Canon PowerShot G5 Digital Camera (Canon-8398A001)

Canon PowerShot G5

PowerShot G5 Digital Camera (Canon-8398A001) Review, by Tracey Capen August 26, 2003

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• Reviewed by: sandytran

  Strengths: good quality workmanship and lots of exposurefeatures.

  Weaknesses: outdated with only 5 megapixels and overpriced andcosting as much as some 8 megapixel cameras.

  Overall: back in late 2003 when i got my canon g5 it was oneof the very few digital cameras with 5 megapixels. the picture quality is good even when printing it on a 8 x 10" inkjet as well as viewing photos on a 19 inchLcd monitor. however it's now late 2005 and i must saythat compared to today's digital cameras which has8 megapixels, the g5 is outdated and with it costing as much as many of the 8 megapixel digital cameras, theg5 is overpriced.

• Reviewed by: Gahawn

  Strengths: Excellent picture quality, lots of manual controls but still easy to use in auto mode, good battery life.

  Weaknesses: slow auto focus in low light, nothing else I've found so far

  Overall: It's simply a great camera. I have owned a Powershot S30 for a while and loved it. I wanted something with more megapixels and improved manual features and I got it! While larger than many of the current point-and-shoot models, this camera is not cumbersome and offers a very large range of advanced options to keep even semi-pro shutterbugs happy for a while to come. If you're looking for anything more than 3 megapixels, look seriously at this camera.

• Reviewed by: Vladik

  Strengths: a lot of color balances(auto,flowrcast,tunglsone...)easy to use. Canon...the best camera maker.(my third one)

  Weaknesses: slow auto focus..i guess its in all canons now

  Overall: This digital camera is absolutely fantastic!!! Starting at the lcd and ending with the software. the LCD is absolutely awesome!!! very good quality?.a lot better then any Kodak!!!. This camera is really easy to use, if you have used a serious digital camera before u should have no problems working with this one. The Quality of the pics. is awesome!!! This is really worth the money. if you are thinking about Kodak DX6490 forget it! this is a lot better and more professional. There are 2 custom modes in which you can save your on setting in the setup its really useful when u take pics. at different environments u can just set it up once and switch whenever needed. The Program mode is awesome there are 5 effects + like 5 White balances. this makes this camera unique. its quality is amazing the only thing you can argue about is the auto focus its kind of slow but everything else is flawless !!! Connect it through USB to your computer, it sees it immediately, and you can edit the pics. at Photoshop in a second !!!! i also like the point that canon uses the cf and not the sd or anything else. cd is the most popular one and is useful everywhere. Another lack, was that canon doesn?t make a sport mode.. i didn't like that but i set it up in the Manuel mode and it works with movement smoothly as well. 4x opt. zoom is more the enough. its pretty close and you can still make it closer when you are looking at the picture in the camera(all digital cameras have that feature though). i consider canon the best digital manufacturer for today?s time. everything is thought through even the grip is very good, u can hold the camera with one hand and still zoom in and take great pics.like i said...my third canon !!! 5.0 Megapixels,4x Zoom,12 pro EOS modes, $530, go for it, you won't regret this...trust me !!!

• Reviewed by: BDCLEWETT

  Strengths: Great resolution, great flexibility, sturdy, good colors, manual functions are relatively easy to use, the ability to zoom pictures in playback mode, I especially love the moveable LCD

  Weaknesses: purple fringing, can use only a very limited number of 3rd party flash units, no live histogram, LCD could stand being a tad brighter, tripod mount is off-center, autofocus sluggish in low light

  Overall: This is my first digital camera (I have done a fair bit of SLR photography over the past 30 years) so I cannot compare this with other digital cameras. I have noticed fairly strong purple fringing in shots where there is strong contrast (ie objects taken in front of a bright sky) but I have a hunch that this is a common problem with most other sub-$1000 digital cameras. I certainly cannot agree with previous comments that this camera is complicated or difficult to use. After going through the manual in about a day I have been able to use virtually every manual function without any problems. I find most of these very intuitive. I have also had no problems with the start-up / mode button, and I am a bit puzzled about how someone could actually "accidently" change the mode. Oh well... As I said, this is my first digital camera, and it could be that other digicams are even easier to use. As for me, I would recommend this unit unreservedly. Especially now that you can grab one up for under $500.

• Reviewed by: john01910

  Strengths: 3 avalable lens, very close to a DSLR for half the price.

  Weaknesses: flash cast a shadow when using a wide-angle lens.

  Overall: The G5 is a very good camera. It has comprable fetures to most Digital SLR body cameras for about half the price. the photos are of the highest quality.The only problem is that if you use a wide angle lens with the flashyou will have a shadow the lower right corner of your photos. To fix this shadow problem you must use an add-on flash.