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Canon PowerShot G3  4MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom

Canon PowerShot G3 4MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom

List Price: $699.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Camera
Review: I bought my Canon G3 about a month ago and I have to say I am very satisfied. I have taken hundreds of photos with it and I continue to be amazed by their quality. The G3 is loaded with many useful features, and unlike many smaller digital cameras, it is easy to hold steady when using slower shutter speeds.

Flaws?

The lens is visible in the viewfinder when the lens is set to the wide angle, but since I use the LCD most of the time, this is not really much of a bother to me. Still I am a little suprised that Canon did not correct this design flaw before releasing the camera.

Despite this minor disappointment, I highly recommend the Canon G3 anyone who is serious about digital photography.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Major Design Flaw
Review: This camera has a major design flaw. When you look through the view finder (not the LCD) the bottom left corner of the picture (about 15%) is blocked by the lens. I called the Canon technical service center to see if I had a defective camera. After about a minute of trying to tell me that most people use the LCD and not the view finder, they finally admitted, it was a design flaw in the camera. Everything else about the camera is great. If you strictly use the LCD and not the view finder, I highly recommend the camera. However for me, I occasionally use the view finder and trying to frame in a picture with the lens blocking the view is too much. I'm sending mine back and am waiting for the problem to be corrected.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best non-SLR digital camera under 5 megapixels
Review: I've been using the G3 for about six weeks and it has proven itself to be all that it's advertised. After doing a hands-on comparison between the Nikon Coolpix 5700 and Sony DSC-F717 (both of which lack the quality, feel, or features of the G3), I ultimately chose the G3 because of its outstanding image quality (resolution and coloration are superior). It beats the competition in almost every area including battery life, enthusiast features, external flash capabilities, available storage types, image formats, and more. This is a camera you will need to study and use in order to fully exploit its many features. It can be a point-and-shoot camera, but if you do not intend to "get into" it's finer features, I'd suggest a less enthusiast featured choice. All-in-all, I believe this is arguably the best non-SLR digital camera on the market.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best so far!
Review: The Canon G3 improves in almost all ways on the G1 and G2 before it, and in fact beats the Nikon Coolpix 5000 in performance (picture quality and battery life) -- which is amazing because the 5000 is a 5 megapixel camera and the Canon is a 4 megapixel camera. Canon's optics are better and I believe their processing algorithms are also better. Simply, the Canon G3 is the best digital camera out there today at this price point.

The Canon allows you to change lenses, and it accepts the IBM Microdrive (Type II Compact Flash), so you can have up to 1 Gigabyte of storage. For me on the Fine resolution setting (not maximum but very close) this adds up to over 1000 images with the 1 Gig card. The battery life of this camera is twice that of the Nikon 5000 and is better than anything else I've seen.

The only minor nits I have with the camera are it is fairly boxy looking, it needs a wrist strap instead of a neck strap, and it is a bit slow between shots. Even with these shortcomings, I still think it is the best digital camera available under $1200.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great camera but G2 will do the same for less
Review: Definetely a great camera..Proven Canon built quality and lens. Feels solid in hand. Rather heavy for point and shoot but a great camera for semi pros.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ?
Review: Did anybody buy this camera from Amazon last two months? Is really new Canon? In how many days from placing of order you get the camera? Thank you.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good, with definite limitations.
Review: I've had my G3 for about 10 months now, and I've taken thousands of pictures with it. The positives:
- Takes great, clear pictures under ideal conditions; often with better results than my 35mm Canon SLR!
- Easy uploads to my PC.
- Accepts my external Canon flash.
- Excellent battery life. (I've people complain about battery life with other digital cameras, but this really is a strong point for the G3.)
- The unique LCD that flips over is "cool" (and easy to protect from scratches).

- Has lots of shooting modes for a non-pro camera.
The negatives:
- The lens cap is a poor design; it falls off very easily (at least Canon provides a cord so it doesn't get lost).
- Focus is slow except under ideal lighting conditions.
- Focus is unreliable; I've learned to take 3 shots at a time, hoping that at least one of them will be in sharp focus.
- Photo quality gets noticeably worse (more "noise") as soon as you increase the exposure "speed" above the slowest setting (ASA 50).
- The design is relatively bulky and heavy for a non-SLR camera, and the controls are not ergonomically correct.
- The RAW picture format option is useless with this camera because Canon's software gives you virtually no useful options for correcting/modifying photos in RAW format. To do anything useful you have to take the time to convert your photos to JPG anyway. I gave up on RAW after the first couple of tries and have stuck with JPG format since then.
In summary... I expected a lot at this price level, and the G3 really is a great camera for family snapshots, scenery and documents. However, it is a poor camera for low-light conditions or action photography.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This is a great camera!
Review: I bought my G3 in September of 2003 after my SLR took a dump 3 weeks before my baby was due. I have NEVER been disappointed. Granted, if I had the money, I would have gone for something better, but this was the BEST I could have gotten for my money. Some reviewers have commented on the camera not being worth the price - you must not have shopped around! I found mine, brand new, for $460 from a reputable online camera store.

My pictures turn out great most of the time. I agree with the slow focus time, but you can't get everything with a prosumer camera. I love the neverending list of options this camera offers (from flash output to f-stops to white balance, etc. etc.).

When I have the money saved up I'll be buying the Canon digital rebel, but until then I am very satisfied with my G3.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GREAT Camera.
Review: I did a lot of research last year before I bought this camera... It kinda hurt to leave behind my beloved nikon 35mm SLR, but I was going to Italy, and I needed something smaller, and digital.

The photos coming out of this camera are amazing. The 'auto' feature takes great pictures most of the time, and there's plenty of flexability in the settings to play with if it doesn't work. And with digital, you're not wasting film if the picture doesn't come out.

This camera is also really easy to use, which is wonderful catching those quick photo opertunities. The only downsides are 1) it's a little slow to actually TAKE the picture... almost a 1 second lag from hitting the button to finishing the shot. 2) This camera can not take action shots. A childs first steps will be fine, but a soccer game won't work. To be fair, all point and shoot digitals suffer from the same flaw... to break this, you have to step it up to SLR, and >$1000 in price (though I do lust after that Nikon D70...)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good but too heavy
Review: I owned many cameras before but this is my first digital camera. My experience told me that I should get something which is more reliable and slightly heavier. I used to own a very light camera but it turned out the results were poor. Canon G3 has the perfet conditions that I am looking for, unfortunately, it is far too heavy than I thought. Overall, this is a good camera. Still, I will say it is a GOOD BUY.


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