Around a year after the launch of the Powershot G7, Canon has launched its new flagship compact for advanced photographers – the 12.1 Megapixel PowerShot G9. The successor to the PowerShot G7 – recently named EISA European Advanced Compact Camera 2007-2008 – the PowerShot G9 incorporates improvements driven by market feedback with a range of user-oriented enhancements, including RAW image capture and a redesigned grip and thumb rest for improved handling. Other advancements include a high resolution 3.0” PureColor LCD II, enhanced Face Detection Technology and Red-Eye Correction in playback. A wide range of accessories – including optional lenses and Speedlite flash units – now also features Canon’s Speedlite ST-E2 wireless flash transmitter.

At last a compact with a proper hot shoe and compatible with off camera flash, I see a lot of G7’s going up for sale! RAW capability has thankfully returned too.

The PowerShot G9 features:

• 12.1 Megapixels (1/1.7” sensor) with RAW mode for maximum image control
• 6x optical zoom lens with optical Image Stabilizer and SR coating
• DIGIC III and iSAPS for lightning fast response, superb image quality and advanced Noise Reduction
• Face Detection AF/AE/FE and Red-Eye Correction in playback
• 3.0” high-resolution, PureColor LCD II with extra wide viewing angle
• ISO 1600 and Auto ISO Shift
• Compact body with dedicated ISO and Multi Control dials
• 25 shooting modes including full manual control and 2 custom settings
• Extra telephoto reach with Digital Tele-Converter and Safety Zoom
• Hot shoe support for Canon Speedlite flashes and optional lens accessories

The Powershot G7 was a camera I considered as a backup compact when I don’t feel like carrying my SLR or perhaps the batteries are flat along with the similar specced but cheaper A710 IS.

But the performance just didn’t quite do it for me, that’s why I went for the Fuji F31d instead, I’m looking forwards to the new F50fd with image stabiliser!

Of course we have to wait for the G9 reviews and see how it actually performs, it might disappoint just like the G7 did.

Canon has today announced the S5IS. This camera has features including a 8.0 Megapixel, 1/2.5-inch CCD, DIGIC III Image Processor, 12x optical zoom lens with a shift-type optical Image Stabilizer (IS) system and 2.5-inch vari-angle LCD monitor with wide viewing angle.

A bit sad they didn’t make it wider though, it’s still stuck at 36mm rather than the nice 28mm equiv most other manufacturers are going for. The extra wide is better than the extra zoom.

It uses four AA batteries to shoot up to approx. 170 images (based on the CIPA standard when the LCD monitor is on), and SD memory cards, SDHC memory cards and MultiMediaCards for the recording media. Images are utilized with a direct print compatible printer, computer and TV via USB 2.0 Hi-Speed.

Notice how they jumped from S3 to S5 to avoid the ‘unlucky’ number 4. It looks virtually the same as the S3 IS though. Perhaps a little cleaner images due to Digic III and 8 megapixels.

The dimensions (excluding protrusions) of the main body are 117.0 x 80.0 x 77.7 mm (4.6 x 3.2 x 3.1 in.) and the weight is approximately 450 g (15.9 oz.).

Specifications

Camera Effective Pixels - Approx. 8.0 Megapixels

Image Sensor - 1/2.5-inch type CCD (Total number of pixels: Approx. 8.3 megapixels)

Imaging Processor - DIGIC III

Viewfinder - Color LCD viewfinder (Picture coverage rate 100%) with Dioptric Adjustment - 5.5 to +1.5 m-1 (dpt.)

Lens - 12x Optical Zoom Lens with the Lens Shift Type Image Stabilization 6.0 (W)–72.0 (T) mm (35mm equiv. : 36 (W)–432 (T) mm) f/2.7 (W)–f/3.5 (T)

Digital Zoom - Approx. 4.0x (Up to approx. 48x in combination with the optical zoom)

Digital Tele-converter (35mm equiv.) - 1.6x: 57.6 (W)–691.2 (T) mm 2.0x: 72 (W)–864 (T) mm

LCD Monitor - Wide Viewing Angle2.5-inch type, low-temperature polycrystalline silicon TFT (vari-angle) color LCD, Approx. 207,000 pixels (Picture coverage 100%)

I hope they’ve improved the flash so you can actually use it for macro, it doesn’t look like it though with minimum focus distance of 10cm but minimum flash range of 30cm.

