Canon G5 Camera - Is it being discontinued?

[T roy]

Hello,

Does anyone know if this camera is scheduled to be discontinued? I was planning on buying one but I noticed that in the last week the online prices have been going up. Electric Sam had the camera for $459 and now it is $485, and Butterfly Photo has also gone up on the price. Didn't this happen when the G3 was discontinued?

Thanks!

[Liz]

I looked into this camera, and almost purchased it as a 2nd camera - and yes, a few electronic stores have sold out already. It's not officially discontinued but big rumours are flying around......that it soon will be. It's really a wonderful camera with the flexible LCD screen and 2.0 aperture vs 2.8 on most of the other digital point & shoots, plus lots of features.

I purchased the G3 when I found some at NormanCamera.com. Actually they got the last shipment of the G3's and they are a very reputable dealer, in business for over 30 years.

Liz

Hello,

Does anyone know if this camera is scheduled to be discontinued? I was planning on buying one but I noticed that in the last week the online prices have been going up. Electric Sam had the camera for $459 and now it is $485, and Butterfly Photo has also gone up on the price. Didn't this happen when the G3 was discontinued?

Thanks!

[T roy]

Hi Liz,

What made you purchase the G3 over the G5? How do you like the camera?

Thanks!

I looked into this camera, and almost purchased it as a 2nd camera - and yes, a few electronic stores have sold out already. It's not officially discontinued but big rumours are flying around......that it soon will be. It's really a wonderful camera with the flexible LCD screen and 2.0 aperture vs 2.8 on most of the other digital point & shoots, plus lots of features.

I purchased the G3 when I found some at NormanCamera.com. Actually they got the last shipment of the G3's and they are a very reputable dealer, in business for over 30 years.

Liz

[Liz]

Troy,

It was a difficult decision. They are both great cameras, and the G3 is almost as expensive as the G5. The biggest reason is the fact that I owned a G3, but sold it to buy the Rebel 300D. However, because the Rebel is bigger and heavier I wanted a 2nd camera as an all around camera I could carry with me. Most people like the smaller, more compact cameras, but I prefer the G3 due to the excellent optics and sharp pictures I always got.

It was a challenge trying to decide between the two cameras. However, the G5 has quite a bit of CA (chromatic abberation - aka PF purple fringing). The G3 is supposed to have some also, but I never had a problem with my G3. Also the G5 has more noise due to the extra megapixel. I don't like to do a lot of post processing, especially with a p&s and always got good results right out of the camera for the most part with the G3. I found many other people looking for the G3 at the same time, and almost got the G5 because I couldn't find the G3. However, someone told me Normancamera.com had received Canon's last shipment of G3's. I checked and they are very reputable so I ordered the G3 from them and am MOST happy with it. I get excellent results. Here is one of the pics from my old G3 - haven't uploaded pics from the new one yet.

Liz

Hi Liz,

What made you purchase the G3 over the G5? How do you like the camera?

Thanks!

[Franglais]

Hello,

Does anyone know if this camera is scheduled to be discontinued? I was planning on buying one but I noticed that in the last week the online prices have been going up. Electric Sam had the camera for $459 and now it is $485, and Butterfly Photo has also gone up on the price. Didn't this happen when the G3 was discontinued?

Thanks!

I haven't heard any rumours about the G5 being discontinued. Usually the price goes down when this happens, rather than up.

The G5 uses bought-in CCD instead of the Canon CMOS used in the G3. I don't know if this is the same 5MPix sensor as used in the bridge cameras, but they're all in the process of going from 5MPix to 8MPix. Perhaps we'll see a G8 one day soon.

Charles

[Michael Fanelli]

The G5 uses bought-in CCD instead of the Canon CMOS used in the G3.

The G3 does not have a CMOS sensor, it is a standard Canon CCD.

[T roy]

Well, I received my G5 today. I ordered it last Thursday from B&H Photo for $499. Good thing, I checked B&H today and the price is up to $519. For some reason everyone is gradually going up on this camera...strange...

Thanks guys!

[Liz]

You'll enjoy this camera.....I love the G3 (of course not as much as the Rebel). Those G cameras are great. As for the price, well, it happened with the G2 & G3 also. The G2 new (very hard to get) still go for $450. I find it strange that B&H went up in price - I never knew them to do that. I'll have to ask next time I visit the place!

Post some pics!. ;)

Liz

Well, I received my G5 today. I ordered it last Thursday from B&H Photo for $499. Good thing, I checked B&H today and the price is up to $519. For some reason everyone is gradually going up on this camera...strange...

Thanks guys!

