Canon PowerShot G15 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 5X Wide-Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

Canon PowerShot G15 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 5X Wide-Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

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• 5x Optical Zoom with 28mm Wide-Angle Lens
• 12.1 MP High-Sensitivity CMOS sensor with DIGIC 5 Image Processor
• 1080p Full HD Video With a Dedicated Movie Button
• High-speed AF, High-speed Burst HQ for a maximum of 10 frames
• 12-bit Multi Aspect Recording in RAW + JPEG

Buy Now : Canon PowerShot G15 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 5X Wide-Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

Brand : Canon
Category : Electronics,Camera & Photo,Digital Cameras,Point & Shoot Digital Cameras
Rating : 4.4
Review Count : 424

Canon PowerShot G15 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 5X Wide-Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

• I shoot all the time with Canon DSLR and I am usually lugging above 20lbs of equipment in a Pelican case. This becomes a little too much, especially when I also have to carry a backup body, lighting equipment etc.I bought this one after reading lots of reviews and my expectations were pretty high. Many people commented already so I will overview the great and the not so great briefly before getting to what I think I can add to the conversation.The camera is built like a tank - this is obvious the minute you take it in hand.It is smaller than those I am used to so it did take me some time to get used to its form factor.The controls are great and I was able to find my way around them almost immediately (coming from Canon DSLR) except for the zoom button, which will give you an idea of how long since I last manipulated a compact. Just to be clear it is where you would expect it, it just took ME some adjustment.The menus are obvious.The LCD is gorgeous and the same as the 7D I use most of the time.The display modes when shooting live view are very informative.I wish the manual came in dead tree form, not circular shiny plastic.The so-so: the flash management menu entry is only available when you are using the pop-up flash; not even when you attach a flash in the hot shoe.The popup flash tends to open when you carry the camera in a simple trousers pocket - I even had the camera power up and extend its lens once or twice. No damage, no biggie.No remote flash control through the pop up flash - now, THAT would have blown me away, so I won\'t count it as a minus.What I was mostly wondering about before receiving it were the following aspects. I give my rating in stars, max is five.- Ease of use: so close to ***** that I posted above a picture I shot with it in a total of 10 seconds from the pocket to the pocket, including color temperature selection and exposition -1 1/3eV. This was one of the first few tens of pictures I shot with it.- Color rendition - ***** - I did several tests and comparisons with a color checker and a 7D and it works very well. They end-up a little more saturated than with the 7D in my experiment, but this would be expected considering the apertures and the lenses used.- Exposure metering - ***** - In the collection of tests I did last night in my hotel room, I used a Sekonic L-308s and the 7D as reference and the results are very good. Shot two remote external flash (580ExII and YN560) and measure the aperture, set both the 7D and the G15 to that aperture and ISO and shoot the colorchecker grey card. They both come out the same and ok (proper value, no cast).- Flash control - **** There I tried with the one I had: an old 580ExII. Now let\'s be clear, the 580ExII on the G15 looks silly: it is three times the size of the camera - you would be excused for thinking that the thingy attached under the flash is a pocket wizard of sorts! However the results are just what you would expect: the ETTL works just fine and the resulting exposures are excellent.I only put four stars because of the SNAFU I mentioned about the menu not being accessible unless the Jimmini Cricket of a popup flash is out of its box.- Shooting in low light, others have mentioned it already, works fine. ***** See the picture I posted of the office building, the one I shot in 10 seconds.- Shooting with the flash - **** - This silly little flash is actually pretty powerful. This is not a 580ExII by any means, but at close range it can be enough. If the 580ExII were a Colt Pacificator, this would be a Derringer: cute but not harmless.- Shooting with remote controlled flash. *****\"What?!?\" can I hear you say, \"I thought there was no such capability\". Well, not natively indeed, but I had a cheap remote control solution with me so I just tried: the  Yongnuo RF-603 C1  works just fine with the G15, if you accept that the remote control wire plugs in on the right side of the camera body, i.e. where you would put your hand to hold it, and of course this only works with the flash in manual. It is also controlled remotely by the same YN603.You will need a cable to plug between the G15 and the YN603; as it turns out it is the one that comes with the C1 kit as mentioned above.Nonetheless, it works.I will post a picture or two of the geared up G15.- The great and unexpected: the C1 and C2 positions on the main mode dial, that you can use for your predefined setups - just like on a pro DSLR. This is just great.- Another great feature I was not expecting: focus bracketing. I don\'t use it that much but I can see how it could save the day.I cannot comment on what I have not tried seriously yet: Video and HDR.So.All in all I bought this camera to ensure I will always take a backup with me, and as a walk around camera for when I don\'t want to lug my bigger bodies.It does that, way better than I dared hope for.A solid five stars.If you have questions, feel free to post them in comments below - I make a point of answering them.____________________________Update May 11th - I post two pictures of the mist at midnight in Guilford, CT, taken with the camera sitting on the roof of my car. The only modification I did was to rotate them slightly as I could not level the car properly :)(1) The LCD showed visible banding in the misty areas on the darkest one of the two - the picture came out just fine.(2) The colors displayed by the LCD seem pretty yellowish to me - again this is not an issue with the actual picture.Other remarks: the camera supports much more modes than what I will ever use in real life, but I made a point to test HDR (not bad if you like the style) and the various shutter release modes such as smile detection. They seem to work, provided you smile with all your teeth.Still not tested seriously: face recognition (I also have a concern with privacy rights in that case) and video. I will update this review as appropriate.____________________________Update June 21st 2013Small clarification regarding using a Yongnuo RF-603: you do NOT need the cable if you only want to remote-control the flash from the camera.You only need it to remote control the camera from yet another RF-603.
