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| Date Reviewed: 06/18/2004 |
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Strengths: superb battery life. excellent picture quality. outstanding features
Weaknesses: it is a little bulky
Summary: I was really leery about switching from a 35mm to a digital camera and after much research I decided on the G3 and have not regretted it yet. I have taken thousands of pictures after purchasing a 512 mb card. I blow up many pictures to 8x10 and they come out flawlessly. I would strongly recommend this product to anyone.
 100% of People (15/15) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 04/02/2003 |
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Strengths: Exceptional resolution, sharp Canon lens, loaded with features, substantial feel, quality metal and plastic construction, swivel LCD, fairly easy to use.
Weaknesses: Autofocus can be a tad slow.
Summary: Exceptional performance from a 4.0 megapixel camera. The built-in neutral density filter is a plus. I've only taken about 100 pictures, but the camera seems to deliver consistently well-exposed, well-saturated images that are (at least in my opinion) better than many of its 4.0 megapixel rivals. This camera is simply awesome! I highly recommend it. :)
100% of People (7/7) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 04/08/2003 |
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Strengths: Every control you want on a good SLR.
Weaknesses: Shutter lag( It exists on all digital cameras, but I still prefer shorter lag).
Summary: I have been involved in photography for 10 years. Finally I decided to buy Canon G3. I am very happy with the picture quality and control it has. You can not ask for more at this price.
100% of People (5/5) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 03/09/2003 |
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Strengths: EASY TO HANDLE,WELL BUILT, SIMPLE TO USE, GREAT FEATURES SUCH AS THE OPEN AND CLOSE LCD VIEWER WITH ROTATING HINGE.
Weaknesses: NONE AS OF YET!
Summary: 2003-03-14 19:15:49 THIS CAMERA GREAT FOR ALL PURPOSE PHOTOGRAPHY. UPGRADES FROM THE G-2 ARE 14X DIGITAL & OPTICAL ZOOM , GIVING YOU A 4X OPTICAL ZOOM MORE FEATURES ON DISPLAY LCD. MOST OF ALL TAKES GREAT PICTURES IN ALL MODES AUTO,MANUAL,PRO,ETC...
100% of People (4/4) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 01/30/2003 |
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Strengths: easy to operate, not complicated. excellent results. this is camera that will handle everything you need.
Weaknesses: none,
Summary: quality camera for expert or someone who wants quality. comes with 32 card which does not handle volume. upgrade is worth it.this camera is a good investment.
100% of People (4/4) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 02/10/2003 |
- bail61
from CO
- Member Since:
Feb 2003
View Member's:
Reviews
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Strengths: Web site
Weaknesses: None as of yet
Summary: Short & sweet! I knew what I wanted, they had the G3 in stock, strong commitment to get it to me when I needed it (a little sales pitch on accessories) - can't wait to get the G3!!! Very efficient sales - highly recommend!
100% of People (3/3) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 01/03/2003 |
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Strengths: NA
Weaknesses: NA
Summary: perfect camera, don't want to miss it anymore. It does everything what I want in a perfect way. The lens is really the best in this class.
100% of People (3/3) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 04/25/2003 |
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Strengths: Many small improvements over the G2 (also own). Favorite new feature is the "main wheel" which makes it much easier and quicker to make exposure changes.
Weaknesses: Hate the fact that the longer lens obscures a portion of the view through the optical viewfinder.
Summary: Have owned a G2 for over a year and have not had a single complaint. Great camera. The G3 has the potential to be even better. Someone at Canon really messed up though when they allowed this camera on the market with one (in my opinion) terrible flaw. The fact that the lens is visible and blocks a portion of the scene is simply unexcusable. This might be expected of a cheap camera but this one is definitely not cheap and I had expected better from Canon.
88% of People (7/8) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 08/07/2003 |
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Strengths: Controls are great, LCD can swivel.
Weaknesses: Adapter barrel is very intrusive.
