Canon S5IS or Canon G9?

[Ritter 197]

I am looking (among a few others) at these 2 cameras, which fit my budget
better.

I read some good and a few bad reports (on the S5IS - noise above ISO 100)
and really nothing bad about the G9.
But I would love to hear from people who have first hand experience.

Thanks in advance

[TooOld1]

Post by Ritter 197
I am looking (among a few others) at these 2 cameras, which fit my budget
better.
I read some good and a few bad reports (on the S5IS - noise above ISO 100)
and really nothing bad about the G9.
But I would love to hear from people who have first hand experience.
Thanks in advance

I just bought the S5 IS last Thursday and, after some early
familiarization shots on Friday, took it to my granddaughter's wedding and
reception Saturday where I shot nearly 200 pictures. I am not a newbie to
digital photography but not an advanced amateur either. That said, if there
is something this camera cannot do, I haven't found it yet.
I too was concerned about the image quality described in reviews but
from a practical point of view, it is not a factor. The pictures that I shot
were sharp, clear, and, to my non-expert eye, aberration free.
The 12X zoom and moveable, twistable, tweakable LCD screen are a delight
and are, alone, compelling reasons to choose this camera. The hot shoe is a
bonus which I may never use, but nice to have it just in case. I have also
played with the Video and Stitch features, using the included Canon software
and Windows Movie Maker, and found them to be simple and easy to use.
I do wish that Canon had included a wider setting for the zoom, but the
Stitch feature allows an easy remedy for the lack of a really wide angle
lens.
I briefly considered the G9 but lacking the 12X zoom and costing $80 to
$100 more, the S5 IS was the easy choice over the G9.
Noot

[Ritter 197]

That was a very nice and detailed reply and makes me lean towards the S5IS
now.
I would prefer the Canon EOS Rebel XSI but by adding a zoom lens one gets to
$1000 and that is a little high for me, especially when possibly adding a
speedlite from Canon.
Did you shoot all your pictures at the wedding at ISO 80 or 100? Or did you
try higher ISO too with dim lighting?

Thanks for the reply in advance.

Post by TooOld1

Post by Ritter 197
I am looking (among a few others) at these 2 cameras, which fit my budget
better.
I read some good and a few bad reports (on the S5IS - noise above ISO
100) and really nothing bad about the G9.
But I would love to hear from people who have first hand experience.
Thanks in advance

I just bought the S5 IS last Thursday and, after some early
familiarization shots on Friday, took it to my granddaughter's wedding and
reception Saturday where I shot nearly 200 pictures. I am not a newbie to
digital photography but not an advanced amateur either. That said, if
there is something this camera cannot do, I haven't found it yet.
I too was concerned about the image quality described in reviews but
from a practical point of view, it is not a factor. The pictures that I
shot were sharp, clear, and, to my non-expert eye, aberration free.
The 12X zoom and moveable, twistable, tweakable LCD screen are a
delight and are, alone, compelling reasons to choose this camera. The hot
shoe is a bonus which I may never use, but nice to have it just in case. I
have also played with the Video and Stitch features, using the included
Canon software and Windows Movie Maker, and found them to be simple and
easy to use.
I do wish that Canon had included a wider setting for the zoom, but the
Stitch feature allows an easy remedy for the lack of a really wide angle
lens.
I briefly considered the G9 but lacking the 12X zoom and costing $80 to
$100 more, the S5 IS was the easy choice over the G9.
Noot

[TooOld1]

I had the ISO set at "Auto" and, looking at the EXIF data from the
wedding pictures, the highest ISO rating it went to is 250. I had the camera
set at its highest pixel size and lowest compression and the pictures at
that ISO are fine. Not great, but still fine. The built-in flash is a little
wimpy but useable for most applications that I would ask of it. If you want
to shoot out more than about 15 feet, I'd say you should get a Speedlite or
the Canon HF-DC1 slave unit.
Noot

Post by Ritter 197
That was a very nice and detailed reply and makes me lean towards the S5IS
now.
I would prefer the Canon EOS Rebel XSI but by adding a zoom lens one gets
to $1000 and that is a little high for me, especially when possibly adding
a speedlite from Canon.
Did you shoot all your pictures at the wedding at ISO 80 or 100? Or did
you try higher ISO too with dim lighting?
Thanks for the reply in advance.

Post by TooOld1

Post by Ritter 197
I am looking (among a few others) at these 2 cameras, which fit my budget
better.
I read some good and a few bad reports (on the S5IS - noise above ISO
100) and really nothing bad about the G9.
But I would love to hear from people who have first hand experience.
Thanks in advance

I just bought the S5 IS last Thursday and, after some early
familiarization shots on Friday, took it to my granddaughter's wedding
and reception Saturday where I shot nearly 200 pictures. I am not a
newbie to digital photography but not an advanced amateur either. That
said, if there is something this camera cannot do, I haven't found it
yet.
I too was concerned about the image quality described in reviews but
from a practical point of view, it is not a factor. The pictures that I
shot were sharp, clear, and, to my non-expert eye, aberration free.
The 12X zoom and moveable, twistable, tweakable LCD screen are a
delight and are, alone, compelling reasons to choose this camera. The hot
shoe is a bonus which I may never use, but nice to have it just in case.
I have also played with the Video and Stitch features, using the included
Canon software and Windows Movie Maker, and found them to be simple and
easy to use.
I do wish that Canon had included a wider setting for the zoom, but
the Stitch feature allows an easy remedy for the lack of a really wide
angle lens.
I briefly considered the G9 but lacking the 12X zoom and costing $80
to $100 more, the S5 IS was the easy choice over the G9.
Noot

[Ritter 197]

Thanks for the additional information.
It is a shame that indoors it does not do such a good job, especially when
the ISO is increased.