• Everyone has their own needs with regards to cameras, but many amateur photographers are encouraged to upgrade to expensive DSLR\'s in order to grow their skills and produce great shots. DSLR\'s have their place, but the G15 - I think - provides all the features needed in a durable form so that, unless you absolutely are certain you need a particular feature specific to a DSLR, there is no need to upgrade. The G15 on its own is wonderful: It shoots fast, has a great lens, and produces stunning jpegs. There are hundreds of ways to customize and extend it. And, it just makes taking pictures fun and a seamless experience. The live view on the G15 is also super responsive. You will find most of the features and issues specific to a DSLR are also applicable to the G15, although the lens on the g15 is not upgradeable like a DSLR would be.Also, if you give the camera to a novice family member to take shots, the auto mode is the most intelligent I\'ve ever seen.....odds are they will still be able to produce great shots w/o knowing what they are doing.Caveats:- Zoom range is OK but not super, if you\'re doing a lot of outdoor landscape photography or shooting birds/etc....well, there are better cameras built specifically for that niche, like the canon SX50.- It will produce raw format files for those wanting to do extensive post production work, but when raw mode is enabled - there is a substantial slowdown. I\'m more of an action photographer, and the G15 can give me close to a sustained 2 shots/second for up to 45 minutes when in jpeg only mode. After a certain point, the camera might start to overheat...and thats my clue to slow down. DSLR\'s may have faster processors for shooting images in raw format....the G15 is optimized for jpeg all the way through. RAW is just a slow add on for it.- The default aspect ratio on the G15 is 4/3 which is the standard for point and shoots. However, 3/2 is a much better general use ratio that makes it easy to introduce still photos into HD video. DSLR\'s make this easy. For the G15, you have to switch to the 3/2 aspect ratio which immediately results in a reduction in about 1 Megapixel of image quality.- The camera is small which makes it absurdly easy to carry everywhere and to hold while capturing stills and video, but that size comes at the cost of both the articulating display in prior G series cameras and practical limitations on what size equipment you\'ll mount to it when doing professional work. I can mount a speed 320ex speedlite flash to the G15 and it remains barely usable...I wouldn\'t mount a 430EXII. A wireless transmitter would be fine though if you can mount flash\'s off camera.- You will get lots of anxiety from other photographers for using a camera with such a small sensor...however the sensor and image processor on the G15 is great quality and allows taking shots with lower than normal iso which is a big win.- You will see extensive image noise if you use ISO >= 1600, the G15 is extremely sensitive to ISO levels. 90% of your shots you will be able to take at ISO400 or below though, and you can minimize the need to increase ISO either by using flash or modifying shutter/aperture. You can also enable special modes that will significantly optimize the quality of highlights and shadows in your images at the expense of a slightly higher ISO.- If you are buying the G15 because it has an optical viewfinder, I\'m not sure of the quality of it...I never use it, nor do I really miss the lack of the articulating electronic viewfinder.Just as update, the following are the accessories I recommend as the minimum to get the most out of a G15:- At least 1 additional Canon NB-10L battery. I have three batteries total which is enough to get me through the most intense of shooting days. The built in flash can deplete a battery in under an hour. If you are not using flash, you can probably get 4000 or so still images or a few hours of video on a single charge. However, the batteries take awhile to recharge...and I like to have at least 1 active and 1 spare whenever I leave the house...and all three batteries when on travel.- As mentioned above, the 320EX makes the perfect complement flash for the G15. Even if you are happy with the built in flash quality of the G15, and the built in flash is more than OK, the 320EX provides the benefit of a much faster recharge interval which is most noticeable when taking night shots. Taking sustained shots with the internal flash at night is an aggravating experience with a 5-6 second delay between photos, essentially removing it from being able to cover action events. The 320EX minimizes camera slow down with a high burst capability and a fast ~2 second recharge when provided with nimh rechargeable AA\'s.- SLIK PRO 700DX Professional Tripod with Panhead (615-315), you will need a tripod to make the best use of the video, timelapse, macro, night, and built in HDR modes of the camera. HDR especially is sensitive to any camera movement.- Optek Premium Reference White Balance Card - 3 Card Digital Color Correction Tool- SanDisk Extreme Pro 64 GB SDXC Class 10 UHS-1 Flash Memory Card 95MB/s SDSDXPA-064G-AFFP (I have three of these cards for multi-day travel that allow me to wait until I return from a 3-7 day trip before downloading photos). Yes, the camera seems to have a snappier response and be able to sustain a higher continuous burst rate with the 95MB/s UHS-1 cards. Those new to the G15 might scoff at the 64GB card size or the need to take 3-4K photos/day.....just wait until they have been shooting with the G15 for a few months..the camera is so quick to respond, especially in continuous mode for action shots...it is remarkably easy to find oneself taking 10x the photos one was taking with an earlier camera. ~200GB is what I\'ve budgeted as the maximum I need for a week or two of shooting. I average ~8GB/hr.- Satechi MTR-C Timer Remote Control for Canon EOS 60D, Digital Rebel XT, XTi, XSi, XS, T1i, T2i, T3i & Canon Powershot G10, G11 & Pentax K7 & ELAN SLR (Camera) -- cheapest and best way to take extended duration timelapse videos with the G15- Case Logic DCB-303 Vertical Flash Camcorder Case (Black) (Camera) - Smallest high quality case that comfortably fits the G15 and a few accessories. I use this to house the G15 whenever I\'m not using it, and I put this case into a larger leather one for extended travel.

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