Magnolia
Point & shoot cameras have always been a bit of a double-edged sword with me. I love them for their convenience and portability, but always felt at a disadvantage in using them for “serious” photography. I realize that this is a bit of a predujicial judgement on my part, because certainly great images can be made with a variety of tools. However, it is not without some justification. The small sensors used in these cameras are quite limiting when compared to the quality you obtain from a DSLR. And – make a photograph without a tripod?! Blasphemous. In some cases though, these times are changing.
A few notable landscape photographers have reviewed the Canon G10, that have placed this camera in the “hmmmm” area of my mind. Guy Tal’s review and Michael Reichmann’s review both left me with the impression that this camera is capable of some very fine results. Michael was really brave and dared to compare the camera’s results with his medium format back. It makes for some very interesting reading. Both of these guys have provided some fine examples, so there is no need for me to repeat comparisons, etc, etc. I suggest reading both reviews if you are looking for a more portable camera for those casual walks in the woods.
Something that really stood out to me is in Guy’s review where he mentioned …
“What surprised me more was that I found myself paying attention to things I wouldn’t normally photograph, namely trash dumped by local idiots who use the place for target practice. I generally try to avoid these reminders of the uglier side of humanity, and having to set up a tripod and larger camera to photograph them would likely ruin my mood and the magic of the place. Yet having a hand-holdable little camera at my grasp almost compelled me to aim it at just about anything in sight.” – Guy Tal, Jan 2009
These words rang true for me in my own experiences. Not only was I satisfied with the technical quality of the images, but I found some different compositions I don’t think I would have made if I was just hiking around with my normal set of gear and tripod. That in itself is a bit to reflect upon. Why wouldn’t I have seen the same things?
I suppose there is a lot to be said for keeping things simple. It is difficult to quantify the stress impact of hauling gear around and fumbling with controls has on our creative instincts. But it is there to some extent. I certainly don’t see the Canon G10 as a replacement for my DSLRs – but it has become a notable compliment to them.
The problem for me is that the G10 still looks a bit bulky, and that’s why I carry an old Casio EX-Z750 P&S around. That said the image quality from Casio’s ‘plastic’ lens and small sensor is clearly not up to the job for anything serious and so the search for my perfect P&S continues…
Well, don’t take my word for it Carl. 🙂 I am liking this camera the more I get familiar with it. A lot of the controls are very intuitive.
Hey Mark,
Thanks – just what I need, more gear. 🙂 I’m pretty keen to get a little P&S for some backpacking trips, and I think this year I’ll do that. Appreciate the post.
Cheers
Carl
I also have to confess that I rarely carry my tripod. Yes, I know that I should, but…. I just enjoy the process so much more without luggling that thing around. Sometimes, when I get back I regret the decision. But, overall, the joy of working without it overrides the pain of lost shots.
My son follows me around with his fine pix and puts together some nice shots for being only 9, and then he reminds me of how easy it was and a lot lighter too carry !!! 😉
Mark,
Interesting post made me think more about using what I have with me to take more photos. I have doing this more and more lately with the ‘toy’ camera built into my iPhone. I’m finding that it does help me think about more interesting compositions than I normally would. Perhaps even forcing it because I have no other choice at the moment of capture. The same can be said for the limited post-processing available with iPhone apps(Tiltshift, camerabag, etc)
I’ve seen some wonderful images from some of these point and shoot digital cameras. I knew a very talented photography from way back that used point and shoot film cameras (before digital) for the majority of his work which was very fine indeed.
I had to laugh at your comment about the tri-pod. I admit it, I am a blasphemer…I hate using the tri-pod. I have a fine one but very rarely use it, even in the studio. I find them very annoying, and for me much too limiting. I need to move constantly. I am probably ADHD (lol) and since I have the attention span and patience of a gnat I rarely will drag it out. I do however use a mono-pod when I get tired during particularly long days of shooting. Of course there are times when I have no choice but to use the tri-pod so I grudgingly do it.
Roberta – Darwin is a favorite of mine also.
Thomas, yes – the G10 is still limiting when it comes to ISO. Noise becomes intrusive above 400 I believe. The linked articles seem to support that as well. I look forward to the day a full frame sensor is in a P&S camera.
Ed, Adrian, thank you for the comments.
Hello Sarah,
Thank you for the heads up about PIO. I am not sure why my email couldn’t be located, it is listed in many places throughout my site. I hope the comment wasn’t intended as SPAM since it was material not directly related to the content of the post.
Nonetheless, I did check out PIO. Unfortunately, I cannot support it due to overly restrictive terms of use and encroachment on rights associated with artists’ ownership of their works and how they are distributed and controlled.
Best regards,
Mark
Hi Mark,
I know that this isn’t exactly a comment, but I couldn’t find your e-mail address, and I wanted to write and tell you about a new website for artists, musicians, fashion designers, and filmmakers: http://www.PutItOn.com. I’ve been using the site as an artist and have my work there, and am trying to support it because I believe in it. Basically, the site allows artists from all over the world to connect, display their portfolios, and sell their work (with NO commission taken!). The site gives artists a FREE gigabyte of space to showcase their portfolios, allows you to stream audio and video works, lets you create live personal broadcasts, and translates any writing into ten different languages. If you could take the time to visit the site, and if you like it too, let your readers know about it, and even sign up yourself or link to it on your site it would be greatly appreciated! We are trying to make a go of helping out artists everywhere and are trying to get the word out, so please help us out if you like the site after checking it out! Thank you!
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Darwin Wigget, one of my favorite photographers, also has an article on the G9 on Nature Photographers (http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles1207/dw1207-1.html). He used to have a gallery with images from that camera on his personal website, but it’s gone now. The images were fantastic – of course he also says that gear is not what makes the images! 😉
I keep a small Canon SD 850 IS on my belt at all times. It won’t match the G10 I’m sure, but it provides good clean images that display excellently on blogs or web sites.
P&S cameras have certainly come a long way in a relatively short time. Thanks for the review and reminder.
Hi Mark, yep they are becoming interesting little power cameras. I got the the G9 about 10 months ago now and it produced bigger files than my 20D which was my DSLR workhorse at the time! I do agree about the freedom these camera give you although I did find the G9 to produce some slightly ‘wild’ sunset colours even in RAW. ISO on the G9 is also quite noisy when you get past 200. However they can definitely give you images that you can still print big and with fine sharpness. I would highly recommend them as a complement to the DSLRS too. Have fun with it. Beautiful image in this post too!