I rarely post rants nor do I post blog entries that are this short but I had to quickly say that I’m happy with my Canon G11 down to that one thing that counts the most, video. Maybe I was just spoiled by the G9 & G10 but let me start by going through the things I don’t like about the G11 aside from Video.
- Flimsy rotating LCD. Rotation is nice but not in a plastic flimsy enclosure
- Cheap Plastic feel. Most of the metal in the body is gone and replaced with plastic
- Small dials. Big thumbs beware
- Slow interface. The interface is hella slow, changing settings in manual mode means you can only expect to take a picture every 3 seconds even if you know everything about the camera (The G10 was less than a second)
The G10 was fast, rugged, well built and had larger dials. I loved that camera. The only reason I love the G11…when I want to get a shot, it may take a while but I can get it even without a tripod. The low light performance is incredible and that makes it a great camera for everyday use.
I deal with these problems only because of the fact that my photos are very much improved over the G10 but that’s it. I think daily about going back to the G10 for so many reasons.
I don’t shoot video very often as most of you know. But, when I’m at concerts or music festivals and an artist is performing that I love, it’s nice to shoot video of my favorite songs and this is especially true with DJs. They will have a hit song and then 10 years later, put out a new mix one time, live for a few hundred people that you’ve never heard and will never hear again. BT does this A LOT. I know all of his songs, every bit, every word by heart and when he changes it up, I want to capture that.
I’ve recorded video from 6 BT shows since 2005. It wasn’t until the G9 / G10 videos that I was happy with the sound. I’ve received tons of YouTube compliments for the sound quality of my videos because it’s excellent. I’ve included a few examples below of videos shot with my G9 OR G10.
Deadmau5 at Love Fest:
BT Performs “A Million Stars” at iPhoneDevCamp
As you can see. Two ridiculously loud videos w/ bass and right by the stage and things come out great! I got the Canon G11 in December but I don’t shoot videos much and I hadn’t gone to a concert in a while. Well, I’m in Miami for WMC / UMF and BT performed last night w/ the amazingly talented Jes. This was special because she sings on many of his tracks (such as the one you heard above) and having them on stage together was incredible.
I recorded every single song. Going through all 12 tracks and I’m highly disappointing. The video was equal to video I’ve shot in the past. It might even be better quality video than the G10 but the audio was distorted, crappy and simply bad. I can by a hot shoe enabled microphone for the G11 but I never had to. It was a great pocket camera and even video camera. Now, it’s the worst and I have to start carrying a Flip with me alongside the G11 which adds more weight.
I wish I would have known this is how bad the audio is because I would have borrowed a friend’s camera instead of rely on this $499 piece of crap.
Here is the Jes performance from last night. One of 12 videos that I shot. All of them are crap.
Hey, I know it’s a point and shoot but it’s a point and shoot that had two previous generations that could capture this kind of stuff flawlessly. Now it can’t do that. Wasn’t this supposed to be an upgrade from the G10? Canon?