[camcorderman]

I work at Best Buy in the digital imaging section and I can say that in the Pro range of cameras we sell, the G5 is one of the top, great lens at a 2.0 apeture (although, that does make your pictures more grainy) solid build, great lens, flexable LCD, the only thing I hate about the G5 is the fact that the lens barrel is visable through the viewfinder at full wide zoom. Its really annoying... But overall, great camera, not really worthy of an upgrade from the G3 if you already have one...

James

[Sebastian]

I work at Best Buy in the digital imaging section and I can say that in the Pro range of cameras we sell, the G5 is one of the top, great lens at a 2.0 apeture (although, that does make your pictures more grainy) solid build, great lens, flexable LCD, the only thing I hate about the G5 is the fact that the lens barrel is visable through the viewfinder at full wide zoom. Its really annoying... But overall, great camera, not really worthy of an upgrade from the G3 if you already have one...

James

Who told you that large apertures make images grainy?? That is in no way true.

The G5 is an excellent camera, I am teetering between that and the Sony DSC-T1 for my P&S.

[camcorderman]

Let me rephrase what I said, cause grainy was not the right word, sorry about that... You seem very passonate about the G5! What I meant to say is with an aperture of 2.0, you will see purple fringing, quite a bit actually at F 2.0. Setting it at the min of most cameras, F 2.8, gets rid of most of it. I'm just saying you don't want 2.0 all the time, just for getting a brighter image, say in lower light, or more capturing high speed shots with a faster shutter speed and F 2.0 to compensate. If you're considering between the Sony T1 and the G5, they are completely different in terms of class.. The G5 is a Prosumer digital camera, the T1 is a consumer camera. I would say the G5 lens is better just due to the big size and phenomenal Canon Optics. It also is a fully manual oriented camera, unlike the T1. The T1 battery life is also poor due to the big LCD screen and it uses Sony's stupid Memory Stick duo cards which cost twice as much as Compact flash. The T1 definitly has size going for it, but it will never really compare to the G5. If you want to compare a Sony digital camera to the G5 look into the Sony DSC-V1 (maybe that's the one you meant?) or the Sony F717.

James

[Sebastian]

Let me rephrase what I said, cause grainy was not the right word, sorry about that... You seem very passonate about the G5! What I meant to say is with an aperture of 2.0, you will see purple fringing, quite a bit actually at F 2.0. Setting it at the min of most cameras, F 2.8, gets rid of most of it. I'm just saying you don't want 2.0 all the time, just for getting a brighter image, say in lower light, or more capturing high speed shots with a faster shutter speed and F 2.0 to compensate. If you're considering between the Sony T1 and the G5, they are completely different in terms of class.. The G5 is a Prosumer digital camera, the T1 is a consumer camera. I would say the G5 lens is better just due to the big size and phenomenal Canon Optics. It also is a fully manual oriented camera, unlike the T1. The T1 battery life is also poor due to the big LCD screen and it uses Sony's stupid Memory Stick duo cards which cost twice as much as Compact flash. The T1 definitly has size going for it, but it will never really compare to the G5. If you want to compare a Sony digital camera to the G5 look into the Sony DSC-V1 (maybe that's the one you meant?) or the Sony F717.

James

Hehe, no,not passionate about the G5 at all, to me they are just tools. The Sony I AM passionate about, that is one sweet camera. I know all the limitations and benefits of both, but the Sony is by far the coolest camera I ever played with. The size and weight alone make it. Battery life and storage medium is a non-issue with that camera, if someone wants a camera that portable and small, they will be willing to live with it. I know I am.

I owned a 717, that was a sweet camera, but too bulky. I placed the order for the G5 after writing the above post. It will make a great backup to my SLR setup and I can use my flash with it. And thanks for clarifying what you meant about the aperture, we really don't need people running all over the place telling everyone to get smaller aperture lenses to avoid noise...the internet has bred enough stupid people that read everything as solid truth.

How do you like working at Worst Buy? I only lasted a year...

[Liz]

This is my 2nd G3, and I haven't found purple fringe at 2.0 with either camera - or it was so slight that I just didn't see it (but I think I would have seen it). The results I get from the G3 are absolutely awesome for a P&S. One of the reasons I purchased the G3 vs the smaller compacts as a 2nd camera is the 2.0 aperture.

Liz

Let me rephrase what I said, cause grainy was not the right word, sorry about that... You seem very passonate about the G5! What I meant to say is with an aperture of 2.0, you will see purple fringing, quite a bit actually at F 2.0. Setting it at the min of most cameras, F 2.8, gets rid of most of it. I'm just saying you don't want 2.0 all the time, just for getting a brighter image, say in lower light, or more capturing high speed shots with a faster shutter speed and F 2.0 to compensate. If you're considering between the Sony T1 and the G5, they are completely different in terms of class.. The G5 is a Prosumer digital camera, the T1 is a consumer camera. I would say the G5 lens is better just due to the big size and phenomenal Canon Optics. It also is a fully manual oriented camera, unlike the T1. The T1 battery life is also poor due to the big LCD screen and it uses Sony's stupid Memory Stick duo cards which cost twice as much as Compact flash. The T1 definitly has size going for it, but it will never really compare to the G5. If you want to compare a Sony digital camera to the G5 look into the Sony DSC-V1 (maybe that's the one you meant?) or the Sony F717.

