Canon G10 vs. a $40,000 (H2 + P45) Hassy rig...

[AJ Gressette]

No harm taken Sonolta, honest.

As we say in the South, Ain’t no need in a beating or hanging.

It’s my fault for lack of thinking outside of the southern world. One has to take into account I am from the Southern States of the US and we aint as Edumicated (educated) as you boys in the North.

Sometimes I will say things that make absolutely no understanding to anyone in the world. With southern people, our dialect is not quite so proper or misunderstood in the English Language. LOL.
AJ

[[SiC]]

..and we aint as Edumicated

Gotta love that word, makes me giggle every time

[Greg Beetham]

I mentioned it to the local camera store owner (The Hassy eating Canon G10 compact), also me wanting to view this masterpiece, (alas the stand where it was was empty, sold out of it, more on order) he didn't think it was anything super special (I think he's a closet Nikon man), he said, yes it's got high res and edge sharpness etc, BUT, only at low ISO in good light, (and there is no way you can enlarge the print size up to the size the Hassy can do), also the minute you get even slightly iffy light and boost the ISO, the jig is up, the noise begins in earnest and image quality takes a dive...seriously....so he says anyway.
Greg

[jcoffin]

How big of prints do you want from a compact? This is extracted from the LL article:

"[ ... ]
In every case no one could reliably tell the difference between 13X19" prints shot with the $40,000 Hasselblad and Phase One 39 Megapixel back, and the new $500 Canon G10.
[ ... ]

-Sonolta

First, a disclaimer: I don't mean to slight the G10 at all -- based on pictures I've seen from a G9, I'm quite sure the G10 is a great little camera.

That said, while I'm sure what he says is true, it doesn't necessarily mean as much as it might initially seem to. Nearly any camera can produce nearly noise-free pictures given enough light. In addition, as long as a given camera shows all the detail that's present in the picture, a higher resolution camera can't do any better. Similarly, a camera that can detect wider dynamic range won't necessarily benefit much if there isn't much dynamic range in the picture. Finally, while 13x19 is a big print by the standards of most people using compact cameras like a G10, it's fairly small compared to what users of medium format cameras (film or digital) have produced for years.

This is a pretty good demonstration that a compact doesn't necessarily limit you to small prints, but it still falls well short of showing that it's close to equivalent to the Hasselblad.

[Greg Beetham]

That one caught my attention, "use them to capture scapes" Don why don't you get one (G10) just as an experiment, and leave the A700 at home for a week, if this compact can almost equal a $40,000 Hasselblad surely it could replace a $1,200 DSLR without a problem.
Greg

[pakodominguez]

PS...In all honesty I have been thinking of selling of some of my A-Mount kit to (re)purchase some compact and bridge gear. I used to own a lot of it, and I have found that there are times when I really miss not having the smaller sensor equipment around.

Alas, there are nothing in the market that replace the Dimage 7/A series -the Canon G series doesn't have a manual zoom, and their lens isn't as good as tha 28~200 (equivalent) 2.8-4 GT. Fuji have a couple of bridge cameras with manual zoom, but they are too big (for my taste) and I'm not that sure their quality is as good either.

Do you think Sony will make bridge cameras again?

Regards

[bakubo]

Alas, there are nothing in the market that replace the Dimage 7/A series -the Canon G series doesn't have a manual zoom, and their lens isn't as good as tha 28~200 (equivalent) 2.8-4 GT. Fuji have a couple of bridge cameras with manual zoom, but they are too big (for my taste) and I'm not that sure their quality is as good either.

I just saw a new KM A2 selling for $500. For that price, although a bit bigger and heavier, an A300 with its LV and tilt/swivel LCD might be a better way to go.

[pakodominguez]

A300 looks good to me, and I imagine I will own it or similar someday in the not-so-distant future as well.

The A300 come only on kik... but this one is quite interesting (with a $150 rebate):
Sony Alpha DSLR-A300 Digital SLR Camera 2 Lens Kit with 18 - 70mm Lens, & 55 - 200mm f/4 - 5.6 Telephoto Zoom.
http://www.adorama.com/ISODSLRA300X.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For the same price ($649) you can get the A350, that probably will be my choise if I was looking for a camera on this level -I'm sure Don, you don't need the 17~70, nor the 55~200...

