Canon G12 10 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.8 Inch Vari-Angle LCD

Ive had 35mm SLR systems for 40 years. The old case used to hold two Canon Bodies, a gaggle of lenses and accessories, and in a little out the way pocket I stuck an Olympus rangefinder. Like many photographers I used the rangefinder for street photography and walk around stuff. I probably took more shots with the little guy than with the other two SLR bodies combined. So now I am DSLR all the way. Have a single EOS 7D and the same gaggle of lenses and accessories as before and in that little out of the way pocket of my case I stick a G12. The G12 fills out my system and I feel whole again. I rarely use the LCD screen and shoot like always through the rangefinder unless I want a shot than can only be accommodated by flipping the screen out for high angle shots. I enjoy this camera very much. Things I like--- Very good low light imaging that is made possible by having "only" 10MP. The sensors are larger instead. Canon knew what they were doing here. Light weight Extremely long lasting battery (but remember I hardly ever use the LCD screen). Things I dont like--- No printed manual Hard to use navigation ring on the back side. Way too small. No shoe cover All and all the 140 great reviews vs that 12 negative ones gives you the right story in my mind. Since I have never tested any of the competition and cannot compare them then this heavily liked camera must do well in comparison. As for LCD display vs optical viewfinder it will depend I suppose on what you are used to. I am still not comfortable holding a camera at arms length to find the picture (Ive been a photographer for half a century). With a small light weight camera that has an optical view finder, I can hold it at my side with one hand, raise it quickly to my eye, and take the shot. Great for street photography and candid shots and once you take some that way you will take most of them that way. Dont hate the optical view finder. Go to your camera store and try one out. If your salesman looks under 40 try to find an older one. :)

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I shot exclusively with a G12 for a year. I finally moved to a Micro Four Thirds system for reasons Ill get into later. But the fact that the G12 didnt quite meet my needs in no way diminishes my general opinion of it as an excellent camera. The G12 is solidly built. It wont go into many pockets, but its not overly heavy. The fit and finish oozes quality. The rotating controls are solid and generous (a mode dial, a dedicated ISO knob, a dedicated exposure compensation knob, a front dial, and a rear rotary dial). The rear rotary dial doubles as a set of four-way buttons, and this common design is always tricky to use, but youll develop the muscle memory to use it effectively. If youve never used an articulated display, it is a joy. Its hard to understand how useful it is until you use it, and its something I really miss with my new camera. As with everything else, the G12s implementation of this feature is first-rate. Its easy to move it around, but you never feel like its going to fall apart in your hands. It makes all kinds of composition easier: shooting from the hip, lifting the camera into the air, shooting around corners, getting into tricky positions. Dont underestimate this feature. The screen is nice and bright, and you get a good view of your pictures. The lens is worthy of the Canon name. Nice and sharp. Its fairly bright at the wide angle, but the f/2.8 is clearly one of the compromises for getting a 5x zoom lens; that is, its one of the factors in the G12s indoor-light struggles. The sensor is significantly bigger than that of most compact cameras, but its still a small-sensor camera. Despite this, the image quality is superb. Colors are natural and pleasing in most lighting conditions. Where the small sensor size hurts the G12 is by making it difficult to shoot indoors without flash. The provided flash is fairly powerful, but its positioning close to the lens makes it prone to red-eye. If you buy a G12, do yourself a favor and invest in the 270EX or 270EXII flash. G12 + 270EX is a great indoor combination, and that particular flash is perfect for the G12s size. You can also bounce light off a surface (for example, the ceiling) with the 270EX, and that can make a huge difference in getting natural-looking lighting. The G12s autofocus speed is lackluster. My primary subjects are my children, and I was never able to get candid shots exactly when I wanted to. The autofocus is accurate, and things like subject tracking and face recognition are very well done. Its GOOD at focusing, just not fast at focusing. The G12 does have a manual focus option, but its frankly not even worth mentioning. The viewfinder is useful on occasion. As nice as the G12 is, shooting with it gave me a good education in what I wanted in my next camera. I wanted to be able to take pictures indoors without a flash, and without cranking the ISO way up. I wanted to be able to isolate subjects with selective focus, but the G12s slow-at-telephoto lens and small sensor really make that difficult. And I wanted an autofocus system that would let me get candid shots immediately. I found what I was looking for in an Olympus Micro Four Thirds system, but there are things about the G12 I regret leaving behind. The articulated display, the nice array of manual controls, and even little things like an orientation sensor, are not included in my new camera. And getting a decent macro will require me to buy a macro lens, whereas the G12 can take very nice macro shots. I got some great pictures with the G12 in the last year. I got some great sports shots, despite the slow autofocus, but anticipating the action. I got some great indoor shots by maximizing available light and using the shoe-mounted flash. So its limitations can be handled. But its at its best with things that dont move fast that are outdoors. Landscapes, nature photography and daytime street shooting are the G12s strengths. And it wasnt TOTALLY out of its depth for my purposes (photographing young children), but there were better options.

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I wanted to upgrade from my Canon SD1100. I asked my photography friends about recommendations for cameras and one of them suggested that I look at the Canon G12. I know nothing about the ISO, shutter speeds, aperture, etc. so I thought buying a DSLR may be too much money and too high of a learning curve. My needs were to be able to take close up pictures of flowers with blurry background, better action shots of my kids sports, better nighttime photography, better low light pictures, and so on. I am able to achieve all my photography needs with the G12. It is smaller than a DSLR so you can fit it in a purse or small bag. I love the swivel screen. It does come in very handy. The SCENERY modes are very useful. In fact, my favorite is Color Accent since you can pick a color in a picture, such as red, and the rest of the picture is in black and white. You can do the same thing in Photoshop, but its very handy to be able to do the processing while you take the picture. The pictures turn out very artsy. The depth of field with this camera is a bit limited when trying to take close ups and you want to blur the background. My photography friend gave me this tip. He told me to shoot in Aperture Priority mode (Av). At the same time, use Zoom to zoom in on your subject. Change the f stop to the smallest setting possible with zoom enabled. Step back more from the subject and zoom in more. Take the picture. Voila! The blurry background is achieved! The Portrait setting in the SCENERY mode supposedly blurs the background, but not enough for me. Im going to take a local photography class to understand more about basic photography concepts, but Im sure I will be able to take even more awesome pictures with the Canon G12 after that. Take a look on flickr.com and search for Canon G12. Youll see so many pictures taken with this camera. This camera can take amazing pictures with the proper understanding of how to use its functions. **Review Update 7/30/12*** Been using the G12 for several months now and have gotten to know its pros and cons better. The G12 is a great camera to bring on travel. Its smaller size than a DSLR fits nicely into my handbag. The ISO, metering, and shooting mode controls on the top of the camera gives quick access to changing your settings. I took it to Hearst Castle and was able to take pictures indoor without flash for the first time in my life. The last time I went to Hearst Castle, I had my film 35 mm camera where if I turned off the flash, the pictures were too dark because I couldnt adjust anything with my old camera. With the ability to control shutter and aperture, I was able to use the G12 to capture low, light indoor shots and night time photography. The downside of the G12 is that for portraits where you want shallow depth of field (blurry background), you cannot get much blurriness unless you have the subject way in front of the background and stand far away and zoom into the subject. Ive also had professional photographers try to help me achieve the look but it just doesnt give me a satisfactory look compared to the lenses on their DSLRs. However, if Im doing macro photography, such as photographing flowers, I am able to achieve the nice shallow depth of field look, just not with larger subjects.

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