G9, G10 or G11

<p>im looking into buying a classic point & shoot. always been told about the G9 as an all time classic - but now with the G10 and G11 out, im confused. i noticed the G9 still sells for about $200 more. why is that?</p>

<p>question 2, a friend of mine literally just called to ask me - he is a surgeon, and looking for a good point & shoot to use in the operating room that would be good for close-ups, high detail, good color. would the Canon G series work? ir not a point and shoot, then a compact SLR suggestion will do.</p>

<p>thanks</p>

<p>as far as i know the G series take on macro lenses with an adaptor, is this true? my friend wants to keep it compact for the operating room. so perhaps one of the Canon G series will do wtih a macro lens</p>

<p>Yes, you need an adapter to attach a macro lens to the G series cameras. Here's a good source:<br>

http://www.lensmateonline.com/<br>

I'd go with the G11, but it's not available yet. Canon is using a new 10MP sensor that should be very good indeed. The smaller S90 uses the same sensor and the first sample images with it look very good. Check here: http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/canons90_preview/<br>

The G11 images will probably be even better as the lens on the G11 should be superior to the S90's - but that remains to be seen.</p>

 

<p>thanks john. been hearing that the G11 isnt anything to get too excited about. that the G9 and G10 are just fine and the G11 wont offer anything extremely different.</p>

<p>in any case, for my friend's needs.. a compact camera for operating room to capture goo detail, good color and close-ups you think of the G series will do just fine, yes? its for his own documentation sake</p>

<p>John gave you good advice. I'll just point out that the G9 is only 35mm wide angle equivalent....the 10 and 11 are 28mm.......much more useful range....</p>

I don't know why the G9 is so expensive on Amazon. Is that were you looked? It is selling on Eb*y for just over $200, if you trust that marketplace (I do not). The only thing it has over the G10 is longer telephoto, as a trade-off for lack of wide angle. Classic film cameras existed, but with digital "classic" is an oxymoron.

 

Other than the old Coolpix 9000 series with swivel bodies, I do not know of any compact digital models that do good close-ups. Typically you look at the LCD and think the picture is in focus, but it is not. Because of above-average viewfinders and DOF preview, my recommendation would be a low-end Pentax DSLR with Tamron 90/2.8 macro lens. The new K-x has both optical and electronic DOF preview.

<p>I bought the G10 a few weeks ago. It is the only one of the recent G's that is supported by DXO Optics. The images that come out of the DXO raw conversion are definitely very good.<br>

Christoph</p>

<p>in any case, for my friend's needs.. a compact camera for operating room to capture goo detail, good color and close-ups you think of the G series will do just fine, yes? its for his own documentation sake<br>

If you mean operating room..as in a hospital. The G11 may be a bit better than the G10 for available light. Take a memory card to a shop that has both and take few snaps.</p>

<p>I have a G10. It's an excellent point and shoot camera, among the very best. It gets very close without any adaptors, down to a few centimeters. I highly recommend. </p>

<p>Your friend should also consider a Panasonic LX-3. Its got a faster lens than any of G series cameras and meets all of the other requirements listed.</p>

<p>Megan,</p>

<p>The G10 does not need any adapter to take macro pictures, it focuses to around 1 inch.</p>

<p>The G9 is to be ignored really, at a couple of hundred dollars more for a new G10 or 11 with warranty it is not worth the hassle, plus the later models have a wider lens, this enables closer focus. The G11 will be an improvment on the G10, each model is, they all end up with a slightly different focus but they all improve with each generation (with the exception of the G7!). The G9 is not a "classic" it has no premium value and the G10 is better in several ways.</p>

<p>Now with regards your friend and his operating room, as far as I know the only camera that can be run through a steriliser is a Nikonos V, an old film camera. You need to check out the requirements for equipment allowed in the OR.</p>

<p>Below is an untouched, unmanipulated G10 image not even at closest focus/maximum magnification, they do not need adapters for macro work. The lower image is a 100% crop of the top one. Obviously it is a standard sized Leatherman.</p><div></div>

<p>thank you all so much. that was very helpful. the samples posted i assume are not shot in RAW, correct? my friend wont be shooting raw, as he doesnt have the software nor the knowledge to get into that.</p>

<p>Even at this day and time, there may be no better camera for the surgery suite work you mention than the Coolpix 995. One of its greatest virtues besides close focus capability and image quality is that the flash throttles down well. Your surgeon friend should consult with the medical photography department of nearby hospitals and see what they use. One key issue is what cameras are most easily and effectively able to be sanitized, etc. to be brought into the clinic and/or operating room environment. Coolpix 995.</p>

<p>the coolpix 995 (i just googled it) is a 3mp camera - is that enough for someone needing high quality, good color and close-ups?<br>

he has been using a cybershot, so i dont think sanitization etc are needed for what he's using it for</p>