Regards

[pakodominguez]

I just saw a new KM A2 selling for $500. For that price, although a bit bigger and heavier, an A300 with its LV and tilt/swivel LCD might be a better way to go.

For that price you can get the Sony DSC-R1 (ref: http://www.adorama.com/US%20%20%20%20315886.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)
I was thinking about this one, but I alredy have an A2 and I'mnot ready to expend $600 on a bridge camera just right now.

[bakubo]

I noticed that a few used A2's had sold on ebay lately at $180-200, and 7hi's for a mere $100... When I parted with my last A2 (I previously have owned 2 of them) over a year ago I sold it for $450 for the basic kit plus a few throw-ins. I had paid only $200 for that one only a few months earlier.

For those prices I think they are a pretty good buy. I bought a D7i in 2002 for $1,000 and sold it in on ebay in 2004 for $400 to a guy in Italy. This is the camera that got me to stop using my film cameras. Many of the photos in my British Columbia folder were made with the D7i.

I intend to replace my KM5D with either an a200 or the a300....I want the 2/3rd sensor camera for increased DOF, it's 28-200 2.8-3.5 APO GT lens, and it's versatility and portability as a third camera. Tilt/Swivel LCD is nice....but I do I like the tilting viewfinders on 7hi and the A2, and I almost always had my finders in the tilted up position.

My D7i didn't have a tilt/swivel LCD, but did have a tilt EVF. I really liked it because I could get shots at weird angles that would require lots of contortion with a normal VF. I also used it in the tilt position as much or more than the normal position. I think the Sony 707/828 style is probably even better because both the EVF and the LCD tilt. Unfortunately, they don't swivel so that is a bad point. The large dof was also useful sometimes. Plus, the D7i was pretty good for macro -- although I only used it for that a few times.

If I were loaded I would already own an a300...but I am not loaded so I must be prudent about these things...BTW, I own a full sack of 49mm filters, closeup lenses, TC's, etc, etc that work great with 28-200...a few hundred dollars worth of them anyway. I still own almost a half dozen KM5D batteries as well...those babies drop right into the A2.

The D7i used AA batteries and this was a bad point because they didn't last long at all. I still have 2 KM batteries from the 7D I used to own. I didn't realize they work in the A2.

A300 looks good to me, and I imagine I will own it or similar someday in the not-so-distant future as well.

I wouldn't mind getting one for the times when the tilt/swivel LCD and LV would be useful. Mostly for times when I don't want to or can't contort myself and also maybe for street photography.

[peterottaway]

I would also like a high end bridge camera along the lines of the old 7 / A200 although for different reasons to Sonata. I'm 55 at the end of September 2009 and intend to retire to do some serious traveling.

And as David pointed out in his review of the Sony 70 - 300 G when you start assembling the lens, lens hood and camera you do attract a lot of attention. Even if you are the sort of tourist with the red baseball cap, the hawaiian shirt with checked knee length shorts and long socks with sandals, you won't attract that much attention after the first 30 seconds. Especially if you are carrying what appears to be just another digicam. The A 700 can come out in the expected tourist areas and the countryside etc or where you are prepared to attract the attention because the shot is important to you.

The chief problem is that such a camera is that it is very much an enthusiast camera with a limited market and a price tag probably in the range of the A 300 kit just not to lose too much money. It may be that we will have to settle for a G10 or something like it because no camera company is prepared to offer what we would like.

On buying in the second hand market, I have concerns about how long the sensor/ processor/ electronics will perform before they start to degrade or simply die on me.

I'll be the short, rotund one with bi-focals wearing the fedora, long shirt unbuttoned at the wrists with long canvas pants and casual shoes ( the type with the jogger sole and the brown leather upper).

[peterottaway]

Sonolta, Thank you as there is one on offer that I was reluctant to consider for lack of knowledge about the sensor on these cameras.

Will now look at the camera with some confidence.