Anyone regret buying a G9

Just picked up mine yesterday. I had no regrets with the G7 so I don't see any reason to regret the G9 unless the RAW sucks

I've just installed the Lightroom 1.3 upgrade and the RAW files look good so far re. white bal, which was my major gripe with G7 hacked RAW workflow.

I'm impressed with the way the G9 handles RAW write speed and you can almost take a picture straight after unlike the G7 with the CHDK!

I've never felt totally comfortable holding the G7 as it doesn't have much of a protruding grip so I have ordered the Custom Grip and thumb rest to give it a better feel. The G9 feels a little better than the G7 but only marginally.

Grip can be seen here

http://www.mycanong7.c​om/65801/460401.html

andrewaaa5 wrote in post #4369152
I am just wondering why you bought the BrightLine Finder? The G9 has a built in optic viewfinder which caters for zoom also. Isn't that good enough?

It will be because the lensmate obscures the view from the standard viewfinder.

I do in all honesty regret getting my G9. I love it in bright conditions and low ISO, however, as has been noted many times on this forum, the higher (even 400) ISO settings on the G9 suck, the noise is massively present.

I'm pretty sure my old ixus 700 was better in that respect.

If I had the choice again, it wouldn't be the G9. <not that I am sure what it would be>.

sootyvrs wrote in post #4369569
..so I have ordered the Custom Grip and thumb rest to give it a better feel.l

Oddly enough, I installed mine today.

Worlds better, while I may still drop it at some point, it sure feels better and more stable in the hand now!

wd-40 wrote in post #4369683
It will be because the lensmate obscures the view from the standard viewfinder.

I do in all honesty regret getting my G9. I love it in bright conditions and low ISO, however, as has been noted many times on this forum, the higher (even 400) ISO settings on the G9 suck, the noise is massively present.

I'm pretty sure my old ixus 700 was better in that respect.

If I had the choice again, it wouldn't be the G9. <not that I am sure what it would be>.

I understand your frustration with high ISO performance but my expectations re. ISO performance is firmly in the right place, hence no dissapointment here.

The Digital Compact is a compromised design and it will be a long time, if ever, before we will see a digital compact with noise performance approaching todays Canon D-SLR cameras.

Some compacts like the Fuji F30 has perceived better high ISO performance but close inspection is that they just have more aggressive noise reduction applied to jpegs at the expense of detail which can be done post processing on the G9.

andrewaaa5 wrote in post #4369152
I am just wondering why you bought the BrightLine Finder? The G9 has a built in optic viewfinder which caters for zoom also. Isn't that good enough?

No it is not good enough. As I mentioned, I shoot 99% at the wide end so the zoom has little interest for me. The built in viewfinder is a cut above lousy. If you've never looked through a brightline finder you owe it to yourself to do so. I suspect you'll likely be amazed at the clarity and ability to frame accurately. It does take some getting used to if you haven't used a brightline finder before, but once you do it is invaluable. I'm used to it from my Leica III series film camera days so it comes as second nature to me. Squinting through a dim tiny built in viewfinder isn't my idea of fun photography.

Try printing your noisy photos. You will find they come out quite beautiful. Noise isn't apparent in the printed output.

d30gaijin wrote in post #4367693
Yes I do regret buying the G9. I regret not buying it sooner!

I shoot 99% at the wide end so I added a Lensmate adapter with a B&W UV filter and a Voigtlander (Cosina) 35mm brightline finder that fits in the hot shoe because I shoot with the display off. The G9 is now more like a digital version of my Leica IIIc, only smaller.

Don

Wow. That is a GREAT idea! You could make the G3 into a nice street shooter that way!
As S2000 has shown, the G9 has a nice, Tri-X grainy quality to it when shot at ISO400 and converted to B&W. Thanks for the tip!

Stephen Scharf wrote in post #4375790
Wow. That is a GREAT idea! You could make the G3 into a nice street shooter that way!
As S2000 has shown, the G9 has a nice, Tri-X grainy quality to it when shot at ISO400 and converted to B&W. Thanks for the tip!

Stephen,

That was exactly my goal, not that I am a great street shooter, rather I simply like the capability. With everything turned off in the G9 it is actually quieter than my M6 Leica, and that's saying a lot (from my experience). The Voigtlander finder just makes it all come together.

Don

G3, goodness, thinking of old Macs, I meant G9...

Don,
Can you point me to a link for the Voightlander finder you are using?

Thanks,
Stephen.

Stephen Scharf wrote in post #4381962
G3, goodness, thinking of old Macs, I meant G9...

Don,
Can you point me to a link for the Voightlander finder you are using?

Thanks,
Stephen.

Stephen,

I bought mine from Camera Quest. You can find them at this web site: http://www.cameraquest​.com/inventor.htm

Page down about 1/3 of the page to find the metal 35mm finder.

Or you can also see them at B&H, but they are more expensive at B&H but you'll see a good photo of the 35 finder: http://****/2qghzm

Voigtlander also makes a smaller 28/35 combo viewfinder that you can see on the same camera Quest web page above, but the view through the smaller 28/35 combo finder isn't as big or bright as the 35 finder.

I hope that helps,

Don

That helps a lot, thanks very much, Don.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Stephen,

The Camera Quest URL I gave in the previous message I find only takes you to their price list. Try this URl for photos and description: http://****/2sxewp

d30gaijin wrote in post #4384934
Stephen,

The Camera Quest URL I gave in the previous message I find only takes you to their price list. Try this URl for photos and description: http://****/2sxewp

Terrific, this helps a lot as I was having trouble finding it on the Camera Quest page.

Thanks,
Stephen.

The one thing I HATE about my G-9, is that the "Off" button is too close to the "Shutter" button. I can't tell you how many times I was going to be taking the shot, only to power down the camera instead!

Arrgghhh! Bad Canon, Bad!

Rad

LOVE the G9. It will be perfect for what I want to use it for--small compact underwater rig and a not when I want to lug the Rebel around camera!