Nikon coolpic P5100 OR Canon powershot G9?

gendarmee · Oct 27, 2007

8th February, 2010.Update: After 2 years and 2 months of use.

The cam suddenly died yesterday. It just wont turn on any more. there was an internal noise coming from the camera, like some thing was free inside. On googling I found this link- My Fix Tips » Who killed my G9?

Followed the tips to open the cam. One screw dropped out as soon as the front panel was opened. On opening up the cam further found that that was the only screw that which had popped out of place, but it did the damage.

This is NOT the first Canon thats just Died. I've had a ELPH SD630 and an IXUS 75 die with lense issues before this. Are canon P&S cams designed to self destruct within a year or two, so that we buy the newer version?

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Update: After 8 months of use.

I've learnt a lot with this cam than i did with the sony.

Will just point out too the negatives.

-Cannot lock focus too infinity or switch the AF off, is a handicap at times as increases the lag time( wish a firmware upgrade could fix that)

-Noise! even at ISO 80 in low light or extended exposures, pathetic low light performance w/o flash in low light even at iso 100 or 80.

-Pixels are are turning hot by the day, have almost 30 pixels that show up as white spots, dont make a difference in general, but they do at 100% in areas where they are present in patches...so crops need PP which im not fond of at all. Last month there were only 9 hot ones, Canon service blames me for it, says that i probably tried too take a picture of the sun or a laser hence spoiled the pixels.

-Zoom ring has lost the black color.

-The ghosting on the LCD has been there since i got it, hasnt increased though.

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Sideburns · Oct 27, 2007

haven't heard or seen much about the nikon, but I know the canon G9 is an amazing camera for the price.

xvvvz · Oct 29, 2007

Have you held a G9? It is not a big camera. Many people are saying they wish it were slightly bigger to make it easier to grip.

The DPReview of the G9 has some image comparisons with the Nikon.

Doug

Iron Flatline · Oct 29, 2007

The Nikon doesn't shoot RAW, which makes it unacceptable to me.

usayit · Nov 3, 2007

The G-series is a strong line of cameras.. higher end of the Canon P&S. My first knock around was the G1 and now the G5. Extremely happy with both.

BUT.

Stay away from the G7... Canon screwed up by not including RAW.

Small budget? go with a used G6.
Godo budget? go with a new G9.

Oh yeh.. if you plan on doing any sort of good quality flash photography with the camera, do yourself a favor and get a 420EX or 430EX. Full TTL and you can bounce. A huge difference from the crappy in your face flash that comes with all P&S.

manidhamirambo · Nov 6, 2007

its november of 2007 and i am still unable to get canon g9 in India. So did you get your g9? i am ready to buy from grey but for god sake please help me get it from anywhere coz till date its not availabl in grey market delhi.

usayit · Nov 6, 2007

I feel the same why about cars and living in the US.

usayit · Nov 7, 2007

gendarmee said:
Didnt quite get you, can u elaborate your thoughts a lil bit!

just an off-topic statement that I see wonderful choices in vehicles released in Europe and in other countries all the time. Very few of them ever make the shores of the U.S.... bummer....

sabbath999 · Nov 7, 2007

Me, I would get the G9 hands down.

I shoot Nikon DSLR's but I shoot Canon P&S's... because I find the Canons to be a lot better value in the P&S class.

BTW I really, REALLY hate posts done in all bold letters. Can you please chill out on doing that?

jstuedle · Dec 4, 2007

I have thought about getting a P5100 to keep in my car. The biggest reason I would use the Nikon instead of another brand, I already have Nikon flashes. The P5100 would save me a few hundred when I need a hotshoe flash.

usayit · Dec 4, 2007

My buddy asked me to accompany him to the camera store last week to purchase a new camera. I pointed him to the G9 and asked for a Nikon equivalent. The store owner brought us the P5100. In comparison of the P5100 to the G9, the G9 won in almost every aspect except two:
1) The P5100 was more comfortable to hold (integrated grip) and smaller in size
2) The price

My friend decided on the G9 for his more "serious" photos and will still keep his older kodak for a more pocketable snapshooter. My personal feelings is the G9 is a DSLR like camera in a compact package... complete with RAW and almost every feature that entry level DSLRs have built-in. It also has a longer zoom than the nikon. I really wish Canon would design a compact swivel E-TTL flash with the Gseries in mind so that the G9 + dedicated flash is still easy to pack (420EX is bigger than the camera). By comparison, the P5100 is just another P&S albeit a good one.

usayit · Dec 4, 2007

Yeh.. wonder why it is taking so long to release in your location....

gendarmee · Dec 6, 2007

I Got it the G9.
It took 16 hours to get delivered from the other city.
After hearing from canon i could wait, bought one from the grey market for half the cost of a new G7.

Initial impressions...I love the grip of it. Actually didn't expect it to have a proper grip, could improve though....feels solid in the hand and i like the weight & it just about fits into my pant's pockets.

Just been 3 hours with the cam, i'll take me a while to get comfortable with it!
I thank every one who replied to the thread, thank you for showing interest and helping me out!
Cheers'

usayit · Dec 6, 2007

Wow... Great work.. you are persistant. Enjoy the G9.. I liked it the minute I picked it up.

btw... Now that things have calmed down a bit.. could you please stop bolding now? thanks...

usayit · Dec 15, 2007

gendarmee said:
Enquired about the flash.....its out opt of budget but i have my eyes on it!
Will the Nikon SB-400 flash or a nikon ring flash work with the canon?
I'm asking coz i have SB-400 at hand but am apprehensive of trying it out with the G9 just in case some thing goes wrong, i dunt want to risk it..

Nope.. you will want to stay with the Canon line of EX flashes that support Canon's proprietary ETTL for digital cameras.. makes life a lot easier. If you can get a good conditioned but used 550EX or 420EX, you can save a little money their as well.