G7 and dynamic range

I'm mainly a DSLR shooter (5D and XT) but I was looking at this camera for two reasons:

1. I'm aiming to put it in the canon waterproof housing and shoot both from the water and underwater (snorkeling) during an upcoming Caribbean trip this winter.

2. I'd like something tough and small, but capable for skiing, for walk around etc... Primary use will be outdoors and landscape.

Because of these two applications, I'm concerned about blowing highlights out and still getting a decent exposure. When I look at all the reviews, I'm seeing that the G7 seems to be a bit touchy and prone to blow out the highlights if one is not careful. Because of case #1 (white boat hulls) and #2 (Caribbean - tons of sun), I'm worried this is a problem.

I'm also interested if anyone here uses the ND filter extensively as well as any other techniques for protecting highlights.

J.

The G7 has a live histogram, so you can make sure you are not blowing highlights.

The ND filter is only helpful if you want to decrease overall exposure and increasing shutter speed and aperture aren't enough (which could be the case in very bright sun and sand). It's not a Graduated ND filter.

I'm very fond of my G7.

That is part of what you use a ND filter for is to protect highlights and turn down the light. I understand that it is not a GND.

The ability to look at the live histogram is nice, but that doesn't speak to its dynamic range, just to moving that range down into a usable range. I'm basically interested in the camera's ability to capture a range of exposure - so maybe a better question is what is the estimated dynamic range in stops? If that range is compressed into, say, a 4 stop range then it is much more difficult to get detail in the shadows without blowing the highlights if the camera had maybe a 5 stop range.

So if you expose for a midtone, and you increase the EC until the highlights blow out, and conversely you go the other way until the shadow detail is lost - what is the range on that?

J.

With F/8 @ 1/2000 max shutter speed I think it's OK not to require the use of ND to not blow out highlights.

I think one of the criticisms of compact digitals is the inability to be creative and really slow shutter speeds down for creative effects. With the built in ND and G7 on a tripod, you can now do long exposures for those running water type shots etc..

With a live histogram if you blow out the highlights its your own dam fault.

What is the dynamic range - 4 stops? 3 or 5?

The dynamic range is going to determine what sort of a scene you can shoot and not have the highlights blow or the shadows lack detail. If the dynamic range is too small, you can't avoid one or the other. That is what I would like to know. A live histogram has no impact on the dynamic range.

J

http://www.digitalcame​rainfo.com …/Testing--Performance.htm

Thanks, that was very helpful. Confirmed what I was worried about - rather low dynamic range.

J