The Canon G10 is one of those compact cameras who entire niche seems about to be overwhelmed and relegated to history by the the endless improvement of smart phone cameras, but when it came on to the market back in 2008 it was something special. Compact but incredibly solid it was the first of a series of cameras that pushed the megapixel density of its sensor to the limits. It was an (almost) pocketable camera with a 28-140mm (equivalent) zoom lens and a CCD (as opposed to CMOS) sensor that had great detail and amazingly good color ----- as long as you stayed toward the low side of the ISO settings. I was always happy with the files I got from mine when I stuck to ISO 80 or ISO 100. If I wasn't going to blow up the files much I think I got pretty decent images up to ISO 400 but after that it was pretty much an exercise in Pointillism. Noise in the shadows dominated...
The G10 has a straightforward manual exposure mode, the ability to store two custom white balance settings and, most importantly (for some) the ability to shoot RAW files. The camera takes SDHC memory cards and it even features a hot shoe and an optical finder (not much to praise about that last feature...). The one feature that helps (a bit) to take the sting out of the need to shoot at low ISOs is a very good, in lens image stabilization.
I got a "like new" G10 yesterday after having not had one for about six years. I can't remember now why I sold my original one but it must have been some rationale about not needing a small camera since I had recently jumped back into the micro four thirds, Olympus cameras. At any rate I spent some time yesterday afternoon reading the owner's manual and re-reading the old review on DPReview.com. I also ran down the battery by shooting endless video with the camera of nothing at all. I just wanted to run the battery down and then do a long charge. I had no idea about the health of the battery but a good charge seemed in order.
One thing I was thinking about when I got my "new" G10 was the fact that Adobe must have improved the RAW file converters immensely since the launch of the G10 and, perhaps the RAW files would be even better than I remembered them. And, yes, the highlight and shadow sliders really help augment the camera's dynamic range.
I was at loose ends today, just a few e-mails to return and a few props to source for an ad agency assignment we're doing next week. So, after swim practice and breakfast with Studio Dog (the rest of the family long since headed downtown to work in the coal mines of advertising...) I grabbed the camera and one of the many 8 GB SDHC cards I'd been thinking I'd never use again, and headed over to the Blanton Museum, and then to the Humanities Research Center (aka: the Harry Ransom Center) to see just how well I might be able to hand hold the little G10 while shooting in what are, in places, dim interiors.
I found the automatic white balance and exposure of the camera to be good and worked mostly in the aperture preferred mode but taking an active approach to both ISO changes and EV dial over rides. I could describe the results to you but the world wide web allows me to post samples images instead so I'll spare you what might have been thousands more words.
So where are we now with this whole retro compact camera enthusiasm? Well, I've got two new batteries coming via UPS tomorrow, along with a new charger. I've also ordered a later model, the G15 as well as two new batteries for that camera. I think I'll charge all the batteries up and pack the two cameras into a small, small backpack and then take them (after swim practice) to Eeyore's Birthday Party at the park tomorrow afternoon. Should be a really long and extensive test of the way I'll be shooting with these cameras. I hope to have some more samples on Sunday or Monday. Stay tuned.
I love the illustrations of "Mickey Mao" in the third panel from the left.
I know a lot of people in other cities think that their burgs have a lock on great photo collections but UT boasts not only the Gernsheim Collection, the first photograph, and the Magnum Print Collection but apparently about five million other artifacts of photography.....
A most boring show at the HRC. "The craft tradition in the U.S. and England in the 18th century. Mostly "literature about....."
But just behind this divider is one of my favorite Elliott Erwitt photographs; the photograph of his very pregnant first wife laying in bed with a small kitten sitting next to her belly.
You know the old saying, "With Age Comes Wisdom"? Well, apparently, sometimes age comes along...
23 comments:
We still use a Canon G10 as our hiking camera. Guess which camera took most of the framed photos in our house? The G10. The other gear is just too heavy for 10 mile hikes in the desert.
