Condensed G9 users guide

[irishman]

I wrote this out to help a friend who bought a G9 and is intimidated by the huge owners manual. If it can help anyone else, good deal.

Condensed Users Guide to Canon G9 Camera.

*This quick start guide not intended to be a substitute for the Canon manual

What’s so good about this camera compared to other point and shoot cameras:
1. High build quality (metal)
2. Bigger sensor than most other point and shoots (but still very small).
3. Allows you to shoot in RAW format for greater control over image processing.
4. Creative modes allow you to get creative with depth of field and shutter speeds.
5. Great lens.
6. Great macro function.
7. Superior image quality.
8. A lot of bells and whistles.

1. Turn the camera on:
A. For playback (view pictures already taken), push silver button on back of camera (next to blue arrow).
B. To take photo’s, push silver button on top of camera (says “ON/OFF”).

2. Decide which “mode” to use by turning “mode dial” ---biggest dial on top of camera:
A. “M”—manuel. You set shutter, aperature and everything else.
B. “Av”—Aperature priority. You set the aperature (size of opening), camera sets appropriate shutter speed. *Most pro’s use Av.
C. “P”---Camera sets Aperature and shutter speed, but you can set other things (RAW, ISO, bracketing) and change settings.
D. “Auto”---camera sets it all.
E. “SCN”---You change to different scenario’s---snow, fireworks, etc. The only thing of interest here is the “color accent” and “color swap”.
a. Color “A”ccent (“A” with a dropper)---You choose a color you want to accent (push “display” at bottom of camera, focus on color, push toggle swith at flower to set, then take photo), take the photo, and the picture will be in black and white except for the color you chose. You have probably seen a wedding photo where a picture of roses is in black and white but the flower is red.
b. Color “S”wap (“S” with a dropper)---Allows you to change to color of something. Do the same thing as color accent, with the added step of choosing a second color that you want to change the item to.
F. Panorama mode (denoted by two boxes on dial)---Allows you to take more precise panos. You can change the direction of your selections by pushing arrows.
G. Movie Mode (movie camera icon)---Allows you to take video. HD is 1024, standard is VGA. Standard takes less card space. You can’t zoom in this feature for some reson.
H. C1 and C2. These are custom settings that are user defined. Set your camera how you want it; i.e. for landscapes, I put f/8 aperature for good depth of field, wide angle, RAW, evaluative metering, single shot. After you set camera up, push menu button on bottom of camera, select first tab (red), go down to save settings, select destination, then push set button. *You can’t set the ISO for some reason.

3. Flash—I use the flash in “P” mode. To adjust strength, push down lightning bolt, scroll down 2, push menu. Also set to second curtain, slow synchro on.

4. To use camera as a tape recorder
a. Push playback on button.
b. Push menu at bottom of camera.
c. At first blue tab, scroll down 8 to “sound recorder”, push set.
d. Set the Khz to 11, 22, or 44. 11 is worst, 22 middle, 44 best quality. 44 takes most card space. At 11, can do two hours.
e. Push set button to begin recording.
f. On playback, make sure volume is up.

5. Lens---Zooms from 35mm to 210mm (35mm equivalent). At 35 (widest), aperature is 2.8. As you zoom out, the aperature gets smaller till it hits 4.8 at 210. You need more light zoomed out. Smallest aperature is 8.0. In macro, use the widest setting, 35mm. Allows you to get to 1 cm!

6. Pushing “SET” button allows for quick, as you need changes:
a. “White balance”. AWB (auto) does a good job most of the time. Since I shoot in RAW I keep it here most often. I can tweak it in Photoshop. It is best to use one of the presets.
b. “My Colors”. Set to OFF if you do post-processing. “Sepia” is found here.
c. Bracketing—Used in difficult exposure situations, you take 3 pictures---one at the metering, one underexposed and one overexposed. You then choose the best exposured frame. Also used for HDR shooting. You can choose how much to over/under-expose by pushing the “display” button in the bracketing mode. For HDR shooting, set it on +/-2 When bracketing, shoot in “continuous” mode and keep shutter pressed to get all three shots. Continuous is at the button of the toggle switch, just under “Set” button.
d. Flash—used for flash compensation (making it stronger or weaker).
e. Metering---set to “evaluative”, it works best 99% of the time (advanced users will know how to use spot and center).
f. Neutral density—set to off. An advanced function used to get slow shutter speeds.
g. File format---set to RAW. To get both a RAW and a JPEG, push “menu’, at first red tab, scroll down 15 to “Record RAW+L” and push “On”.

7. Brief overview of main settings in the shooting tab, the first tab (red with camera icon) when the “menu” button is pushed.
a. Both AiAF and FlexiZone or good otions here.
With camera in shooting mode, push “checkerboard” looking button, then “menu” button to switch between the types.
AIAF---uses 9 different focus points. To change the size, press checkerboard, menu, display. Set to large. Use this.
FlexiZone---Uses the center of the frame. Focus on your subject, press shutter halfway, recompose, shoot. Set to large display with the “display” button.
Face detect---Use this to keep focus on a particular person in a crowd.
b. Set “Red Eye” to on. Save you some PP time.
c. Auto ISO—set to OFF. I don’t like being overridden by the camera. I can get a still shot at very slow shutters, and I keep my ISO low on purpose.
d. ISO mode---Either “continuous” or “shoot only”.

The G9 has great image quality, provided you don’t go above ISO 400. If you have to go over 400 ISO, convert to black and white.