Good guide to using the G9?

My friend has a G9 but very little idea how to use it. Can anyone recommend a good book? I like the From Snapshots To Great Shots series, but there isn't one for the G9. I think she'd benefit from something camera-specific, rather than a general guide to photography.

I bought the Short Course book/CD when I got my G9. The PDF version is nice, since it is in color, and can be used on a desktop, laptop, smart phone, tablet, etc...

http://www.shortcourse​s.com/store/canon-g9.html

Dennis

Wife and I have?had several G9s and still have 3,,we just shot 2 family outdoor weddings and got some great pics...the manual that comes with the camera is very good...if you don,t have one??check ebay.or download one,,,Great camera... Ron

Thanks, both!

PhilD23 wrote in post #16257989
My friend has a G9 but very little idea how to use it. Can anyone recommend a good book? I like the From Snapshots To Great Shots series, but there isn't one for the G9. I think she'd benefit from something camera-specific, rather than a general guide to photography.

Have you checked out Gordon Buck's Blog?

http://lightdescriptio​n.blogspot.com/

He used the G9 a lot and has many useful insights. Go to his blog and put G9 in his search box. You might ask him if he has any good reading ideas.

Gil

I revisited the Short Courses site, and discovered they offer a free "Creative Technique Finder" for smartphones. It's a PDF file, and offers a quick reference to handling many photography situations. Your newbie friend may find it helpful for use on a smartphone, ipod touch, tablet, etc.

http://www.shortcourse​s.com …rtphone-field-guides.html

Dennis

Thanks, Dennis, Gil. I'll try the PDF and get in touch with Gordon.

+1 for the Short Course offerings.

A couple basics could be useful for someone new to point & shoot and the G9.

First of all, a steady hand.
The camera uses a 'half-press' to take focus and exposure readings. So simply this... slow down and let the half-press do its work. Do a half-press when ready, then pause/relax momentarily... then proceed to full-press, again with a steady hand. You know intuitively... 'breathe', 'relax', and all that.

Second, learn how to use the internal metering....
one way is to observe how the exposure is set --- the combination of shutter speed and lens aperture.
for example, look at the "zone" which is the trade-off between those two.
use the Asterisk
https://photography-on-the.net …946476&highligh​t=asterisk
This feature lets you see and learn what combinations of shutter & lens settings achieve nearly the same result.
Also, learn to use the histogram in the display.


Third,
Take advantage of the bracketing features... try them

whether focus bracketing or exposure bracketing. If the user studies the results and compares what works and what does not, you begin to hone your skills with the camera.

I second Carlo's suggestions. I then believe you should explore using full Manual, and learn to set shutter speed/aperture, and also ISO to find the best exposure settings for the scenes you shoot. I also am now shooting my G9 with My Colors set to Neutral, and then do quick adjustments in Picasa; one click fix for lighting, and one click fix for color (sometimes these don't work on a scene, so adjust manually). I then try a little sharpening, and then maybe some saturation. I find I can get nearly as good results from Jpegs this way as I can from a RAW file. It saves post processing time, and teaches me more about how to shoot a scene better. Shooting full Manual takes me back to the "old" film days using my Nikon F with it's built in light meter.

Dennis