# [Wet Thumb Forum]-G5



## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

I've been out of the digicam market since I bought my own a couple years ago. I have been thinking about getting something better.

Does anyone have comments about the Canon G5? How does it compare to other cameras in the same price range? Is the G line outmoded and 5 the end of the line?

What advantage do low-end 35mm digital SLRs have over high-end "prosumer" cameras? Are the advantages worth the price difference?

Roger Miller

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_"The indispensible first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want" -- Ben Stein_


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## Guest (Dec 19, 2003)

Roger,

1. How much money are you willing to spend ?

Cheapest digital SLR - Canon Rebel, will cost you around $800, Nikon D100 - $1,500. 
Decent 5MP digital will cost you around 500-600, unless you want "better" models.

2. How much time do you want to dedicate ?

I know you are into landscaping photography and various topics not necessarily related to aquarium. I'm assuming that you are going to put this camera to use and you will take advantage of all the options.

I have Canon G2 w/external flash Canon EX420. If I was to do it all over again, I would invest in Nikon brand. Again, price is higher but the quality is better. I heard from G5 owners that camera has additional features compare to my G2 but I wouldn't spend over $600 for it. Forget about G3, which was a marketing move made by Canon to make more profit before releasing G5 series.

Nikon 5400 - excellent macro/standard capabilities - ~$650

Nikon 5700 - one of the best digital cameras on the market IMHO - ~$800 or more.

Final word.

If you have money, go for Nikon D100. I don't know if you looked at AGA member's cameras but a lot of them were Nikon D100 with few other SLRs. 
If money is an issue, go for Nikon 5400/5700.

My next camera will be a digital SLR, probably Nikon brand - No question

Instead of giving you general info/specs on above models, please look at below links.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/

http://www.dpreview.com/

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Regards,
Jay Luto


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## Jay Reeves (Jan 26, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> Does anyone have comments about the Canon G5? How does it compare to other cameras in the same price range? Is the G line outmoded and 5 the end of the line?


As far as the G5 is concerned - some reviews have said the G3 is a better camera - if you can live with 3 mp instead of 5. I am waiting for some real life responses to the just released Sony 828 to see how it performs. It is priced equal +/- to Cannon 300D.

Check out this link for camera reviews and info - http://www.dpreview.com/ recent "news" item is an announcement by Cannon that they will be releasing about 20 new digicams next year. Also worth spending some time reading the forums that are relevant to what brands you are looking for. A word of caution however, I have been reading the STF (sony talk forum) and there was a lot of 828 bashing going on. Usually was blamed on Cannon people trolling. After reading the forum for a while I have become acquainted with some posters names that have good judgement and post meaningful information or opinions.

From what I have been able to gleen from the forums is that the dslr's have a larger sensor and therefore reduced "noise" and overall better picture quality. For aquarium photography this might mean better light gathering ability with available light?

While the dslr's are easily going to produce better pics two things come to mind. One is the final cost of ownership with lens. Yes you can migrate lens to your next dslr body, but it is a commitment to spend some money. Dslr will not have (oh darn wadaya call it?) you know the actual view of the pic on the LCD before you shoot. I really like the real time view of the scene that fixed lens digitals offer.

If Oliver is reading this maybe he could comment on how this difference has played out for him. I would also be curious what kind of camera did he use before getting the 300D. All of his pics look good.

Regards,
Jay Reeves


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## Jay Reeves (Jan 26, 2004)

Jay Luto wrote -



> quote:
> 
> I have Canon G2 w/external flash Canon EX420.


Amazing- for some reason I thought you used a Sony 717. Are all of the pics on your site from the G2? I am impressed - the results are very good! Do you hand hold the external flash overhead for fish pics?

Jay Reeves


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## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> 1. How much money are you willing to spend ?
> 
> Cheapest digital SLR - Canon Rebel, will cost you around $800, Nikon D100 - $1,500.


The G5 is around $600. I'm willing to pay that much. I'm willing to pay more if the quality of the results justify the price.



> quote:
> 
> 2. How much time do you want to dedicate ?
> 
> I know you are into landscaping photography and various topics not necessarily related to aquarium. I'm assuming that you are going to put this camera to use and you will take advantage of all the options.


I started with a mid-level 3 mp camera (olympus C3000) partly to see how much use I would get from it. I got enough use to justify a considerable upgrade. From mid-August to mid-October alone I took around 1000 photos. I tend to take 30-50 every time I take the camera somewhere. And I take it out a lot.

One thing I found only after I started bumping my head on the camera's limitations was that the available addon lenses and external flash were overpriced. One requirement I would like to apply to a new purchase is that the camera needs to take fairly standard accessories and/or the accessories need to be reasonably priced.



> quote:
> 
> Nikon 5400 - excellent macro/standard capabilities - ~$650
> 
> Nikon 5700 - one of the best digital cameras on the market IMHO - ~$800 or more.


