Canon PowerShot G9 12.1MP Digital Camera with 6x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

Love the G9 with a wide angle lens adapter by Lensmate
I have owned the G9 going on 3+ years now, and I must say that it continues to impress me and both my friends and colleagues at work. I am an architect, and have traveled extensively around the world using this camera for both professional and personal use.

The great thing about the G9, is that it is a very effective Prosumer camera that bridges between the point and shoot, and the digital SLR's. I also bought a high quality aluminum finished wide angle lens adapter from Lensmate, that simply screws in front of the lens when you remove the O-ring around the lens. This effectively brings it up to 24mm wide angle from the current 28mm, and for architecture and buildings, makes an enormous difference. [...] to learn more about this really high quality company that makes lens adaptors specifically for the Canon line....in fact, their wide angle lens is not only much higher quality than what Canon sells, but is much more compact, made out of milled aluminum instead of plastic (Canon's version), and costs less!

I recently just got back from India, and took some amazing photos from that exotic country. Before that, I have used it in south america, patagonia region, Peru (macchu picchu), thailand, africa throughout asia....and have shot thousands of photos over these past several years, I still marvel at what a perfect camera this is for so many different uses and conditions.

I looked at the G10, but like several other readers comments, I came back to the G9 as actually superior, and in fact bought myself another G9 as a back-up. It is interesting on amazon that the g9 in fact sells for quite a bit more than the g10 or the current g11 version....and I think it is because serious photographers realize just how good the g9 is.

If you can get your hands on one (if not amazon, try ebay), you won't be dissapointed, and I have yet to see the need to go the the digital SLR camera yet, even with all the professional work I do which requires hi-res and quality images.

What a GREAT Little Camera the Canon G9
website: [...]
At either of those two sites you'll find images made with the G9. I've only had it for two months but I take it everywhere - the office, shopping, etc. My regular camera when out shooting landscapes is my Nikon D300, and a series of lenses from the venerable Nikon 17-55 F2.8 (purchased here on Amazon for 1150.00) down to a first generation Lensbaby and everything in between.

This little G9, which I immediately set to capture jpeg+raw is excellent. I love sharp, crisp images and I hate noise. So, I try to keep it at under ISO 100 --usually set to ISO 80. The IS feature is amazing as well. It truly works miracles when handholding.

The camera, once you get to know it is easy to operate on the fly. That is very important to me. No twiddling. The supplied software which is called the Zoom Browser I've only used a few times as it's the ONLY way to get to the RAW editor! How funky is that? I am a Adobe Lightroom user so I really don't need it. I upload everything into Lightroom and go from there. I have used the Canon software just to see what it does but quite frankly it is so clunky I don't bother.

As far as image quality, the jpegs coming out of this camera are so sharp, and clear and colorful that I find myself not using the raw files. However as a shooting pro some of my stock agents REQUIRE me to submit the converted raw file after they have accepted the initial jpeg after their review. So... I'm stuck keeping the CR2 raw file around.

In a few weeks I'm going on a photo shoot and I am taking my Nikons and my gaggle of gear but my intentions on this trip are to shoot ALL my landscapes and other shots with the G9. As a matter of fact I am letting one of my kids use the D300 and all the gear instead of packing my extra Fuji Finepix S2 body for them to use. This is how confident I am that I will return with usable, marketable images generated from the G9.

Phenomenal camera
I have owned the G3 camera with the swivel screen ---loved it.... It took great pictures. Sadly it no longer works. My daughter purchased the G7 and just loves the ease of use, and the picture quality. I checked out the G10 but wasn't pleased with the reviews and certain aspects of the camera, so I purchased the G9 a tad bit late and paid a premium (but not as high as it is now). I have used it for a month and the picture quality, ease of use, and the capture ability of pictures is just phenomenal. The flash on this camera is powerful too. It takes great shots in the dark, you just need to wait for the camera to focus and great shots were taken at Halloween in the dark. It is so much more than the G3 and G7 but the quality is just great. I own the RebelTi as well, and the quality doesn't compare to the G9 for picture quality. Now all it needs is the swivel screen to come back to take better self-portraits. You won't go wrong with this camera!!!

There is no better point and shoot camera!
This camera has provided years of excellent service and nearly 40GB of pictures, some published. The availability of add-on lensing and filters has been a boon, and only lacks in some low light conditions. I have a Casio EX3000 circa 2000 with f2.0 that puts the G9 to shame under high speed movement or low light conditions. Regardless, this amateur finds this camera to be a perfect point and shoot, multipurpose, multifunction (panorama) source of art, entertainment and capture.

If you go to France for a week, you need more than 8GB of storage :-)

If I lost this camera, this, or it's follow-on would be a must have.

Great Camera when it works
In the overall picture this is and should be a great little camera. You can talk about the tech specs all day if you want
I like it because of the 12mp and movie/time Lapse function , it's basic but it's fine for entry level/fun time Lapse movies. I used the movie function quite a bit.
It's a good way of documenting an event and the quality seem good on play back. I also like the metal body. OK Heres the BAD I bought it in January 08 after about 6 months it completely quit on me with no warning. You hit the power button and nothing happens. Just like the batteries are dead so I get another battery and nothing.
So off to Canon it goes (Chicago) Comes back good but no explanation of the problem. So now I posting this in Frankfurt Germany on vacation at a friend's place
We went to Paris.. You know the place. And the camera DOES IT AGAIN !!! Now I'm really mad. I have found this camera to be unreliable when I need it most.
The first time should have fixed it for good but the second time in Paris, please !! I gave it 2 stars. Praise this camera all you but if it doesn't turn on it's just a worthless brick in your bag. I will have it fixed again at Canon then put it on ebay....