James

[camcorderman]

This is my 2nd G3, and I haven't found purple fringe at 2.0 with either camera - or it was so slight that I just didn't see it (but I think I would have seen it). The results I get from the G3 are absolutely awesome for a P&S. One of the reasons I purchased the G3 vs the smaller compacts as a 2nd camera is the 2.0 aperture.

Liz

Well, I have used the G5, and I did notice Purple fringing at F 2.0, I guess it depends what kind of lighting you're in. At F-4.0 it wentaway completely. Still, great camera though!

James

[camcorderman]

Hehe, no,not passionate about the G5 at all, to me they are just tools. The Sony I AM passionate about, that is one sweet camera. I know all the limitations and benefits of both, but the Sony is by far the coolest camera I ever played with. The size and weight alone make it. Battery life and storage medium is a non-issue with that camera, if someone wants a camera that portable and small, they will be willing to live with it. I know I am.

I owned a 717, that was a sweet camera, but too bulky. I placed the order for the G5 after writing the above post. It will make a great backup to my SLR setup and I can use my flash with it. And thanks for clarifying what you meant about the aperture, we really don't need people running all over the place telling everyone to get smaller aperture lenses to avoid noise...the internet has bred enough stupid people that read everything as solid truth.

How do you like working at Worst Buy? I only lasted a year...

Yeah...I've read lots of dumb stuff made by people who have no idea what they are talking about. I get customers like that too, who think they are always right....but are sadly mistaken. In terms of working at BEST buy, I DO like it there...My team is great, I get a great staff purchase, I get well paid, my management is good, and I love selling what I do as a Pro hobby (well, video and editing is mostly my Pro hobby) Overall, I've had a great time there, and I'm not planning to leave soon. Why did you not like it?

James

[Sebastian]

Yeah...I've read lots of dumb stuff made by people who have no idea what they are talking about. I get customers like that too, who think they are always right....but are sadly mistaken. In terms of working at BEST buy, I DO like it there...My team is great, I get a great staff purchase, I get well paid, my management is good, and I love selling what I do as a Pro hobby (well, video and editing is mostly my Pro hobby) Overall, I've had a great time there, and I'm not planning to leave soon. Why did you not like it?

James

I got sick of telling every customer to go somewhere else to get better prices and support. I sold computers and was a PC tech. That, on top of the constant "sell these PSPs" BS got to me. Especially now, with Circuit CIty having much more customer-friendly policies and mostly better prices, I dread even going into BB.

Interesting that you're into editing, that's what I do for a living.

[camcorderman]

I got sick of telling every customer to go somewhere else to get better prices and support. I sold computers and was a PC tech. That, on top of the constant "sell these PSPs" BS got to me. Especially now, with Circuit CIty having much more customer-friendly policies and mostly better prices, I dread even going into BB.

Interesting that you're into editing, that's what I do for a living.

Yeah...thats the one thing I don't like, but I find they don't do that too much...They don't get upst if I'm not selling the PSP, they just upset if I dont even bother presenting it....and presenting it over and over again is annoying. Yeah....I love editing, and filming....I just love my PD170 and am getting my feet wet in professional wedding videos...I've done 2, and they've been really happy....I've got a couple lined up this spring, and I'll be finished high school this year and have gotten accepted into Ryerson U. for video and film production. I use Adobe Premiere 6.5 and Adobe Photoshop 7 (planning to upgrade to Premiere Pro and Photoshop CS) I've also just started using After Effects and Adobe Encore DVD. Lots of fun, but hard work...btw...I have a P4 2.8 running XP Pro, its no MAC, but it handles the job well...what do you do to get you by? what do you edit?

James

[Sebastian]

Yeah...thats the one thing I don't like, but I find they don't do that too much...They don't get upst if I'm not selling the PSP, they just upset if I dont even bother presenting it....and presenting it over and over again is annoying. Yeah....I love editing, and filming....I just love my PD170 and am getting my feet wet in professional wedding videos...I've done 2, and they've been really happy....I've got a couple lined up this spring, and I'll be finished high school this year and have gotten accepted into Ryerson U. for video and film production. I use Adobe Premiere 6.5 and Adobe Photoshop 7 (planning to upgrade to Premiere Pro and Photoshop CS) I've also just started using After Effects and Adobe Encore DVD. Lots of fun, but hard work...btw...I have a P4 2.8 running XP Pro, its no MAC, but it handles the job well...what do you do to get you by? what do you edit?