Summary: This is a great camera and can take great photos. When I read the reviews about the barrel of the adapter intruding on the viewfinder, I thought it wouldn't be serious. It IS serious. It blocks approximately HALF of the viewfinder area, including the center crosshair area. It feels like you are taking photos 'blind' when the filter adapter is on. Even when the filter adapter is off, the barrel still protrudes into the viewfinder area, but minimally. I suppose it's Canon's subtle hint that the viewfinder is becoming obsolete and that we must use the LCD in all lighting conditions, even full sun. Otherwise, this camera is very light, takes sharp, crisp photos, and focusses indoors much more quickly than my old Nikon Coolpix 990.
86% of People (6/7) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 05/27/2004 |
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Strengths: Excellent quality hardware, fit and finish. Versatile functions. Swivel LCD viewer is a fantastic asset. Photo speed is good (use CF Ultra II). Battery life is very good.
Weaknesses: Auto-focus takes some getting used to. Lens partially obscures optical view finder. Battery life indicator not evenly progressive.
Summary: The Canon G3 is an excellent mid-size digital camera for the price. I have owned one for 7 months as of this writing and have had very satisfying results. I highly recommend it for any photographer that wants an ample range of features, while keeping the base cost to less than $500. It is nicely weighted, feels solid, and is small enough for easy traveling (compared to an SLR).
It has versatile functions for a variety of photographic situations, including aperture priority, shutter priority, and full manual. Great night photography results are finally in reach without having to have a lot of skill! The 4-megapixel capacity is very adequate and photos are professional at maximum resolution with minimal compression. dpreview.com recommends the G3 over the G5 (see their site for details). The swivel LCD viewer is a fantastic asset, allowing highly creative photography (you can put the camera where your head won't fit!)--I use it extensively and can't imagine having a digital camera without it. I wish they made them on Digital SLRs!
The greatest weakness of the camera is the auto-focus mechanism, in that it doesn't always focus on what you're looking at. And with the very small LCD viewer, you may have a blurry photo that looks in focus because of the viewer size (it scales down the actual photo size, of course). I've had a number of photos turn out a bit blurry, because the G3 locked onto a wall rather than the people in front of it. This isn't a "don't buy the camera" problem--you just have to get used to how the camera functions. Next to that, I agree with the other reviews, that another notable weakness is the optical view finder. It is partially obscured by the lens and even more so with the lens adapter attached (for using 58mm filters). But I only use it when battery power is getting low (the LCD is the biggest drain on the battery, but it is easy to use it sparingly by either turning it off with a menu option or closing it to the body). One minor complaint I have is that the battery life indicator is not evenly progressive. When the first power bar disappears, you must use power cautiously (rather than 50% power left, it is more like 20%). But again, battery life is very good. The only odd quirk I've run into was in 2 different photo situations: When photographing a neon sign that was a purple/blue shade, it did not capture properly--no sign of purple, just blue. Weird. But then, I've heard of other cameras distorting many more commonly encountered colors.
It's too bad the G5 didn't stand up to the precedent set by the G3 (kind of like the styling of the new BMW 530i, vs. the previous 2003-1997 models)! The G3 is hard to come by new... but if you find one in nice shape used, I'd get it. It really is a "prosumer" model, delivering professional quality for the photo enthusiast consumer.
82% of People (9/11) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 09/08/2003 |
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Strengths: Optics, Controls and features access, Color accuracy, Superb White balance, Battery life, Articulated LCD, Completeness of package, ie: remote and power adapter
Weaknesses: Infrequent auto focus misses (1 out of 50 or so)
Summary: Like the others before me, I researched this purchase to death. There were very few available cameras with the necessities I desired. Other models considered included the Pentax Optio 550 the Olympus 750. The G3 easily delivered the most complete package out of all contenders and to my mind remains in the top tier of digi-cams anywhere regardless of price. The thoroughness of the Canon approach combined with the high quality of product delivered is very satisfying to me as a consumer. The combination of the thoughtful remote and the video out makes for an easy presentation on any modern TV set. Unlike many cameras with no video out capability, some of them quite popular, screening and evaluating photos is quite easy and requires no computer. This is essential for travel/vacation photos. Along with the supplied 32MB, I have (2) 256MB cards and will have even more when traveling to the Hudson Valley this fall. Large capacity storage is an absolute necessity for these situations (unless one is also taking a laptop along for downloading...I currently do not but am thinking about it!!!) Image quality is superb and the color accuracy (Canon greyscale) is difficult to outperform. I know...I have tried...and failed. Were it not for the increased CA with the G5 I probably would have gone that route. But the trade-off in lens speed required to correct the problem made the G3 a true no-brainer. Color me happy.