I had a G10 that I drowned when I fell in a brook while hiking. I loved that camera. When I sent it for repair Canon offered me a refurbished G11 in lieu of undrowning the G10 and I took it. Fewer MPs, thus less noise and still a fine little camera. Now it needs repair. The dial control on the back has stopped working reliably. I'm debating whether to fix it just buy another refurbished replacement. Also considering an Olympus TG-5 (waterproof) as a possible replacement.
I am usually ready to go when it comes to a nostalgia based trip to rediscover the joys of old cameras. Thanks to you, Kirk, I regularly use a D700 again after a long hiatus. This is because it still offers something - big fat pixels and a pleasing way of rendering an image.
But I am not feeling this at all. A G10? It just seems a forgotten and obsolete little thing that cannot compete with a modern smartphone. There is a reason these little compact cameras have died out.
I can imagine going for a larger sensor compact but I am not feeling this at all. My iPhone XS Max has been delighting me with its computational photography, its fake bokeh and terrific dynamic range. I see no place for cameras like the G10 anymore. YMMV.
I have a G11. I haven't used it for some years but there is a photo on my wall taken with it. Close examination suggests it's not bad at all! I must get it out and play with it, though I do like using my Fuji XT2 for more serious photography. I never seem to part with cameras, Digital ones have so little value after a couple of years and I still have a huge collection of film cameras that I can't seem to part with too. I must play more!
After using a Canon DSLR at the very beginning of my conversion to digital photography, I bought a G10 as a small alternate camera. It actually became my most used camera for a year or two, going with me on several trips and wanderings around home. Then the micro 4/3 bug bit and it went into an extended period of non-use. About two years ago, I gave it to my stepson. He had owned a more recent GXX model but it had disappeared during a recent move and he said he really missed it.
You're right about the quality. Things look good at low ISO but quickly fall apart at anything approaching even ISO 400. Noise is even visible in shadows at ISO 80 in some of my pictures. Even so, there are a number of G10 photos in my files that I rank as favorites.
CHDK, if you want to geek around with your latest infatuation.
After my initial transition into digital, a Kodak DC4800, which expired, I owned a series of Canon A... Powershot cameras. Then I learned about CHDK, which "unlocks" a number of Canon higher end capabilities. I most used exposure bracketing in order to feed the HDR love affair I had at the time. Enabling the camera to zoom in video showed why Canon had disabled it - motor noise. Saving in DNG format was interesting, but painfully slow. Never got around to focus stacking, because I subsequently discovered M43rds.
It's good to have things to play with. That's how little kids learn. We more mature kids can learn that way also.
"the photograph of his very pregnant first wife laying in bed with a small kitchen sitting next to her belly."
OOOPS!
I'll be interested to hear your opinions of the new G15 vs the older G10. I'll be going to Eeyore's too. Perhaps we'll see each other.
Thanks for the catch. Damn that spellcheck. Fixed to "kitten."
G15 should arrive momentarily. But I'll only have the one battery until after tomorrow's delivery. By the way, looked slowly and carefully through your India book again this morning. I may have to take a class from you..... It's that good!!!
I processed the raw file using DXO Photlab. Cleaned up the noise and brought out the best this sensor could do.
I had a G12 and my daughter had a G10. We both enjoyed these cameras, unfortunately they both succumbed to a "Lens Error". The lens froze in the extended position. I replaced mine with an Olympus OM-D EM10 and I still struggle with it.
Kirk, glad to see you are having fun. My primary camera is a Fuji x-20small sensor point and shoot. It is and has served me very well. It has put me in a number of fairly high profile local and regional exhibitions, got me exhibited in a few national juried competitions, and has 2 of my photos hanging in our local Mayor’s office. Would I use it for a commercial shoot or in the Theatre or for a professional portrait session? Prolly not. Do I carry one all the time? Absolutely. Am I having the time of my life. Oh heck yeah! Enjoy yourself.
It all reminds me of a Magnum photo exhibition I saw a few years ago in Austin called:
Radical Transformation: Magnum Photos into the Digital Age
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/2013/magnum/
The photos were excellent and the presentation was good too. The prints were of various sizes by many Magnum photographers. I am sure lots of the people on the internet would have hated almost every single photo though because even many of the smaller prints (5x7, 6x9) were not eye cutting sharp when viewed at 3 centimeters. There would have been screaming and derision by the dogmatic extremists with their 10x loupes. Not sure about CA, distortion, and all the other things that so many people are obsessed with since I didn't even bother checking. They were wonderful viewed from a normal viewing distance. Very nice exhibition.
