a few minor ergonomic changes such as rounded corners and a new thumb rest for the shooting hand, which I find particularly useful after using it. There is also a small pictogram change on the delete button. The G12 is on the left, and the G11 is on the right.
http://www.intempusphotography.com/photos/1054949339_PSvhf-L.jpg
One of the more useful functional changes is the ability to make 1/3 stop settings to ISO now. You can see the changes to the top dial that reflect the new 1/3 stop increments. You can also see, if you look closely, the stereo mics for shooting HD video (on either side of the hotshoe). I'm assuming that's what these are anyway.
http://www.intempusphotography.com/photos/1054957545_8ABWM-L.jpg
The G12 has some cool new features such as the artificial horizon to make sure you're shots aren't cock-eyed and also a new HDR capability. The HDR system works reasonably well, it's not over done however it does require the use of a tripod since the 3 shots that it takes are relatively slow which makes doing it handheld nearly impossible.
The video is nice although once again we're not able to focus in realtime while shooting the video. You must first lock focus then start shooting. If you zoom (yes, you can zoom) or if the subject moves, it will go out of focus. Nikon seems to have figured out how to do AF in video with their P7000, so why Canon is playing tail-end Sally on this one I'm not sure.
The image quality is identical to the G11. The shutter lag, start-up time, etc. are all identical to the G11.
The new wheel on the front of the case is probably the most useful for me. I really like being able to adjust Av and Tv independently without having to use a button to reassign the task to a single thumb wheel. It speeds up those critical adjustments when shooting in a non-auto mode.
Is it worth the cost of upgrading? Honestly, it probably isn't. I loved my G11 and I still love my G12. It's a little easier to use and it adds some cool new features... plus the video being kind of flaky isn't much of an issue for me. I don't do a whole lot of video shooting anyway.
http://www.intempusphotography.com/photos/1054754245_eFSNn-L.jpg
The first thing I noticed was that the G12 had a slightly rougher texture to it whereas the G11 felt more "slick". Aside from this minor change, the feel of the two cameras is identical.
I also notice a few minor ergonomic changes such as rounded corners and a new thumb rest for the shooting hand, which I find particularly useful after using it. There is also a small pictogram change on the delete button. The G12 is on the left, and the G11 is on the right.
http://www.intempusphotography.com/photos/1054949339_PSvhf-L.jpg
One of the more useful functional changes is the ability to make 1/3 stop settings to ISO now. You can see the changes to the top dial that reflect the new 1/3 stop increments. You can also see, if you look closely, the stereo mics for shooting HD video (on either side of the hotshoe). I'm assuming that's what these are anyway.
http://www.intempusphotography.com/photos/1054957545_8ABWM-L.jpg
The G12 has some cool new features such as the artificial horizon to make sure you're shots aren't cock-eyed and also a new HDR capability. The HDR system works reasonably well, it's not over done however it does require the use of a tripod since the 3 shots that it takes are relatively slow which makes doing it handheld nearly impossible.
The video is nice although once again we're not able to focus in realtime while shooting the video. You must first lock focus then start shooting. If you zoom (yes, you can zoom) or if the subject moves, it will go out of focus. Nikon seems to have figured out how to do AF in video with their P7000, so why Canon is playing tail-end Sally on this one I'm not sure.
The image quality is identical to the G11. The shutter lag, start-up time, etc. are all identical to the G11.
The new wheel on the front of the case is probably the most useful for me. I really like being able to adjust Av and Tv independently without having to use a button to reassign the task to a single thumb wheel. It speeds up those critical adjustments when shooting in a non-auto mode.
Is it worth the cost of upgrading? Honestly, it probably isn't. I loved my G11 and I still love my G12. It's a little easier to use and it adds some cool new features... plus the video being kind of flaky isn't much of an issue for me. I don't do a whole lot of video shooting anyway.