I like my G5 a lot. All the shots in my portfolio were done with it. It does have its limitations though.
It does take filters, either by using a lensmate(52mm or 58mm) or Canon's adapter(58mm). Canon's adapter and the 58mm lensmate all but totally block the optical viewfinder, which is pretty useless anyway. It has a 3 stop ND filter built into the lens accessible through the menus.
It's a 4x optical zoom, med wide to tele. There are optical lens attachments to extend the range, but I can't comment on those as I have never used them.
The images right out of the camera are pretty typical of Canon, a bit dark and maybe a bit warm for most people. Canon seems to favor underexposing to preserve the highlight detail. They seem to need a reasonable amount of sharpening to maximize the detail in the image. All in all, I would say they are pretty good right out of the camera, but really good with some adjustments.
The Chromatic Aberration that you hear so much about in the reviews is really not that big of an issue for me, it is easy enough to avoid or to fix in PS later if necessary.
I had a shot printed 16x20 from DPCPrints and it was gorgeous.
Some of the downsides that I have run into:
Noise at higher ISOs - pretty much a given with the small sensor size.
Lack of a shutter speed slower than 15s - This may not be an issue for most prople, but when you need a long exposure or Bulb setting, you really need it.
AF can be slow - This seems pretty typical for this type of camera, but can drive me nuts. It does have an AF assist light, I can't imagine it without one.
Shutter lag - Seems better than most, but to someone used to film SLRs, it is annoying.
If you have any more specific questions, let me know, I'll be happy to tell you what I think.
|