Mostly Lisa takes the Canon G9 for a spin from Lisa Bettany on Vimeo.
I just got my gadget geeky hands all over the Canon G9 (12.1 Megapixel, Canon DIGIC III Image Processor, Optical Image Stabilizer) a few days ago, and I must say, I am really impressed.
I really wanted a high quality point and shoot that I could use capturing the behind the scenes action on photo/video shoots and for grabbing quick video for my blog videos.
Although my media company owns 2 Canon HV20s, I almost always use a 2-year-old simple point and shoot, the Canon PowerShot A510, to capture most of my videos. Even though it’s from back in the days when it was cutting edge to sport a 3.2 Megapixel camera, it’s just lower maintenance, smaller, and less fragile than the HV20 and seems to scare and anger less people than the HV20 with the intimidating Rode Video Microphone. Plus, despite it’s age, the PS A510 has a great lens and can capture good 640×480 video. Also, it just quicker to just upload to upload and deal with the footage sans TB HDs.
(aside: I always bring my Gorillapod tripod (pictured above) with me wherever I go. It’s a really handy little tripod. It can bend around things and grip them. Much more flexible and lighter to carry than a standard tripod.)
And now I’m getting all gooey with the Canon G9. I may even have “love feelings” towards G9’s video quality. It shoots really sharp and clear 640 x 480px video at 30fps which is more than adequate for web content. It also shoots HD: 1024 x 768px at 15fps. The auto exposure works very quickly when moving from contrasting light conditions and it’s cool that you can zoom during video recording. It’s not optical and it does look fairly pixelated, but it’s still great that you are able to zoom.
This is getting super technical and nerdy. I promise my next post will be super fun for those who could care less about pixels, though you must admit, pixels are pretty neat. You are looking at some pretty neat ones right now. Respekt.
Does any one else love the Canon G9? What point and shoot camera are you using? And if you use your camera to capture video, give me your impressions or link me to one of your videos. Fanks!
PS. w00t! I just convinced my mum to buy the G9. First the iMac and now the G9… we are moving slowly, but surely in the right direction. Now, i just have to get her to ditch her 15 year old, very round screen TV!
Nathan
May 29, 2008 at 2:19 PMAmazing Lisa – I need to move to Toronto. Let me get this straight… you took a point-and-shoot digital camera to Kitts Beach and filmed all that AND managed to capture the soundtrack being played in the background on the beach?? Our beaches don’t have soundtracks in the USA. Simply amazing.
— or wait…. does the Canon G9 MAKE MUSIC while filming? ‘Cause now THAT would be “ace” :) Cheers.
Danny Dang
May 29, 2008 at 2:31 PMI am a huge fan of Canon’s and looking for a smaller camera to keep in my bag. I’ve been on the fence about that camera since hearing about the Simga DP1, http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sigmadp1/ , the but the price point may swing me back to the G9.
buzzbishop
May 29, 2008 at 2:57 PMNice work Lisa. How long did that take? You’re pretty swish with the movie making. Nicely done.
Michael
May 29, 2008 at 3:00 PMthanks for your jealousy inspiring G9 review. after inspecting once again my humble Fujipix S700, I discover I too could zoom in on a loaf of raisin bread while capturing video with a point and shoot.
Thanks for showing me the way to end my hunger pang.
:)
Michael
ps. Raisin Bread here: http://snurl.com/2bgi6
Tawcan
May 29, 2008 at 3:16 PMWow that video quality is amazing! I have a Canon A70 and just recently jumped into the DSLR world so won’t be taking any videos.
Wes Fierce
May 29, 2008 at 3:20 PMI lol’d for reals when you typed “Respekt.” Gettin it torn for da indoor storm! Make some noise in the area! POH! POH!
Jeremy Latham
May 29, 2008 at 3:21 PMGreat little video Lisa! I’ve been eyeing up that G9 since it was introduced, looks like a nice point and shoot. And it shoots RAW.
I’ve got a Rebel XT for taking real pictures. We picked up a Casio Exilim 7.2 as a point and shoot a couple of years ago at xmas. We bought it for the party season and to have with us all the time because its so nice and small (it might even fit in an Altoids box). Unfortunately the picture quality is quite poor in low-light situations, but on the upside, it takes pretty good video.
Thanks again for making me drool over all your nice gear! (MB Air…G9…HV20…)
Ducho
May 29, 2008 at 3:31 PMjaja, the squirrelll voice was very fun…
Lyndon
May 29, 2008 at 3:37 PMThat’s pretty sweet! (My poor little G3 weeps in the corner as I say that)
Any chance you could edit the original clip of the squirrel looking for the nut into a shorter clip? I’d love to post that part of the video and your voice over, on my blog.
Jauder Ho
May 29, 2008 at 3:40 PMI’m undecided about the G9. It looks to be a pretty good camera but it would be nice if it came with a 28mm equivalent instead of 35mm on the wide end.
I think the hunt is still on for the ultimate P&S, the Sigma DP1 looked promising, especially with the big sensor but the sloooow RAW speed just kills things. Mike Johnston’s article over at Luminous Landscape pretty much describe what I would like in a P&S. http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/DMD.shtml
I would probably only add the ability to screw on a polarizing filter and that would be pretty much perfect.
Now I’m torn between buying a WP-DC9 for the Canon SD800IS or springing for the case + Canon G9 for my upcoming trip to Cancun. Decisions decisions.
Greg from Make Money Online
May 29, 2008 at 5:41 PMThe video quality on all your post is amazing. I have dsl and video of high quality is hard to load and yours always does. How do you do this?