Probably about 90% of the photos in the exhibition were B&W. Some of the photos are famous iconic photos from Capa, Cartier-Bresson, et al that you have seen before.
Later I was walking around with my camera and I sort of wondered if all the photos in the exhibition had been taken with digital cameras if some of them, maybe a bunch of them, would have been deleted in the camera? I imagine these photographers are smart enough to not be over concerned (concerned, of course, but not over concerned) with all the technical details and let those things override what the image looks like and whether it is interesting. Fortunately, the photos had not been deleted.
Most of the photos in the exhibition could have easily been taken with my Canon G16/G15 and the technical quality in many cases would have been even better. Just being able to quickly change ISO or use Auto ISO is a huge advantage. Good ISO from 80 on up to, oh I don't know, 3200. Even 12,800 is usable and quite good compared to just slightly fast film from a long time ago. Especially if shooting in raw. A long time ago ISO 400 film was fast.
My G16 and G15 could go a long time on one battery charge. Even taking it out everyday and using it some I would mostly only charge about once every 7-10 days. Mostly I would use the mediocre OVF though and when I wasn't using it I would turn it off. I learned to judge pretty well what was missing since it only shows something like 83%.
Several years ago I created a small photo album of photos from various non-ILC, tiny sensor (less than 1") digicams. I put the name of the camera and the date in the captions.
http://www.bakubo.com/Galleries%202/Digicam%20Praise/index.html
There are just some cameras that are simply "right" and timeless, at least so long as they work. My G9 (e35-210 lens), Kodak P880 (RAW, 8 MP, e24-120 Schneider lens), and original Olympus E-M5 are my choices for small cameras that I'll never give away nor sell. They could make exhibition quality prints ten years ago and still can. M4/3 Olympus and Pentax bodies have gone through regular upgrades, with older bodies given to kids and relatives, but the G9 and P880 still lurk in my drawer and are still used. All three are more than good enough at base ISO.
Well, thank you very much, Kirk. Perhaps it will be fun to have a point and shoot photowalk. I'm pretty excited about my new used Olympus XZ-1, which also sports a CCD sensor with that lovely Olympus color.
I have a G11 in the closet. I purchased it for backpacking but found I used it as much, if not more, than my then current Nikon D70. The image quality is actually quite good and the ergonomics, but for the power zoom, suit me. I still use it occasionally, mostly when traveling and I know that I will not have much time to photograph or am going back to a frequent destination. I like the added reach over just using my iPhone. I have a big trip planned for the fall and am toying with the idea of taking the G11 over one of my Fujis (X100S, X-E2, X-T1, X-T2), to help stay within my one bag goal and to free myself from body-lens selection choices. Let's not talk about the surplus of cameras, my wife already does that.
Kirk have you considered the Fuji X30? I have not used it but that would keep you in the Fuji system with a nice evf and controls.
Michael Reichmann published an article in The Luminous Landscape in 2009 titled "You've Got to be Kidding!" comparing photographs taken by a G10 and a Hasselblad H2. If you haven't read the article, I think you'll find the results to be interesting. Here's one sentence from the article: "In every case no one could reliably tell the difference between 13X19" prints shot with the $40,000 Hasselblad and Phase One 39 Megapixel back, and the new $500 Canon G10."
Robert Pollock
You've inspired me to dig out my Lumix LX5 and charge the battery. It was a constant companion until I upgraded to a "better" Sony RX100. I've never really liked the Sony - it doesn't feel good and the (my) lens is very poor at the frame edges. Sometimes we need to reconsider if the next best thing is really necessary.
This is exactly the article I knew I had read somewhere and was trying to remember! I still have my G10 and love the colours it produces, then and now. I reflect that if Canon had written the menus for the Olympus m4/3 cameras, I wouldn’t have sold my EM5!
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