Opinions on the G2?

I know it's an older camera, but I'm looking for something that's a bit better than my current S30. I'd love to have a more compact camera (smaller than my DReb) that has a hotshoe.

I think the G2 would fit the bill, and I hear very good things about this camera. I just wanted to hear a few more opinions.

Thanks

FlipsidE

I have no complains for my G2, I love the macrio.

Hi,
I'm new to this forum but own the G2 for a few years and I'm very happy with it. My main gripe is the auto focus problems in low light situation. Since you mentioned a hotshoe, I guess you take alot of indoor flash pictures. The focus in not consistent as you may have read on this forum. But I've limited my blurred pictures by following the advice here. Mainly prefocus on contrasty objects with verticle patterns. The focus is good outdoors, and the hotshoe works on my vivitar flash but now with my old spiralite. I'm sure the canon flash will work great. Good luck, Steve.

FlipsidE-

I have the G2 and it is a good camera. It will show the typical traits of this type of camera - slow focus, shutter lag, very noisy at higher ISO, and very difficult to get a background blur (except in macro mode). It can however take excellent pictures, works very well with the 420EX, and is great at macro. As far as compactness, it's smaller than the new XT, but still fairly big for this type of camera. If you put a lensmate on the front in order to put filters on the front (polarizer), it does lose some of the compactness. All in all though, for the cost of what these are going for now, an excellent value.

Cyclone

I recently wanting to get more serious into photography and wanting to play with raw format and wasn't ready to spend the money on the DSLR while in the learning mode so I bought a used G2 to experiment with raw format. If time allow, I always shoot a scenary in JPG and the same scence in RAW to see the difference. However, if I don't have time, I always shoot using RAW because I can "reduce my mistakes" using Photoshop afterward. I am now experimenting with the 420ex flash and still learning.
Overall, I like this camera a lot, my only wish is a longer zoom and wider angle (I guess, only James Bond has the camera like that
Anyhow, those are my two cents....

I'm very happy with the G2. I've had it since December 2001. It's also a very sturdy camera as its been dropped twice on cement. Both times at two different trips to Disneyland. Go figure.

Looking to upgrade though. Need something faster.

Hey Flip, I have no personal experience with the G2, as my first "G" was the "5".

This brings me to someone that DOES. Don Ellis uses the G-1, and G-2 to this day.
Have a look at His website, www.kleptography.com/
-Bruce

First of all Ballen, thanks for reminding me about Don's site. I haven't visited it in ages but doing so reminded me of what a great photographer he is. He makes the G2 dance -- just like Pekka did with his G1

As for the G2, it's a great camera. I had one and only sold it because it developed a stuck pixel. I now have a G3 as a companion to my 10D and I like it even better than the G2. You can find G3s for less than $300 on Ebay so you might want to check them out. I like the shape better than the G2 (more comfortable to hold,) and the built in ND filter comes in handy as well.

Todd

Ballen Photo wrote:
Hey Flip, I have no personal experience with the G2, as my first "G" was the "5".

This brings me to someone that DOES. Don Ellis uses the G-1, and G-2 to this day.
Have a look at His website, www.kleptography.com/
-Bruce

Bruce, you are definitely one of my best publicists. Thank you for the mention... I'm always flattered.

One of these days I'm sure I'll trade the G2 in, but so far there hasn't been a compelling enough reason. But I am keeping my eyes open for a G7. If that doesn't materialize, perhaps I'll look at the G6.

The latest purchase to derail thoughts of a new camera is a new monitor. This is the second Sony Trinitron in five years to die on me and it's died a slow death -- producing progressively poorer colors for the last year. Why their CRTs don't last like their TVs is a mystery. I've ordered a ViewSonic CRT, so I'm hoping that puts a little pleasure (and accuracy) back into post-processing.

Thanks again for thinking of me. You'd be surprised how often I return the favor... I just don't tell you.

Cheers,

Don

twalker294 wrote:
First of all Ballen, thanks for reminding me about Don's site. I haven't visited it in ages but doing so reminded me of what a great photographer he is. He makes the G2 dance -- just like Pekka did with his G1

As for the G2, it's a great camera. I had one and only sold it because it developed a stuck pixel. I now have a G3 as a companion to my 10D and I like it even better than the G2. You can find G3s for less than $300 on Ebay so you might want to check them out. I like the shape better than the G2 (more comfortable to hold,) and the built in ND filter comes in handy as well.

Todd

Todd,

I'm beginning to think I can control events... I was just thinking of you the other day and sent off an email only to have it returned for lack of a current address. It's great to hear from you... that usually means things are going well. I hope that's true.

I would question your inclusion of "Pekka" and "Don" in the same sentence, but I don't want to be impolite. Whatever its accuracy, that's about the nicest thing anyone could say. Thank you.

I agree with your G3 recommendation. In addition to the built-in ND filter, there were many small improvements to the G2, including a 4x zoom, intervalometer, 2-second timer, flash sync select, longer movie clips (if you use that feature) and MORE... as they say in advertising.

Again, good to hear from you.

Cheers,

Don

Don, you have a PM

Todd

Hi Don, Good to hear from you, and I hope things are going well for You and Yours. BTW, pushing the G-2 to it's limits as you do, I think you deserve a little recognition.

I seem to remember a famous saying that would apply here;
"If it AINT BROKE, Dont FIX it!" (Unless of course, You really want to.)
-Bruce

Ballen Photo wrote:
"If it AINT BROKE, Dont FIX it!" (Unless of course, You really want to.)
-Bruce

Hi Bruce,

Well, it ain't broke but I do see the photos coming out of Leela's G5 and I'm inclined to think they're better... but perhaps not. I'm really looking forward to the new monitor so I can do some useful onscreen evaluations instead of guesses.

I notice that when I bring in G2 shots and hit Auto-Contrast, there's a fair improvement in the onscreen image. When I do the same for G5 shots, there's hardly any change at all, giving me the impression that it's recording somewhat better. But who knows if that means anything after you process them both -- I hope to find out in a couple of weeks with the new monitor.

We're both fine, by the way... thanks for the thought. It's nice to touch base.

Cheers,

Don

- G3 is basically a G2 with 4x zoom (instead of 3x) and a few custom functions
- G5 is basically identical to G3, but with 5 MP instead of 4

So they are pretty close.
All are capable cameras, if you need a compact digicam.

Best regards,
Andy