Some of you know that I've been in search of a bit more serious camera than the S500 I had. I've been through the Canon S1 (crap lens) and the Canon Pro 1 (not pure crap lens, but not a $1000 lens either...) trying to find a good digicam with a long zoom range. I haven't tried the Nikon, or Minolta long zoom versions so I can't say either way on them butthe fact is that as far as Canon goes, the long zoom digicams just ain't happenin'.
The consumer model (S1) maintains it's price point by skimpin' on the lens. The Pro 1 performs well except for the fact that the lens isn't as well designed as it should be at it's price point. It honestly gave me the impression that Canon wanted to be first to market with an 8 megapixel long zoom prosumer camera and they cut corners to meet that goal.
After a lot of thought I was almost convinced that I would try the Olypmus C-8080 Wide Zoom. It didn't have the zoom range I wanted but according to the reviews and sample images it was the best of the 8 megapixel prosumer grade digicams available right now. The thing is, it costs danged near $1000. For not much more I could buy a digital SLR to use with my Canon lenses and get even better images. Couldn't bring myself to do it.
Once the Oly C-8080 was ruled out as an option I turned to the 5-6 megapixel digicam choices. After checkin' out all the review sites and the sample images available on the net I decided that the G5 was the one I should go with. I honestly think the G series is the best in it's class. It offers TONS of camera and image control for when you need it. It also does a great job as a point and shoot when you use it that way. It is definitely larger and a little less convenient to carry compared to the S500 but the image quality and level of control it offers above and beyond what the S500 gives you is well worth the trade off in size.
After gettin' all the settings to my likings and takin' several "getting to know you" images with the G5 I'm definitely happy I made this move. If you're lookin' for a higher end consumer grade digicam in the $500-$600 range I HIGHLY recommend the G5. It is one heck of a camera. The G5 carries on the Canon tradition of ruling the digicam market in my opinion, just like the S500, the 10D, and the EOS 1D series. THIS is a CANON CAMERA!
Anyway, enough rantin' about it. Here's a few junk shots I took with it while gettin' used to the G-Series controls again. It is basically identical to the G3 I had before, only it's black and has a few new options. It was like seein' an old friend after a long time apart.
Again, the photos are junk shots. Not taken for any particular purpose other than to evaluate the performance of the G5.
First, my new, one of a kind, custom machined 1" busa lowering dog bones...
The consumer model (S1) maintains it's price point by skimpin' on the lens. The Pro 1 performs well except for the fact that the lens isn't as well designed as it should be at it's price point. It honestly gave me the impression that Canon wanted to be first to market with an 8 megapixel long zoom prosumer camera and they cut corners to meet that goal.
After a lot of thought I was almost convinced that I would try the Olypmus C-8080 Wide Zoom. It didn't have the zoom range I wanted but according to the reviews and sample images it was the best of the 8 megapixel prosumer grade digicams available right now. The thing is, it costs danged near $1000. For not much more I could buy a digital SLR to use with my Canon lenses and get even better images. Couldn't bring myself to do it.
Once the Oly C-8080 was ruled out as an option I turned to the 5-6 megapixel digicam choices. After checkin' out all the review sites and the sample images available on the net I decided that the G5 was the one I should go with. I honestly think the G series is the best in it's class. It offers TONS of camera and image control for when you need it. It also does a great job as a point and shoot when you use it that way. It is definitely larger and a little less convenient to carry compared to the S500 but the image quality and level of control it offers above and beyond what the S500 gives you is well worth the trade off in size.
After gettin' all the settings to my likings and takin' several "getting to know you" images with the G5 I'm definitely happy I made this move. If you're lookin' for a higher end consumer grade digicam in the $500-$600 range I HIGHLY recommend the G5. It is one heck of a camera. The G5 carries on the Canon tradition of ruling the digicam market in my opinion, just like the S500, the 10D, and the EOS 1D series. THIS is a CANON CAMERA!
Anyway, enough rantin' about it. Here's a few junk shots I took with it while gettin' used to the G-Series controls again. It is basically identical to the G3 I had before, only it's black and has a few new options. It was like seein' an old friend after a long time apart.
Again, the photos are junk shots. Not taken for any particular purpose other than to evaluate the performance of the G5.
First, my new, one of a kind, custom machined 1" busa lowering dog bones...
