Canon G9 Is Pretty Awesome!

[Photo-John]

I stole the boss's Canon G9 when I was in California, about a week ago. I told him he had to give it to me so I could do a review. I took it skiing with me last weekend and I am really impressed. I don't think it's a digital SLR replacement - not for me anyway. But it certainly is a beautiful and powerful little camera. And the image quality is excellent. Being able to shoot RAW means my workflow, with Lightroom and Photoshop, remain the same.

These photos did not come right out of the camera looking like this. All three have extensive Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Photoshop CS3 adjustments. These are tough shooting conditions and I shoot for maximum image potential, not to get a good image right out of the camera. The nice thing is, the G9 offers a very rich, flexible image file with a lot of room for post-processing.

[SmartWombat]

I got my hands on a G9 in a shop last week and tried 1600 ISO, disappointing.
Considering it has digic III I hoped it might be as good as the older digic II DSLRs.
Normal ISO range is good, and with the RAW mode I'm seriously considering it for my next pocket camera.

[mtbbrian]

For us "luddites", who at least want to understand, can you post a jpg of what the file first looked like and explain what you did.
And could you also post or describe what a RAW file looks like.
Or is that something I'd have to come over and see on the computer.
Thanks!
Brian

[opus]

can you post a picture of the g9?

[Photo-John]

can you post a picture of the g9?

I'm working on the review and haven't done any of the studio tests or product shots yet. Give me a few days for the review. I may cough up a photo of the camera in the meantime. Were you looking for something in particular? Because you can find it in the reviews? There are a couple of user review for it, too.

[photophorous]

Forget the camera, those last two shots are awesome! :thumbsup:

[MB1]

It does look good.

I would like to know how a JPEG image looks right out of the camera as I am thinking about one for a top end carry around camera for non serious vacation type stuff and I don't want to fool around with RAW conversions for those.

[Photo-John]

I would like to know how a JPEG image looks right out of the camera as I am thinking about one for a top end carry around camera for non serious vacation type stuff and I don't want to fool around with RAW conversions for those.

This one is right out of the camera, shot JPEG. The only adjustment is some unsharp mask during resizing. I will have high-res images in the final review, including controlled studio sample photos. You'll be able to easily compare to other cameras. But for me, it's a little big for a point-and-shoot. I just bought the Canon PowerShot SD950 IS for my own pocket P&S camera. There are a bunch of ski photos in my gallery taken with that camera. There's a thread on this forum, too. It's a real pocket-sized camera and I can carry it in a little pouch on the shoulder strap of my backpack. In the summer it will make a great ride camera. I will have a review on that camera soon, too.