James

"It's no Mac, but it handles the job well" Don't be ashamed of suing a cheaper, fater machine to get the job done. Don't listen to Mac zealots, the PC, hardware for hardware, smokes the Apples in just about every regard.

Now as far as what we use here, a Media 100xi or soemthing, I don't remember the letters. It's proprietary hardware running a a Mac. We don't do much production anymore, everyone is trying to do that in-house now that Final Cut is so cheap. Our bread an butter is distribution and customization of already produced spots. A client will send us a finished piece and we drop in local info at the end of the spot, like a number or website or something. We then send them where they need to go, make sure they get played, and report on how well it did. We only deal with non-profits, so anytime you see a localized Red Cross or 4-h spot it probably went through me.

[pnd1]

I've used a G5 in my travel photography for just under a year, and am very happy with the results. I find its five megapixel sensor allows greater latitude for cropping than a four megapixel camera would. I use both the Canon wide angle and tele converters with this camera extensively as well.

The comments here about "artifacts and fringing" distort the value of this camera as a tool for expressive travel photography. I think I have noticed these issues only two or three times while making over a thousand images with this camera. And even then, I had to look very, very closely to see them. Those who rule out the G5 because of these issues are, in my view, throwing the baby out with the bath.

From what I understand, the G5 may be the last of the G series. I will continue to use it in tandem with my five megapixel Leica Digilux 2 in my travel work. While the G5 can't match the Leica's larger sensor in terms of ultimate image resolution and quality, its converters can take me wider and longer, its macro focusing is superb, and its flip out rotating viewfinder is essential in shooting from ground level or at scenes above my head.

You can see how I've used the G5 by browsing my instructional galleries on expressive travel photography at www.pbase.com/pnd1. I'd be happy to answer any particular questions you might have about this camera. And the best of luck to you if you decide to get this camera while you still can.

Phil Douglis
Director
The Douglis Visual Workshops
Phoenix, Arizona
pnd1@cox.net

[Photo-John]

Phil has done amazing work with his G5 and I encourage anyone interested to take a look at his photography. It's easy to get caught up in splitting hairs when it comes to digital camera image quality. However, image quality isn't everything. Camera handling, size, and availability can be just as important, if not more so. Even though my G2 isn't as good as my 1D, it still went along on more mountain bike rides and that made it a very important camera to me. It got photos the "better" cameras never had the opportunity to take.

[pnd1]

I certainly agree with your comment, John. I have always taught my students that the camera itself does not make or break a picture. The photographer makes the image, for better or for worse. A camera is ultimately only a tool for expression. A hammer does make a carpenter any better or worse. A computer does not create the idea for a writer. And the camera does not find or compose the image for the photographer. Our pictures will rise or fall on the quality of our ideas, our passion, our patience, our people skills, our sense of color, light, space, and timing. In the end, the camera becomes a extension of our eyes, our hearts, and our minds. But without input from the person behind it, the camera itself means nothing.

[xmbwd]

Does anyone have any basis for what seems to be the general sentiment that the G-Series will dies with the G5? It seems to make little sense, as the line is quite popular. Thanks. - M.

[Tanja]

I'm torn between the G3 and the G5, even though I know they're almost identical.
I like the G3 a lot better, but the fact that it is discontinued worries me. I know that means that they don't make this camera anymore, but does it also mean that I won't be able to get any accessories for it, if I would decide to add something to it at a later time?
I'm also looking at the PowerShot S1 IS, does anybody have any info on that one?
And what about G5 vs S1 IS? I know they are totally different, but I'm very confused and don't know what to get anymore, there are too many out there. However, I would like to stick with Canon, because I really like their cameras. This will be my first digital, I love to take macro shots, which my old 35mm was never very good at.

Any info or advise on any of these three cameras would be greatly appreciated.

T

[icd]

take $50 gift certified at Amazon when you buy the G5, It cost only 525 with $25 ofoto credits

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/re...gw%255Fe%255F5

[US Veteran]

Good Morning...

If you already have the G3 keep it and forget the others. If you are a beginner you have one of the best digital cameras ever made and is much better than the G5 or even the new S1. You can look up professional reviews on all these cameras at dpreview.com. You will see that of all the G series made by Canon the G3 is far and away the best of the bunch. When you master the G3 camera you will becom interested in a digital SLR but will still never let go of the G3 and in all probability keep it always at hand and/or in your camera bag for those quick unexpected shots. Don't waste your money or time...use it instead very wisely and learn all there is to know about the G3 so it becomes a no thought extension of your eye and mind. If you want to check out something quite curious go to digital Canon cameras on e-bay...you will see used G3's bringing in higher bids than new G5's...why? Simply because it is a better camera. Now go out and take some pictures!