80% of People (4/5) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 04/19/2003 |
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Strengths: Look and feel. Automatic and manual functions. Great Photos.
Weaknesses: NA
Summary: In a word: BUY IT! Whether you are an experienced photographer or an amateur, the Powershot G3 will meet your demands. It feels good, takes outstanding pictures, and has an extensive assortment of features in more shooting modes than you can shake a stick at. Suprisingly, though, it does not have a steep learning curve. I was reluctant to switch from a 35mm film camera to a digital camera for many years because I feared losing many of the advanced capabilities I enjoyed. In actuality, however, I now have a whole lot more. The documentation included with the camera is outstanding, but the software, though good, could be improved with a more advanced image editor. Nonethess, the Powershot G3 is a fantastic camera. I installed a Lexar 256MB, 12X CompactFlash card and was able to shoot nearly 800 outstanding quality photos for display with vivid colors and crystal-clear images on a 21-inch monitor. Likewise, when saving images to the 12X card in the .JPG format, the files are written in well less than a second. BUY IT!
80% of People (4/5) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 02/20/2004 |
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Strengths: Great all around Pro-sumer camera. Great color, a full line of features, very expandable.
Weaknesses: Viewfinder Problem (as noted previously), Hard to focus in Low Light situations, some features are not enabled with add on flash.
Summary: I have been very pleased with the purchase of this camera. As far as I'm concerned you can't go wrong. It is a great beginner camera as you can get as technical as you like while still having a very accurate "Auto" feature which will produce a great picture 99% of the time. You can easily add on lenses and filters. With the addition of the exteranl flash it truly is a great all around camera.
75% of People (3/4) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 07/02/2003 |
- Shanewolf
from NC
- Member Since:
Jun 2003
View Member's:
Reviews
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Strengths: Quality, battery life, features, you name it
Weaknesses: Only one, auto-focus at full zoom slow
Summary: I compared cameras at this price range for nearly a year before deciding on the G3. Couldn't be happier with my choice. Ordered it just before my twins came. Camera arrived the day they were born. I took it out of the box, put in a flash card, and started taking photos/videos right away. I haven't even changed a setting since. I've taken hundered of pictures and quite a few videos since then, and have only had to charge the battery a couple of times. This camera has tons of features, most of which I haven't had time to use yet, but I wouldn't trade it for any other camera. Haven't taken a single photo with my digital since getting this. Even dropped it 6 feet onto a concrete floor and it kept on ticking. Only gripe is the autofocus takes awhile at full zoom to snap a shot. First Canon product I've ever bought, but won't be the last. Kudos/shanewolf
75% of People (3/4) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 06/12/2003 |
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 When I spoke above about my disappointment with th ... Strengths: I liked the idea that I could add an additional lens or flash which made it versitile.
Weaknesses: 1. The color was weak. Reds were pinkish when using natural light inside, and a general grayish washed out look with all others. 2. Very heavy & bulky. 3. Can see lens barrel through the viewfinder.
Summary: 2003-06-12 18:35:46 When I spoke above about my disappointment with the color, I am comparing it to the wonderful Canon Powershot S30 that I have taken thousands of pics with. The color difference is very noticeable. I returned the G3 after taking a couple hundred pics and comparing them. Very disappointed !!!! I will definitely go back to the Powershot series.
75% of People (3/4) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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