Canon G1 X David Pogue Ny Times

[THAIPHUKET]

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/24/the-canon-g1-x-big-sensor-major-disappointments/

[THAIPHUKET]

Surprisingly poor review as if Canon threw a new camera on the market without having some field test done. Shame, was looking forward myself.

[BangkokImages]

Surprisingly poor review as if Canon threw a new camera on the market without having some field test done. Shame, was looking forward myself.

I wouldn't let this guys review influence your decision. The review isn't written from a photographers perspective nor with a photographers background. That, or the guy is doing a poor job of dumbing down the review.

As for the camera.. look at it this way. It's a large sensor using point&shoot (PNS) systems like autofocus, exposure, cpu functions (file save times, image review speed, etc, etc), and other systems. What is not, is a large sensor camera using DSLR system functions. So far that's only been done with varying degrees of success, and never completely.

If you've ever seen a picture of a taken apart DSLR you'll have noticed it's jam packed with electronics from stem to stern. The tendency is for more modern electronics to become smaller electronics, but I don't think we're at the point yet where all the systems and sensors (image sensor, AF sensors, WB sensor, exposure sensor, flash sensor, etc) can fit in a point and shoot size body.

Let's take some of the more sucessful examples:

The Fuji x100 I talked about here, and one of our reviewers reviewed here and followed up here. It's a really nice camera, but the fixed lens (a superb beautiful fixed lens) puts off a lot of people as does the price. I've learned to adjust well to a fixed lens for personal use and travel but the price not so much. It's a technical marvel with DSLR level exposure and White Balance and the files are very nice.. but the autofocus is at a point and shoot level.

The Fuji Xpro1 solves most of the issues of the x100, same great build quality, interchangeable lenses, much faster autofocus.. but the price is pretty high.

The Sony NEX series.. wonderful camera and reasonably priced. DSLR level image quality (actually better than all but a few full frame DSLR's if you go by DxO Lab's sensor evaluation charts), DSLR exposure, WB is a bit lacking, and the focus while not DSLR level isn't bad. It's hard to be disappointed by this camera. I have an NEX-5 I reviewed here, and with the 16mm wide angle it's quite capable. The gallery I did of Wat Ratchaburaua in Ayuttaya shows what it can do.. These are now being cleared out in kits of 2-3 lenses at really low prices. My wife currently uses it and loves it.

Olympus and Panasonic both make nice Micro 4/3's systems.. but be selective, they make entry level models for very low prices, and models more suited for keen amatuers at higher prices.

The "mirrorless" genre is the fastest growing segment of the camera industry... lots and lots of choices. And development. It won't be long until we see models every bit as capable as DSLR's..

[Barack]

Ken Rockwell reviews this camera on his site:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/compacts/g1-x.htm

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

Edited May 26, 2012 by Barack

[THAIPHUKET]

Well BKK IMAGE, first of all I love your website , the images are wonderful!

secondly, you came to the same conclusion as David Pogue, Sony Nex is the way to go, for now.

Otherwise I say, David´s article has for sure not only the pro- photographer as his target audience.

But not written for the serious photographer in mind? I don´t see any dumping of conclusion.

Fact is, it is a poor attempt by Canon, too soon.

Quotes from the NYT article

It’s great that Canon hasn’t completely surrendered to the modern trend of eliminating the eyepiece viewfinder, which is still an advantage in bright light or very low light. What’s not great is that on this camera, if you can believe it, the lens barrel actually blocks your view. I’m not kidding.....................

The zoom seems to take a moment to engage after you push the lever (which surrounds the shutter button). The burst mode is an astonishingly slow 1.6 shots a second. (There is a 4.5 frames per second mode — six shots maximum — but you give up control over exposure, white balance and ISO, and the screen goes completely black while you’re shooting!)

The weirdest thing, though, was that I kept getting motion blur while in Auto mode. That is, if any part of my subject was in motion, it came out blurry, even in good light. That’s something we haven’t seen for years. And on a camera with a jumbo sensor? It made no sense!..................

In practice, the zooming and refocusing are so slow, they ruin many a shot. It takes six seconds to zoom 4X while filming, and about as long to refocus. Painful.

[BangkokImages]

Well BKK IMAGE, first of all I love your website , the images are wonderful!

secondly, you came to the same conclusion as David Pogue, Sony Nex is the way to go, for now.

Otherwise I say, David´s article has for sure not only the pro- photographer as his target audience.

But not written for the serious photographer in mind? I don´t see any dumping of conclusion.

Fact is, it is a poor attempt by Canon, too soon.

Quotes from the NYT article

1. Thank you. I hope I don't come off wrong in saying I never get tired of hearing that. We put a lot of work into that site, thought not as much this year as I'd like.

2. I think for most amateurs the Sony NEX is a really solid choice, but some of the OIy's and Panasonic 4/3's systems are quite good and geared towards amateurs. For someone who used to shoot film SLR's the Fuji x100 will bring back memories of solid quality, great optics, and wonderful images. The Fuji xPro1 takes that to an entirely new level. I think it's a mistake to try and say one camera is better for "everybody" than another model, this is rarely the case.. with the Mirrorless genre now in it's 3rd and 4th generations we really have some nice tools available. I'd encourage any potential buyer to carefully examine their shooting style and subjects, what they need in the way of gear to pull that off, and then go through each model and see which fits the best.

3. Absolutely.. he's speaking in general. and in general I think the G1x is a decent enough camera. The lens (I've actually used this camera for a few days and the lens was surprisingly good if still too slow) is decent, image quality is decent, and the only real complaints other than size/ergos are the point and shoot systems. If you are a PNS shooter who wants to improve their lens, image quality, and high ISO performance, but are otherwise happy, the G1x would be worth looking at.

4. You must mean too late.. With as much time as they took to market the G1x you'd expect a lot more. This is their 1st generation mirrorless and others are in their 4th generation. I just don't see it as a poor attempt.. more like a compromised attempt. It wouldn't be my choice, but if someone told me they take slow careful shots of people and landscapes and their PNS works good for them other than for high ISO performance and image quality.. I'd tell them to take a look at the G1x. And several other better executed cameras..