Post by TooOld1
I had the ISO set at "Auto" and, looking at the EXIF data from the
wedding pictures, the highest ISO rating it went to is 250. I had the
camera set at its highest pixel size and lowest compression and the
pictures at that ISO are fine. Not great, but still fine. The built-in
flash is a little wimpy but useable for most applications that I would ask
of it. If you want to shoot out more than about 15 feet, I'd say you
should get a Speedlite or the Canon HF-DC1 slave unit.
Noot

Post by Ritter 197
That was a very nice and detailed reply and makes me lean towards the
S5IS now.
I would prefer the Canon EOS Rebel XSI but by adding a zoom lens one gets
to $1000 and that is a little high for me, especially when possibly
adding a speedlite from Canon.
Did you shoot all your pictures at the wedding at ISO 80 or 100? Or did
you try higher ISO too with dim lighting?
Thanks for the reply in advance.

Post by TooOld1

Post by Ritter 197
I am looking (among a few others) at these 2 cameras, which fit my
budget better.
I read some good and a few bad reports (on the S5IS - noise above ISO
100) and really nothing bad about the G9.
But I would love to hear from people who have first hand experience.
Thanks in advance

I just bought the S5 IS last Thursday and, after some early
familiarization shots on Friday, took it to my granddaughter's wedding
and reception Saturday where I shot nearly 200 pictures. I am not a
newbie to digital photography but not an advanced amateur either. That
said, if there is something this camera cannot do, I haven't found it
yet.
I too was concerned about the image quality described in reviews but
from a practical point of view, it is not a factor. The pictures that I
shot were sharp, clear, and, to my non-expert eye, aberration free.
The 12X zoom and moveable, twistable, tweakable LCD screen are a
delight and are, alone, compelling reasons to choose this camera. The
hot shoe is a bonus which I may never use, but nice to have it just in
case. I have also played with the Video and Stitch features, using the
included Canon software and Windows Movie Maker, and found them to be
simple and easy to use.
I do wish that Canon had included a wider setting for the zoom, but
the Stitch feature allows an easy remedy for the lack of a really wide
angle lens.
I briefly considered the G9 but lacking the 12X zoom and costing $80
to $100 more, the S5 IS was the easy choice over the G9.
Noot

[The Royal Spam]

Post by Ritter 197
I am looking (among a few others) at these 2 cameras, which fit my budget
better.
I read some good and a few bad reports (on the S5IS - noise above ISO 100)
and really nothing bad about the G9.
But I would love to hear from people who have first hand experience.
Thanks in advance

I have a G9 and it is very good up to 400 ISO, after that it's a bit noisy.
It has great video, time-lapse and macro functions and is pretty easy to use
if you are familiar with Canon cameras, has full manual settings, even the
video can be manually controlled. The picture quality is great and you can
make big enlargements (A3) but the best thing is that it is small enough to
carry around and good enough to make it worth it. I would recommend it.

[Ritter 197]

Thanks for the feedback and I looked in the Gallery of the G9 and saw great
pictures.
I like everything except 2 things:

Need 2 lenses
Harder to take picture without the flip-out screen
Makes the total package heavier and tele shots harder to take with changing
lenses.

Yes, I am familiar with Nikon and Canons, which for the last 5 years I have
used with 35 mm and many lenses. Always great pictures, always heavy,
especially since I also carry a powerful flash on trips.

Post by The Royal Spam

Post by Ritter 197
I am looking (among a few others) at these 2 cameras, which fit my budget
better.
I read some good and a few bad reports (on the S5IS - noise above ISO 100)
and really nothing bad about the G9.
But I would love to hear from people who have first hand experience.
Thanks in advance

I have a G9 and it is very good up to 400 ISO, after that it's a bit noisy.
It has great video, time-lapse and macro functions and is pretty easy to use
if you are familiar with Canon cameras, has full manual settings, even the
video can be manually controlled. The picture quality is great and you can
make big enlargements (A3) but the best thing is that it is small enough to
carry around and good enough to make it worth it. I would recommend it.

[Riderxxx]

I have the S5. I LIKE the hotshoe and am able to use an old Canon speedlight
and an even older (1975) flash that came with a ED camera bought in Hong
Kong!
I find that I miss shots because the auto focus is so slow. A bear came out
of the grass and because I could not focus manually all I got was blur.
Generally though, I think it takes good pictures even though the manual
writers think all you want to do is make movies with it! WAY too much about
video.

Post by Ritter 197
I am looking (among a few others) at these 2 cameras, which fit my budget
better.
I read some good and a few bad reports (on the S5IS - noise above ISO 100)
and really nothing bad about the G9.
But I would love to hear from people who have first hand experience.
Thanks in advance