Fearing that I really don't have enough cameras, I've bought the new Canon G7.
(Some people drink or smoke or party to calm their nerves, I buy cameras. :)
I suspect that the G7 is one of the first compact (pocket-sized, if you have big pockets) cameras with successful image-stabilization. I have tried a Nikon P3 which supposedly has it too, but I did not see a difference. (The P3 is much smaller, and surely does not use the same technology.) But with the G7 it works.
See these test photos (not intended for artistic purposes!) I took them both at 1/8 second, which is way too slow for hand-holding a camera, ordinarily. Not only that, they are taken at the equivalent of a 200mm telephoto setting!
These two samples illustrate two things, oddly enough:
1: You might be able to handheld ridiculously slow shutter speeds and get useful images out of it (though not pin-sharp).
2: For such slow speeds, you also need LUCK!
Now, guess which one of them had me resting the camera on the window sill? Wrong... it is the blurred one! Which also illustrates that Images Stabilization works in mysterious ways. When things are iffy, better take multiple shots. (And give a thought to the old days where you had to pay for film and processing.)
2 comments:
Funny, it has never occurred to me that I could calm my nerves by buying more cameras.
I guess that's because I feel so calm already after buying all these computers and musical instruments.
The test picture is certainly convincing. But it sounds like they haven't quite nailed the image stabilization issue on carry everywhere pocket cameras. The G7 is a bit clunker still for that.
True enough.
I think the type that uses moving mechanical parts is probably still too large. Maybe the smaller cameras use digital stabilization, which is not as good.
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