No camera is perfect but there is not much I have to complain about in the G11 as the price/performance/ease of use formula is pretty doggone impressive. Sure, my hands are large and there are buttons all over the place but at least there ARE buttons instead of a bizarre array of multi use electronic protocols via 1 or 2 buttons.

Criticisms of camera by amateurs make my head spin. This well heeled professional loves his G11 and it goes on location every time my crew leaves the studio for a location shoot. Great backup to my SLR’s and my camera of choice too bang around Europe with.

The viewscreen on the replacement is fine, but the viewfinder is blurry. The thumb wheel makes it more or less blurry, but still unacceptable. I don’t plan to use it much, but, again, not the kind of quality I expect from a new $500 camera. Returning this one and hopefully third time is the charm.

The G6 was great. I got it used after discovering the G7 could never have a remote. At least it came with a buggy, screwy, limited infrared remote, could do raw, and the lens was much faster. The flip out screen could help with occaisional shots too. But it’s really old tech wise and not very compact.

The G11:
The best G series I’ve ever owned except one flaw: Canon didn’t bring the @!%#^&*@ case into the U.S. again. Had to get it from Japan. Note to Canon: You guys really suck at simple things!!! Get a clue!

Took some really great shots the other night. Only had the camera for a day or so when I decided to drag it to a Béla Fleck and the Flecktones concert. I never use flash at concerts because it’s typically useless and at a minimum an annoyance to the performer(s). Sadly I took it without a case (which arrived today from Japan).

The G11 is more like my G6 only better ;)

Shall we spam Canon with requests to return this useful feature with a firmware update? I’ll start.

LIKE: adjustable LCD (this should be standard on all quality cameras), quality of photo, the dials: ISO, as well as the mode, (use aperature priority most often), program that allows me to set the ISO (camera sets F stop and shutter) and auto (camera selects ISO, F stop, shutter), a quick menu called the “function set” for white balance, bracketing, Neutral density filter, file size; a larger menu for other operations that is well organized, dedicated buttons for metering type, timer, flash type.

DON’T LIKE: with the LCD wars full force and now a larger LCD and a smaller camera and the lack of real grip, there is no user friendly way to hold the camera that I have found without inadvertently pressing some button. My index finger presses the shutter, my thumb accidentally depresses the function set, the heal of my hand (thenar arch) accidentally presses the Menu button. The lack of a real grip, unlike the enviable grip on the G5, caused me to almost drop the camera several times. I’ve learned to hold the camera with fingers at the base and thumb at the flash shoe, but this is not condusive to quickly putting to your eye and shooting. Since the lens ring sticks out a bit, canon could have made the grip at least as prominent at the lens ring, also the little grip that is there is tapered for comfort rather than friction allowing fingers to slip off easily.

Another user-UNfriendly feature is that to adjust the aperature and shutter you have to take your eye away from the view finder, so taking an A-priority, T-priority or Manual photo is a multistep process: compose with the view finder, push out to view the values of F or S on the LCD while turing the menu wheel, then compose, wait for the scene, action or subject you want to happen then shoot. It would have been more appropriate to have these adjusted with a wheel at the thumb or index finger area and the data displayed in the viewfinder. The idea of relying on the LCD for framing is just not practical. The view finder gives you the scene surounded by black so you are not distracted from analyzing the image, holding the hands against your body is much more stable then 18 inches away to focus on the LCD, no need to reach for the reading glasses for the viewfinder unlike the LCD, no fatigue factor when waiting for the right shot when using the viewfinder while it is completely unreasonable to hold you hands out 18 inches for 2-3 minutes. Since the G11 is not a pocket camera, I don’t see a need to try to reduce the size as they tried to do between G5 and G11. Turning a bread box into a shoe box still doesn’t make it any more shirt pocket “fit-able”.

I hope I’m not asking for too much. Thanks for your attention.

So here I am with my Canon G11. And if this little G11 Had a Full Frame Sensor, I would also be very happy. And I’m willing to pay for that too. I would pay up to $2000 dollar for a G11 with a Full Frame Sensor. But again, Knowone makes a Non Digital SLR with a Full Frame Sensor. I looked at the Olympus Pen. And that camera almost meets my needs, except that it does not have the Tilt and Swivel LCD. As a Photojournalist, I find this a very difficult time to be a photographer. And I just don’t know why anyone would wine about a camera that has a tilt and swivel lcd. I’ve read such comments as ” well, Tilt and Swivel LCD’s make the camera week and flimsy, and I just don’t like it”. I personally can tell you right now, that’s 100% foolishness. and a complete misinformation. A Tilt And Swivel LCD is another tool in the artist pallet. And it opens up creative angles and makes impossible shooting situations, totally possible. I will never buy any camera, not even a seven thousand dollar camera made by Leica, if it does not have a tilt and swivel lcd. So, I thank you Canon, for making your G11, with the Tilt and Swivel LCD. Now please put a bigger sensor in the G12. A Full Frame would be very nice. And yes, people will buy it. I’ll be one of your first customers. And Please make at least one of your D-SLR’s a Tilt and Swivel LCD(With Fast Live View Focusing, no slower Focusing than with the Viewfinder-and that is fast) Thank you for reading.