<p>Megan,</p>

<p>The images are not RAW files, just jpegs. They were originally RAW files but that added nothing in this case as I did not touch the files just saved to jpeg, exactly as the camera will do itself, and then resized to go up here. He will have to do nothing extra. In actual fact an in camera jpeg will look much better than this as it will have had processing done to it, this is the worst it would look sharpness/colour etc wise.</p>

<p>The Nikon 995 is an antiquated joke, forget it. The shutter lag is so bad you can only use it on anesthetized subjects, obviously OK in this instance :-). Seriously, the G10 or 11, or any number of other current P&S's will work well for him. Don't think about second hand, "classic", or anything else it all just becomes confusing. The G11 with the swivel screen might work well for him. But the G10 that I own and use could certainly produce superb results for him.</p>

<p>I greatly enjoy my G10. For me, it is just the thing when I want a very capable camera without the bulk of a dSLR. The downside, from my point of view, is the relatively high noise level at higher ISOs. It is my understanding that the G11 is expected to show improvement in this regard.<br>

Would it be possible that using a waterproof housing could address ER sanitation issues? I believe Canon makes a housing for the G10 which allows access to all the camera's functions. If the housing could be sanitized, perhaps that would be a satisfactory solution. That said, I should note that I have no experience in this area whatsoever, so it is quite possible there are issues I am not considering. Advice worth what you pay for it, I suppose. ;-)</p>

<p>i'm no doctor, but i think he should opt for the biggest camera he can handle, preferably not in red.</p>

<p>In regard to your surgeon friend, have you thought of the Canon SX10is? It is capable of macro, and has a hotshoe, which may be helpful for use with macro mode. It also has a long zoom reach for those times when you don't want to get too close to the surgical field. Finally, if the camera is only used occasionally, the AA batteries are more useful than a proprietary battery. The OR staff may forget to keep a proprietary battery charged, but there always seems to be AA batteries around. It is still a "point and shoot" of sorts, but the extra size should not be a problem.</p>

<p>Howdy!</p>

<p>You should definitely get something that's waterproof, so you can hose it down and sterilize it before and AFTER surgery. There's nothing like body fluids on a camera to put a damper on the hospital holiday party.</p>

<p>Later,</p>

<p>Paulsky</p>

<p>At my surgical department, we use a Nikon D40 with standard kit 18-55 lens. It costs less as a G10, but takes better photos.<br>

Of course it is not nearly as compact, but this is irrelevant for the application. But it would need a dedicated macro lens. If macro (close-up) is important, get a G11 - I would.<br>

As for sterilization: Cameras never can be and never need be sterile. All cameras will endure a standard alcohol swab rubbing. Blood stains must, however, first be removed with a damp cloth.</p>

<p>Are you serious?<br>

So when a surgeon has scrubbed and put on his sterile robes, hood, shoes covers and gloves, he is then going to handle a non sterile camera to take shots of a procedure, thus contaminating his gloved hands. Then he puts the camera down somewhere, thus contaminating that surface. He then picks up an instrument (now also contaminated) and continues with the procedure, thus transferring any microbes etc from the camera to the patient directly. No wonder there are so many outbreaks of golden staph in hospitals. I'm simply stunned that this would be seen as ok.<br>

Here, since 2003, cameras etc have to be isloated from the sterile environment in a see-through bag, just like the microscopes etc that are used for microsurgery. If not, any equipment used in the operating theatre has to be "cleaned, disinfected and sterilized before and after exposure to the operating theatre environment". AS/NZS 4187:2003. Alternatively stills are taken from the HD CCD video images used to record all operations.<br>

On the matter of the camera choice, I would say that the the G11 will be much better than the earlier ones. It has the 3rd gen crop sensor which is reported to be much better than the earlier ones and has a wider angle lens. Given the above though, its a moot point isn't it?</p>

See what I mean? I think autofocus was on the hex nut. (Hard to say because Photoshop stripped the EXIF and didn't put anything back in the XMP.) If that G10 closeup shot were in focus, it would look more like this.

<p>

"I have had a G10 about 9 months now and its the cat's meow except for macro where it needs manual focus." -- Evan Spellman <a href="http://www.photo.net/digital-camera-forum/00U7Yh">in this thread</a>.<div></div>

<p>No Bill I don't see what you mean, tthe camera was asked to focus on the bolt and it did, the previous crop was off the plane of focus and only used for scale purposes.</p>

<p>Here is an untouched crop from the focus point, it has had no sharpening at all, it is in focus, if you apply your sharpening technique to it it makes little difference. An in camera jpeg would give it a much sharper appearance, but I chose to show it at its worst. The AF and the MF on the G10 work absolutely fine. I have no issues with it other than it is slow when compared to SLR's, no surprise there really though.</p><div></div>

<p>Buy Canon's underwater case along with the camera !<br>

The camera + case is easier to sterilize and manipulate with gloves.<br>

Thomas K.</p>