Quite useless design.

Flash Range for Macro: 30–50 cm (12 in.–1.6 ft.) (W) (ISO speed : Auto)

Sensibly they have attached a flash hotshoe though, which was lacking on the S3 IS.

More information can be found here at the Canon site here:

Canon S5 IS

Well as I’ve mentioned this one a few times here it is! The first review, I’m really tempted by this camera as I’m a great lover of the Canon Powershot A series for their full manual controls.

I almost bought the A700 for my mom but the 6x optical zoom without any kind of stabiliser isn’t all that useful, finally a A710 with image stabiliser and a very resonable 7.1 megapixels.

The A700 was already an excellent camera, I’m really happy to see a Powershot A series with a stabiliser!

I’ve been looking for a good compact camera to use for food shots and as a backup for my SLR just in case the battery goes flat or it’s too bulky to use (sometimes shopping malls stop you from taking pictures if you are using a SLR but not if you are using a compact).

It also uses AA batteries which is good for travelling and it means my old rechargeable AA from my Powershot A70 won’t be wasted!

ISO performance is clean up to ISO200, at 400 above it’ll only be good for a mid-size print, I thought with the new Digic II processor this might not be a problem, but I guess it’s just basic physics, you can only do so much with a tiny sensor.

The PowerShot A710 IS takes an already excellent camera — the A700 — and adds some one really useful feature (image stabilization) and one not-so-useful feature (more pixels). Despite going up from 6 to 7 Megapixels, the A710’s photo quality remained very good, with noise levels that are perhaps lowered than on its predecessor. When you look at the whole package — from the photo quality to the image stabilizer to the manual controls — you’ll see that the A710 offers a lot of camera for your $400.

Full review here.

I’ll be waiting for some reviews from other sites and I shall go and try it out when it hits KL.

Taken with my old Canon Powershot A70 from the Penang ferry, crossing back the mainland. I love the aspect of the ship and the brooding colours of the sky with a little blue peeking through.

The essence of photography for me still is capturing the moment.

Exposure: 1/320 Aperture: f/5.6 Focal Length: 11.3 mm

Well better intro myself I guess, I just got into photography seriously quite recently.

I’ve been shooting with compact 35mm cams for a long time, probably about 20 years, but I never made the step into getting serious about and getting a SLR, or even moving the next stage along.

Within the last year or so I really got more interested in photography as Malaysia is such a wonderfully colourful place, the foods, the people, the temples, the cultural diversity..There is so much to capture here. As you can tell from my blog, I really love food and taking pictures of it..

I started finding the limits of my 2 year old Canon Powershot A70, the 3.2megapixels limited how big I could enlarge the pictures and the noisy/grainy pictures in the dark (high ISO) were disappointing, plus the limited aperture.

As I started to learn about all these things, I wanted a camera to match my new found skills, I shopped around a lot until I decided on the Nikon D70s, slightly above entry level, but not yet mid-level.

So my kit now consists of:

• Old Olympus 35mm mju:ZOOM 105
• Canon Powershot A70
• SE K750i Camera Phone
• Nikon D70s dSLR

I’ll be posting pictures from all of them, I’ll talk about accessories/filters etc later.

I’ve always been into landscape, food and sky photography, I was always pretty bad at portraits and ’street’ photography. I could capture events well, but not a single person or I never had the guts to take random pictures of people.

I’m getting better and I’m learning the art of portraits and street..

I went to Singapore to buy some stuff recently as it’s much cheaper there, it’s an awesome place for street photography, the bustling streets, the bright lights, the compact nature, you can move around easily.

I guess in the next few posts I’ll share my first efforts at street photography.

Here’s my first, I call it “Better Run”

As always, after the page had completely loaded, click the pic to view large.

You can find my pictures here:

Flickr Gallery
Old Coppermine (Will move all to Flickr eventually)

You can check out my favs on flickr here, most are from the A70.