G9 for macro.

I am a film shooter, black & white and this is likely to remain my medium of choice. The process I used to make colour prints from slides no longer exists ( I have never got on with Ilfo/Cibachrome although it worked for me on occasions) and I am thinking of digital for the close-up photography I used to do for floral subjects. Is the G9 a viable option or would a full blown EOS be demonstrably better ? Any examples or sites to visit to convince me one way or the other would be appreciated. Although I have EOS lenses, I am ignoring this fact for the moment unless this is, without doubt, the best route to choose.

I would probably go with a fully fledged DSLR more for the flexibility than anything. Smaller sensors like the G9's will have more noise due to smaller pixels, but you will get more DOF out of them due to the circle of confusion being kinder to the smaller sensor. I can't remember how much the G9 is, but you could go with something like the 400D, or 40D probably, and it wouldn't be much more expensive I suspect.

Dave

Thanks Dave, obviously no other member has an opinion !

I have the Canon Powershot G7, and it is great!

I use a £20 Raynox adapter, an it works fine. Here are a few samples. Click for larger versions.

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MonkeymanC3
I have just ordered a G9 as a pocket camera for the times I don’t want to lug around a DSLR. Your excellent shots with the Raynox DCR-250 have inspired me to give it a stab with macro as well. Good job on the G7 macros! Thanks for sharing them.

MonkeymanC3, you have just upset the applecart ! Looking at your pictures puts me in more of a quandry. I was getting myself convinced that the EOS with my current lenses would give more versatility but there is no denying the effectiveness of your work. I would have to go for the EOS 40d because of size and grip for comfort but the G9 would be half the price. In view of the fact that my main work is medium format black and white, the comment by "justjoem" is pertinent. Thanks to the both of you.

main problem with G series for macros I find is the rather short working distance.

racketman wrote in post #4406157
main problem with G series for macros I find is the rather short working distance.

Perhaps there is less close focus problem when using a closeup lens like the Raynox. MonkeymanC3 will have to tell us. I suspect you can get high degree of magnification with the Raynox at 25cm from the subject using the longest end of the telephoto without macro mode. I plan to try the G9 with my 500D closeup adapter. This should give up to a 50cm working distance. My 500D is the 77mm model so I will need a stepdown adapter. It should make for a bizarre looking rig; the G9 with a 77mm diameter lens and a 580ex. The camera will be dwarfed by the other elements! Racketman, have you tried your G9 with the Raynox 250?

On max telephoto the focus is about 10CM. I do not find it a problem though, and I do not see why it would be a problem. Unless people are worried about scaring the insects away, but I manage to approach Dragonflies and Butterflies and get shots, so that is not really a big problem.