Paul Lester Photo

Macro mode
A number of you have Canon G12s and I was curious about the camera, so I rented one. My primary reason for renting one was to let Debra try it out. She has a smaller camera, a few years old, and wanted to see what a more advanced camera might offer her. After she finished with it, I got to play with it for a few days. Today, it goes back to LensRentals.com. This is not a review, merely some impressions that I had while using it.

What’s the same?
The one thing that I noticed about the camera was that, from what I could tell, it was just a bigger S90, with controls in different places. This made it very easy to use as I was familiar with the meaning system and, or the most part, where things were located on the camera. I was able to operate the camera flawlessly … well, almost. The front ring is there. The screen size is about the same.

What’s different?
Ergonomically, the G12 feels better in my hands. Though Canon still doesn’t have the same talents as Nikon, as far as ergonomics go, it felt better. There’s a grip on the front, a thumb rest on the back, and some things are well thought out. As Debra mentioned, I don’t feel like I’m going to drop the camera, which is how I feel most times when I pick up the S90 and why I always use the strap around my wrist.

I did, however, initially have trouble. My thumb and the AE lock button kept getting together. It was rather annoying. Over the few days that I used the camera, I had to always be aware of the position of my thumb so that I didn’t hit that button unless I wanted to.

Another control that I kept hitting was the Function Set button. It is raised above the surface on a small platform. It resided directly at the base of my thumb. If I adjusted my hand a bit, my thumb kept hitting the button and bringing up some mode that I didn’t want. So, I had to be aware of my hand position. This was distracting.

I like the slightly longer zoom range, 28-135 vs 28-105, though I would really love something like 28 – 200, but we can’t have everything.

The viewfinder was interesting, but not useful. It does have a diopter adjustment, but no information inside. It might be somewhat useful for framing, but after looking through it a couple of times, I pretty much abandoned it in favor of the rear LCD.

The rear LCD swivel idea is nice, but I found that, in practice, I didn’t use it except to flip it around and place it flat against the camera, just like the S90 or an other P&S that I’ve seen. I guess that it could be useful, but I’ve gotten use to not having one so, not a selling point.

I did really like the ISO dial on the top as well as the exposure compensation dial, which I did not use. I prefer exposure lock and recomposing. It’s faster than messing with that dial, but it was a good idea to put LEDs there to be able to see in dimly lit conditions.

Of course, being larger, it’s quite a bit heavier than the S90, twice as much actually: 396g vs 197g and you can really feel it. I had it in the pocket of my windbreaker and there was a noticeable drag weight there. Also, it’s big enough that it didn’t fit into my pants pockets so well, unless I was wearing cargo pants. Then, again, the weight on one side is noticeable.

I had no complaints whatsoever on the picture quality. They were pretty the much the same as the S90. Of course, the G12 has better video capabilities than the S90, but my iPhone incredible HD video capabilities and it is rare that I use video.

Overall, I enjoyed using the camera and can see why those of you who have them enjoy it. It is a great camera. However, I didn’t see it, necessarily, as an upgrade to the S90, just a different S90, or perhaps the S90 is just a smaller G12.

Up next, I have a Nikon 1 – V1 on the way. This weekend is Chinese New Year’s festival at The Peaceful Dragon. I’m really curious about the ability to do 60 fps with an electronic shutter as well as 400 fps slow motion video. The camera arrives tomorrow so I’m going to have to immerse myself in it quickly so I can get some good use out of it on Saturday … since my D300 is STILL in NY at Nikon’s repair facility waiting on parts.

Wow! A full 60% of my last few posts, 3/5, have included my photo. Narcissism? Inflated ego? Nah. I just have a few that I liked that Debra took of me. Usually, as you know, I’m on the other side of the camera.

I read an excellent post by Ken the other day, Does Style Change? And, as am I wont to do, I started thinking about my personal photography, such as it is today. Sometimes, when I look at the work of others who are doing fantastic landscape photos (Mark), exceptional equine photos (Anita), or beautiful photography on historic locations (Earl), I think: Wow! They really know what they are doing and know what they like! I’m all over the frickin board!!!

This is not to single out anyone in particular and exclude others. Those were just some names that popped into my head. There are many others, to be sure. To throw one more in the mix, I just love Tom Dills eye for architecture. We shot side by side, and this is always interesting, at the same location and I was impressed by what he got. I didn’t ‘see’ any of the same stuff.

So, back to Ken’s post: As I read it, I thought of my style and I’ve come to no conclusion. I’m still not sure what style is, truthfully. Perhaps it is your personal way of shooting/portraying your chosen subject. It seems to defy definition. In cruising back through my blog, looking at my photos, I see some that I think are pretty impressive, others, not so much. It’s the nature of the game, I suppose.

Regarding subjects: At one point, I fancied myself as a landscape/nature photographer and between 2004, the beginning of this blog, and about 2007, perhaps 2008, most of my photos portrayed that thought. Around 2008, my tastes started to drift more towards people, then events, now it seems to encompass everything. LOL

I’ve become The Journalist and I like it. I had fantasies of becoming a newspaper photographer when I first started shooting, among other types, too. Just this week, I’ve been asked a couple of times for photos from last year’s Peaceful Dragon events. In going back through the photos, I realized that I was at nearly every event and no matter what they asked for, I could provide it. It’s a good thing that I read The DAM Book. It gave me some good ideas for keeping things where I could find them.

As a final note, a photo of mine was published the other day in The Lake Wylie Pilot. So, in retrospect, I guess that I am a journalist!