Comments on: Canon Releases firmware update for Canon G10

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:49:52 +0000

adrien,
you might could ebay your g10, then get the g11. That’s a tough one, and likely something better comes along at any moment?

By: Adrien Lamothe

Adrien Lamothe — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:52:48 +0000

Canon recently released the G11 and rather than increase sensor size they cut back to 10 megapixels, improved the sensor technology by moving the sensor electrodes closer to the surface and also apparently improving the camera’s IQ (i.e. better algorithms in DIGIC IV.) The G11 appears to produce images with much less noise than the G10. Canon also listened to all the grumbling from users who wanted a swivel screen LCD, which is a great feature.

By cutting back to 10 megapixels, Canon is finally acknowledging that image quality trumps resolution. Nikon has found an image quality “sweet spot” at 12 megapixels in their D300 (DX format sensor) and D700/D3 (FX format sensor.) The D700 does a little better in low light than the D300, proving that larger light bucket sizes on the sensor are better. Higher resolution sensors do tend to produce better looking photos in well-lit situations. My G10 does great in daylight, but still has some noticeable noise when zooming in on the image. My Nikon D300 images are crystal clear with almost no noise, when set on ISO-100, even in low light. I’m not sure Nikon’s lateral chromatic aberration reduction technology would work as well in a small sensor camera with a high number of megapixels (though they claim it helps in their D3X 24 megapixel model.)

So now, only three months after buying a G10, do I go out and get a G11? Is is nice having a small camera that produces great images. There are also some other great point and shoots on the market to consider.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 22:35:30 +0000

The kit is more than the camera! Still would be fun to have.

By: Adrien Lamothe

Adrien Lamothe — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:30:29 +0000

The underwater kit for the Olympus Evolt E-520 is only $699 ($599 on sale at B&H.) The Evolt E-520 is a very capable camera for the price (too bad the flash sync speed is low.)

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:22:24 +0000

I think they haven’t seen the market for the larger sensor compact, but hopefully the E-P1 is changing that perception…

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:21:24 +0000

Underwater sounds like fun, and you’re right about the price, I wish the 5D2 underwater cases were that cheap.

By: Adrien Lamothe

Adrien Lamothe — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:18:46 +0000

I’m also hoping to have a chance to operate the G10 underwater, using one of the underwater cases. The underwater cases for the G10 are very inexpensive (most are around $300,) compared to $3,000+ for an underwater case for a DSLR. The G10 has an Underwater white balance setting.

By: Adrien Lamothe

Adrien Lamothe — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:12:35 +0000

It apparently has the latest firmware – when I went to Canon’s site for the firmware update (about two weeks ago) and entered the serial number I was informed that the camera already had the latest firmware. The camera doesn’t have the little mark on the inside of the battery cover (see http://tinyurl.com/c3k9dr) indicating the update, so absence of that mark apparently doesn’t mean the camera doesn’t have the latest firmware.

I enjoy this little camera very much. I bought it a month ago, because I almost always see some great shots when traveling around on my daily business. For a while, I carried my DSLR everywhere but that gets a bit tiring.

I recently took my G10 to a couple of events (see flickr.com/adrienlamothe), to test it out. It didn’t fair so well in low light but the low light shots were acceptable. Also, the color balance was a bit off. I’ve tried using my ExpoDisc to adjust Custom color balance but it doesn’t work. Perhaps I can record a shot with the ExpoDisc and then apply that shot to the others in Photo Shop to adjust the white balance. Don’t know why I haven’t done that already, probably because I mostly shoot outdoors during daylight and I’m happy with the G10 Daylight white balance setting. It would be nice if the G10 had a manual temperature WB input.

I don’t see why Canon couldn’t have just gone ahead and came out with a slightly larger version of the G10, with an APS-C CMOS sensor. I don’t yet understand the physics of optics, so perhaps it isn’t possible to design a lens for such a camera without going to an SLR sized body.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:31:42 +0000

Is your problem occuring before or because of the latest firmware.

And yes, everybody seems to like their G10, which is good. Yet I resist…and I need a point and shoot.

By: Adrien Lamothe

Adrien Lamothe — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:46:00 +0000

I’ve encountered a different problem with the G10. A series of shots taken in RAW were badly underexposed. Also, while taking those shots the flash didn’t work, which may be why the shots were underexposed – the processor thought the flash was working and reduced exposure time accordingly. Other than that, the G10 is a great little camera, though macro mode and manual focusing are a bit disappointing.