New G9 Noob Needs Help

Hi guys, I was recently given a G9 from an in-law because he no longer needs it since he got a much better camera. Problem is, I don't know how to use it very well. Up till now, I've always used a point and shoot camera. I was wondering if someone could tell me a website or book that could help me with using this camera to its full capabilities. And what other lenses and etc. should I get (or do I even need one?) I like to take landscape photos and people (where the the backgroud is blurred and the person is clear) Sorry I don't know the words for it. Hope some here can help. Thanks in advance!

The G9 has a 6X zoom "7.4mm-44.4mm" lens (equivalent to 35-210mm), so I doubt you'll need anything else, though I think Canon may sell some atachments for superwide and superzoom, but don't bother. Also, I would DISABLE the digital zoom function in the Menu. All that does is mess with the pixels and will severely reduce image quality.

For detailed info on the camera itself, see Steves-digicams G9 review and specs for detailed description of the camera's operation. Also go to Canon's site and download the User Manual(s)

regarding what to shoot and HOW, sounds like you want a shallow depth of field (lowest Aperture 2.8 ) so you could use AV or Manual shooting modes to get that.. You'd do well to browse G9 photos on this site and on Flickr G9 Page and Flickr G9 Pool. When you see one you like open it up and check the EXIF data to see what their settings were.

Most of all - get out there and SHOOT!

Here's a shallow DOF shot I took last week on vacation

Thanks for the great piece of info!

That's a very nice picture by the way. I've always been told that the G9 is a really good camera but just couldn't get the results that I wanted.

and it can do Portraits pretty well, too. You can mount a Canon flash or a PW on it to run multipe flashes in manual mode

You might want to get this book and PDF file on the G9 Shortcourse.

I've had the G9 for about two and half years, and recently got the G11. I kept my G9, mostly because I also have the underwater case for it, and don't care to also buy one for the G11. The G9 takes great photos, but you need to stick to lower ISOs. I prefer, if possible to stick with ISO 80, but that's not always possible.

I also have the Canon 2x tele conversion lens, and the Canon .75x wide conversion lens. They both work great on the G9, but I can also use them on the G11. The problem is they are large, so the nice small camera becomes like a little DSLR kit, and so the extra lenses don't always come along with me. I would suggest learning to live with the limits of the zoom range. You can also learn to take two or three overlapping shots to get a wider angle image of a landscape. The Canon software for the G9 includes Photostitch software to merge images into a panorama result, so take advantage of it. It also includes RAW Image Task for processing the RAW images. With some practice you will find you can improve photo results shooting in RAW (use RAW + JPEG for convenience). RAW will also allow you to shoot at higher ISOs and get better results. You can also get some image noise processing software, some is free, to also improve your photo results. I don't need to use that software so much with with the G11, that's one thing I really like about it.

Enjoy your new camera,
Dennis