 The 5400 was my leading alternative to the G5. I'll have to look into the 5700.



> quote:
> 
> If you have money, go for Nikon D100.


I don't think I want to go that far unil I'm convinced that the bang is worth the buck. Availability of lenses and other accessories could influence the decision. I think there's probably a digital SLR in my future, but I don't know that the future is now.

Thanks,
Roger Miller

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_"The indispensible first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want" -- Ben Stein_


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## Guest (Dec 20, 2003)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by Jay:
> As far as the G5 is concerned - some reviews have said the G3 is a better camera - if you can live with 3 mp instead of 5.


????
G2-4MP
G3-4MP
G5-5MP 
Why are you saying 3MP ????

As I said before, G3 was a commercial move to sell more cameras before releasing G5. There was only few months between G3-G5 models. Not much was changed between G2vsG3,except some minor outside modification. I can't imagine G3 being better then G5.



> quote:
> 
> Amazing- for some reason I thought you used a Sony 717. Are all of the pics on your site from the G2? I am impressed - the results are very good! Do you hand hold the external flash overhead for fish pics?


Yes, all those pictures are taken with Canon G2 with use of stroboframe, hand or basically attached to camera.

As for as Sony 717 and other models, although great cameras, I wouldn't buy one. Sony requires brand accessories from customers. Nothing generic unless you DIY.

My motto. "Sony should stick to TV" (*sorry Sony owners).

Nikon is the only way to go, and I don't even own one







.

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Regards,
Jay Luto


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## Jay Reeves (Jan 26, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> Why are you saying 3MP ????


 My mistake.

As far as my comment about the differences between the G2/G3 and G5 here is a quote from dpreview -


> quote:
> 
> "The G5 suffers from higher noise than the G3, and notably higher than the competition, it also has a chromatic aberration problem which is more than I would expect to see on a modern digital camera."


 The only value (to me) of pointing this out is that apparently not all camera models as they move through the generations are *better* than what preceded. The quote can be found on this page -web page The noise or CA may, or may not, be a problem. It is just a difference









Here is a site that has accessory lens for Sony 7x7 including a macroweb page



> quote:
> 
> Nikon is the only way to go, and I don't even own one .


 Perfectly understandable - Nikons are impressive. Very impressive! The other camera that I was wowwed by was a 3MP Fuji Finepix (don't recall the model #). But it was amazing for aquarium photography without a flash. Doesn't Nikon make Fuji bodies or the lens or both?

Like Roger, I am considering buying a higher end fixed lens camera - or maybe dslr. I hope to learn more from those of you that have had success with digital.










Thanks, 
Jay Reeves


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## rudedog (Feb 6, 2003)

Jay (Luto),



> quote:
> 
> As I said before, G3 was a commercial move to sell more cameras before releasing G5. There was only few months between G3-G5 models. Not much was changed between G2vsG3,except some minor outside modification. I can't imagine G3 being better then G5.


I have to disagree with this. The G3 has far more to offer over the G2 than just minor outside modifications. Some of the main improvements are the G3 has a 4x zoom as apposed to the G2s 3x. The G3 also has a faster top shutter speed, the newer digic processor, focus bracketing, manual flash adjustment and 1st and 2nd curtain flash sync. The G3 also has flexible AF point selection which allows you to select the focus point from over 300 positions over the image frame (the G2 has 3 selectable focus points)

The only differences between the G3 and G5 is the exterior colour of the camera and the G5 has an extra 1 megapixel resolution. The G3 should definately not be overlooked as an alternative to the G5 as it can be picked up fairly cheap now and has all the same features as G5 (apart from the 4mp image sensor)

Sorry to be picky but I felt I had to point this out.

The Canon vs Nikon is an old and on-going argument. I feel that the only way you can truly be objective on this is if you have owned and used cameras from both brands.

rob

[This message was edited by rudedog on Mon January 05 2004 at 02:58 AM.]

[This message was edited by rudedog on Mon January 05 2004 at 03:00 AM.]

[This message was edited by rudedog on Mon January 05 2004 at 03:07 AM.]


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## Guest (Jan 5, 2004)

Good feedback rudedog,

Way too many cameras to get familiar w/ all the details.

But then again. You disagreed w/ my ENTIRE statement

_G3 was a commercial move to sell more cameras before releasing G5. There was only few months between G3-G5 models._

but then you said.

_The only differences between the G3 and G5 is the exterior colour of the camera and the G5 has an extra 1 megapixel resolution._

So it was a commercial move after all. Just like many others said







.

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Regards,
Jay Luto


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## rudedog (Feb 6, 2003)

Hello Jay,

Just re-read your earlier comments - looks like I misinterpreted your statement "Not much has changed between the G2vsG3, except some minor outside modification". I thought you were saying there was not much difference between the G2 and G3 - sorry for getting the wrong end of the stick









rob


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