G1X Capabilities

Mod edit:

hairy_moth wrote in post #16607839
The side "G1X shutter speed capabilities" discussion in the image thread was getting too far off topic, so I am answering here. This thread can be for any G1X features or short comings.

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BULB on G1X?

I Intend to buy the G1X. The question is whether there is a Bulb setting (for long exposures with ND 10 stops). Not According to the manual. Only two people on dpreview found the B setting.
http://www.dpreview.co​m/forums/post/51125121
They say:
"If you are using the rear dial to scroll through shutter speeds (in manual mode), you can scroll all the way down to the slowest speed (60 seconds) however, keep rolling past that and you should see a "B".

Can anyone confirm this?
Members Judder Man en Xhack can't confirm this (on the "G1X" page). Thanks!

I just got this for X-mas. You are correct, there is no bulb setting (at least not that I have found yet, I am still new to this camera). In M and Tv, the slowest shutter speed is 60 seconds (I don't see B when I scroll to 60"), in Av, the slowest I could get it to go was 1 second -- that seems strange.

Edit: I just searched the manual for "bulb." the only mention is on page 193: "Bulb photography (long exposures) is not supported."

hairy_moth wrote in post #16607621
I just got this for X-mas. You are correct, there is no bulb setting (at least not that I have found yet, I am still new to this camera). In M and Tv, the slowest shutter speed is 60 seconds (I don't see B when I scroll to 60"), in Av, the slowest I could get it to go was 1 second -- that seems strange.

Edit: I just searched the manual for "bulb." the only mention is on page 193: "Bulb photography (long exposures) is not supported."

This G1X user says on dpreview ...
http://www.dpreview.co​m/forums/post/51125165
... that the bulb is 2 minutes and 9 seconds ...
Are there different types of G1X, what's going on here?

Someone else says on dpreview "go all the way to the left on the shutterspeed wheel to find the "B".

The side "G1X shutter speed capabilities" discussion in the image thread was getting too far off topic, so I am answering here. This thread can be for any G1X features or short comings.

CharlesDB wrote in post #16607573
BULB on G1X?

I Intend to buy the G1X. The question is whether there is a Bulb setting (for long exposures with ND 10 stops). Not According to the manual. Only two people on dpreview found the B setting.
http://www.dpreview.co​m/forums/post/51125121
They say:
"If you are using the rear dial to scroll through shutter speeds (in manual mode), you can scroll all the way down to the slowest speed (60 seconds) however, keep rolling past that and you should see a "B".

Can anyone confirm this?
Members Judder Man en Xhack can't confirm this (on the "G1X" page). Thanks!

I just got this for X-mas. You are correct, there is no bulb setting (at least not that I have found yet, I am still new to this camera). In M and Tv, the slowest shutter speed is 60 seconds (I don't see B when I scroll to 60"), in Av, the slowest I could get it to go was 1 second -- that seems strange.

Edit: I just searched the manual for "bulb." the only mention is on page 193: "Bulb photography (long exposures) is not supported."

CharlesDB wrote in post #16607695
This G1X user says on dpreview ...
http://www.dpreview.co​m/forums/post/51125165
... that the bulb is 2 minutes and 9 seconds ...
Are there different types of G1X, what's going on here?

Someone else says on dpreview "go all the way to the left on the shutterspeed wheel to find the "B".

I am not sure what is going on there, I am not aware of different models or even different versions of the firmware. Here is an image of my LCD while setting the shutter speed. I do not see any means by which I can go beyond 60 seconds. When I try, the SS simply does not go any longer.

In the first link it says "If you are using the rear dial to scroll through shutter speeds (I was in manual mode)" I haven't seen how to do that; shutter speeds are adjusted using the front dial! I wonder if this person is really using a G1X.

Problem solved, well, more or less. "Hairy moth" is right! On dpreview they talk about ... GX1 and not the G1X. Sorry for my mistake. Thanks for thinking along!

I read those links -- I didn't notice. I guess we are both a little lexdycsic.

hairy_moth wrote in post #16608393
I read those links -- I didn't notice. I guess we are both a little lexdycsic.

Me, too, from t'other thread. Duh.

The name is a little too close to the Panasonic GX1.
Using Neutral Density filters such as ND 10 stops, often requires exposures longer than 60 seconds. I must again consider whether the fantastic GX... G1X is the right choice.

I agree, that 60 sec is a strange limitation.

I also noticed, when bracketing shots in Av mode the other day, that the SS did not go over 1 second.

Disclaimer: I am new with this camera, it might have been something I did wrong and I have not yet gone back to recreate it and/or diagnose the behavior.

I was shooting an early evening scene over a river. I bracketed my shots using the 3 shots with different exposure setting (so I only release the shutter once to get 3 shots.) I didn't notice at the time, but I was getting strange shutter time behavior, like: 1 second, 1/60 sec, 1 second where I expected: 1, 1/60, 2 (i.e., ev 0, ev -1, ev +1). I did get ones that worked properly at higher shutter speeds (e.g., 1/125, 1/250, 1/60); so I can't imagine what I might have been doing wrong.

In another group of shots, I got 3 shots, all at 1 second.

I understand not having a B setting on the dial (that costs money and it is a P&S) but a B position in software would be nice.


I was a bit disappointed to lean that it takes the RS-60E3 Remote Switch (with, what looks 2.5mm stereo jack) rather that the RS-80N3 (or TC-80N3 which I have for my 7D).

It also appears that Canon planned to not do any firmware updates: I cannot see in the screens where I can determine the firmware version number and the word "firmware" is not in the manual.

I was thinking that this was a small P&S with all of the capabilities of an entry level DSLR without the actual SLR, and though it is close to that, it is not quite. But, it is still basically what I was looking for. Knowing what I know now, I would probably still choose this camera.

I thought 60 secs was quite reasonable for a compact camera against other models which vary from 15 to 30secs, sometimes for low light if it needs more than 60 secs i usually go up to 800 ISO for noise free shots.
Usually when exposures show 1 sec shutter speed . I usually switch over to manual something I,ve always done on the DSlR to take control.
The one feature of the G1x is the Focus Bracketing to extend the depth of field, might be interesting for those semi macro shots etc.

There is of course Chdk.
Sorry for the small pic, but the size limits here prevent me from posting a larger one.
The Exif info is 102 seconds for the exposure time. If you look real close you can just make it out. 60 seconds is more than enough for most uses though.

Chdk also enables you to override the auto iso limit of 1600, I have it set to 3200iso.
It can do much more.

@hemmings,
Thanks for the info. Dennis also mentioned the CHDK. I think my decision is fixed. For the money there is no better camera in terms of IQ. The next step is two or three times as expensive (eg 60D with L glass.) In the Netherlands, the price for the G1X is currently 499 euros.