Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon PowerShot G9 Digital Camera - Black (12.1MP, 6x Optical Zoom) 3.0 inch LCD

Just got this camera to supplement my Digital SLR for ease of use when going on Holiday, Took all my gear last time it was a nightmare had to take it with me every day/night as the safe in room was not big enough to accomadate,
So I cannot wait for the summer when i can really give this little baby a try I got this instead of the G10 for its Time Lapse mode and it is great fun

I have had this camera a few months now, I had eventually got fed up with the limitations of my Olympus MJU400, not that the camera gave bad results it just wasn't very versatile. I was considering buying an SLR as I loved my old Pentax but then I started to think about the weight with all the extras I would want, and then there's the size! I set myself a task and that was to find a top of the range Compact with all the versatility of an SLR. I knew I was going to miss out a bit on quality but this should be out weighed if I went towards the higher end of the market. What did I consider? There was the Nikon Coolpix P6000, the Canon Powershot G10 and the Canon Powershot G9 and without a shadow of doubt I believe the G9 out shone the rest of the market. Before I made my purchase I read a lot of reviews and was able discount most of the negative reports as without doubt you can not compare the G9 with what it isn't and that is it's not an SLR, but what you can do is look at what it has got and how it performs with what it has.
If you are going to leave the G9 on it's Auto mode then you've wasted your money, this camera needs and longs to be used and I do suspect some of the negative reviews have been written by some who have done just that and left in in auto.
I will agree the noise above 400asa is quite noticeable but why do you go above 400asa unless it's to push the camera to it's limits and then of course, quality will suffer. The results at low light and using a sensible ASA, ie below 400, the results are good. I personally haven't found the camera slow to respond but then after using the Olympus for many years even a Brownie 127 will be fast! The zoom is impressive, 6x optical and with the 4 x digital giving an effective 24x zoom. In the past the results I've seen from a digital zoom have been very poor and in fact quite pointless but with the G9 set at 12mp the results at the full 24x range under good sunlight are surprisingly good. And now, here is the point where I think the camera really beats the rest, the G9's macro mode is quite incredible especially if, once again, used in it's manual mode. The camera will quite easily show the eye of a fly or an individual grain of pollen with the image so sharp even the shadow cast by the grain of pollen is equally sharp.
My recommendation to anyone considering the Powershot G9 is if they are not prepared to experiment with the camera and use it's various manual modes then don't waste your money. This camera begs to be used and if used in the way Canon designed it you will not be disappointed.
I am one who will never hold back on my opinions or views but this is one product I find hard to criticize but if I'm pushed to say what I don't like then I would say I'm not that keen on the software and have found it quicker to download the images from the SD Card with a Card Reader and then use my own favourite photo software.