Asela de Saram
May 29, 2008 at 6:35 PMI bought my sister a Sony Cybershot T70 about 6 months back. It has a 8.1MP with a full touch-screen LCD, it even has models in black, white, silver and pink finishes.
http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/16156/sony-cybershot-dsc-t70/
Michael Zahora
May 29, 2008 at 8:46 PMGreat video Lisa.
My set up is the same G9 with a Gorillapod SLR. If you shoot RAW with the G9 you should check out Aperture 2. Great RAW conversion software for the G9 and any other camera that shoots RAW. And the image management end is brilliant.
Clintus
May 30, 2008 at 6:59 AMYeah, that’s a solid camera for sure. I still need to get me one of those gorilla pods though.
moosika!
May 30, 2008 at 10:01 AMThe song is beautiful! Where’s the details on it? What’s it called! Who made it! Forget the camera! I can’t believe no one asked.
Chris Magnusson
May 30, 2008 at 10:46 AMI <3 my G9! I’m looking into acquiring a Gorillapod to accessorize it.
Mel
May 30, 2008 at 1:54 PMSHIT, SONN!!!
i just got the G9 aussi!! as a graduation pressie
WE ARE NOW CAMERA BUDDIES akudvf;gua;rgh;aoebhgru!!!!!!
guess what.. i named it Gina.. i am so clever =D
what are you gonna name yours? and muchos congratulationss
erik
May 31, 2008 at 9:42 AMIf they can fit one inside the 3G iPhone, I’ll take it. Otherwise… too much crap to fit in my pockets!
Giorgio
May 31, 2008 at 11:16 AMLisa tell me the name of the song ! Too emotional !!
Ryan Dempsey
May 31, 2008 at 7:35 PMCasio Exilim EX-S10 when I need to pack really lite. 10.1 megapixels. As small as my LG Shine, smaller than the iphone. World’s smallest ten megapixel camera apparently. And the Gorilla pod rocks the house party.
Video Battle: Creative Vado vs Pure Digital Flip | cyberbuzz
June 4, 2008 at 11:09 AM[…] POSTSCRIPT Here’s the video I was talking about from Mostly Lisa. […]
Dooz
June 5, 2008 at 10:58 PMHi,
thanks for the review, Lisa! Why in hell did you spelled respect in german?
Greetings from Germany!
Daniel
Natasha
June 7, 2008 at 4:13 AMWow, the quality of you video is awesome, and that soundtrack also made me a little emotional *sniffs*. Ok, maybe I’m being a little dramatic, but it’s a very beautiful track. **Waits patiently for Lisa to upload the song.** By the way, very cool blog. :)
Norhafidz
June 13, 2008 at 3:00 AMNice video lisa, G9 is awesome, lucky squirrel :P
Eric Hamilton
June 13, 2008 at 9:55 AMI’m with you. The Canon G9 is ACE!
DavidH
June 15, 2008 at 1:10 PMI love my Canon G9. I picked it up on 2007-10-13 and I’ve had NO problems. It’s great with a 8gig SDHC.
TWIP » TWIP Podcast Episode #33 - Mostly Lisa
June 15, 2008 at 6:16 PM[…] – Another happy G9 user. In fact, she has some nice video on her site: The Canon G9 is Ace. […]
Dave Nelson
June 16, 2008 at 6:49 AMI just bought a G9 last night and am already in love with it after reading half way through the owners manual.
Andrew Morrison
June 26, 2008 at 9:49 PMLong time reader, first time commenter…
Thanks for the demo. It inspired me to get a new clicker.
One question on videos:
Viddler or Vimeo?
I’m just to the left of an incompetent tech noob (I slapped together Urban Diner through a diet of ale, trial, error, and patient WordPress forum oompa loompas), and for ease of embedding I started with YouTube. The quality, however, was always frustratingly dodgy, and I’ve been on the lookout for a new way. A friend suggested that I switch to Vimeo, which I have with no complaints, but your Viddler vids look extra super double plus clean.
Whaddya think?
Mostly Lisa
June 27, 2008 at 4:18 PM@Andrew — hi-5 for the comment. Vimeo is the best as far as video quality. Viddler highly compresses their video a bit more than Vimeo, but it’s still miles above YouTube. You can tell the difference in quality between Vimeo vid above and this: Mayan Adventure Viddler Vid
Viddler is an awesome community, so if you like to share and meet cool peeps, it’s a great place to upload your vids.
Another option is using TubeMogul to distribute your video to a whole bunch of video platforms all at once.
Andrew Morrison
June 28, 2008 at 11:14 AMThanks Lisa. Very kind. The bummer thing about my embedded vimeo vids is that no volume control or progress bar shows up. Take a look here for an example:
http://urbandiner.ca/2008/06/14/ud-gets-vid-upgrade/
Am I doing something wrong that you can see?
dano
July 4, 2008 at 10:50 PMI have been f’n evangelical about this camera since I got it early this year. It’s my “kicking around town, when I don’t want to lug gear” camera and now i never want to lug gear.
Pretty much everything on my blog is shot with it:
http://www.danopendygrasse.com/Details/details/blog.php
but I really can’t wait to shoot it underwater. The time lapse mode was plenty of fun in the stormy mountains this winter.
john piercy
July 9, 2008 at 4:28 AMhi Lisa ,,, Ive seen some amazing Timelapse videos done with this camera , just do a search on you tube
I may replace my Canon SD500 with this G9 soon
Do you upload video straight to Vimeo out of your Canon P&S
Im using a G4 Powerbook and use Expert Settings when I upload .Not getting good results :(
john piercy
July 9, 2008 at 4:32 AM****@buzzbishop — the actual videoing took about 20 mins and the editing about 45 mins and the compressing and uploading like alllll day! i’m gonna do a post on compressing video because it’s so complicated and frustrating. *******
I’ll look forward to that blog post of compressing ,perhaps my expert settings are not so expert
jp in ontario