bump.
So any comments from the folks who might have some hands on experience by now?
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For what it is, its really quite nice. I have difficulty leaving the DSLR thinking behind--shallow DOF, low noise/high ISO--and I have to admit I don't like using an LCD, but all that said--a really good effort.
The controls are very intuitive and very DSLR like (if you're a Canon person), it has RAW which I use (ACR 4.2 and most of the time LR 1.2), sturdy little bugger--and the handling, for me, is very nice--plus an excellent LCD and better than almost any other I've tried for daylight shooting--plus you can see it at an angle so can shoot easily overhead or below. I added a little Kirk L bracket
[a href=\"http://www.pbase.com/picnic/image/87027465.jpg]http://www.pbase.com/picnic/image/87027465.jpg[/url]
http://www.pbase.com/picnic/image/87027463.jpg which gives me more 'geography' on the left to handhold with 2 hands--and for use on tripod for IR
http://www.pbase.com/picnic/image/87207433/original.jpg processed as split tone.
IQ is very good for a small sensor cam but I still haven't printed any so can't say how well it holds up to what size. Its well thought out---menus are easy, most of what a serious shooter wants is there except 28mm. I do shoot wide a lot, so added a WA converter that will take me to 24mm. It takes it out of pocketable but still in a very very small bag. To do this, you have to add the Lensmate which covers the zoomed lens.
http://www.pbase.com/picnic/image/87099445.jpgThe nice thing is that I just twist off the Lensmate/WA and I have a totally pocketable camera again.
So--all in all, I like it a good deal. I guess I'm still wondering how much I will shoot with it--but we'll see. Its the best of the lot I considered I think--the Leica/Panny and the Ricoh GR100--all TOO small for me.
Oh--the VF suffers from parallax error--and its hard to get a handle on when its close or not. Usable though in a pinch. I'd love to have a better VF. ISO above 200 is noisy, but ISO400 is quite good with just a touch of Noiseware Pro at weak noise and usable at ISO800 with same. Better than I thought.
I can certainly recommend it as a small sensor/small cam for serious shooters. I've had a bit of buyers remorse several times--because I find myself carrying it WITH the 5D--but I think I will get a lot of use out of it around the holidays for more casual use, in places where the DLSR is inappropriate, at times when I just don't want to carry a lot of gear (hiking). I've fiddled about for several years considering buying a small cam--and thought the G9 would be it. Really it is--has all I want in a small cam but wider really without using a converter. The option had more noise and was too small for easy handling for me.
Diane