Rating: 
Summary: Great camera, flawed software
Review: I've had my G1 for about two months now. It's a fine instrument. I'm a semi-pro photog. It's changed my shooting habits, my working habits, and the way I look at photography. It has resulted in some very interesting new information-delivery concepts. My gripe is with the software. I'm a Mac user, so I expected rather crude interfaces ported from the Windows world. No big problem. And the Canon software for downloading, manipulating, viewing, etc. the images is quite powerful, but the user interface is fairly badly flawed, which is a shame. With such a fine camera, and such basically powerful software (the PhotoStitch and SlideShow functions are particularly nice), it's a shame that Canon couldn't see its way to smooth out the interface and make it more intuitive. Some of the ways in which the software could easily be improved would be evident to a six-year-old. Others are a bit more subtle, but still readily evident. The worst mis-function (besides memory crashes--and virtually no info about how to prevent them in the wooden documentation) is in setting up the camera for remote capture (ie, the camera is being controlled remotely by my PowerBook G3 courtesy of a connecting cable). It's easier to find the key to world peace than to figure out how to get this working first time around. If you write your own instructions, you can then do it in the future; but don't expect it to be explained clearly in the manual, or to be (gasp!) Macintosh-style intuitive. We can hope for smoother versions of the proprietary software in the future, but well-designed, smooth-operating software is such a rarity now that I won't hold my breath. Still, it'd be great to have programs that match the camera in elegance, design, ease of use and just plain fun.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to use
Review: I am not a photography pro, but after lots of research and buying the wrong camera a few times, The G1 was recommended by friends that do photography for a living. It really is easy to use and the battery lasts as long as you need it (for me anyway). I bought a spare anyway. Haven't needed to use it yet. I've shot 60+ shots on a charge without running out of power An added flash is a necessity. The built in flash is good for only 14 feet or so.
Rating:
Summary: Canon walks the walk!
Review: After a lot of searching and researching I finally decided to get the G1. What an outstanding camera! As a first-time digital camera user I knew I was buying more camera than I needed. Despite all of its features, it has been easy to use and learn. The camera comes with everything you need to get started and setup is easy. Picture quality is unbelievable! Even the short movies capture great detail. Make sure you buy an extra CompactFlash card with plenty of memory.This camera provides the right combination of features with its rechargeable batteris, which last a long time, to its size; this camera has it all. You can also buy other Canon flashes and lenses which further its capability. Great camera - worth the money!!
Rating: 
Summary: Drawback
Review: While I like this camera, one shortcoming any serious user should be aware of - All shutter speeds above 1/500 only work with f8.0 - So, if it's a cloudy day and you're shooting sports, an exposure of 1/800s at f2.8 won't work. This makes the Shutter Preferred and Aperture Preferred modes of limited value. If you're not going to be shooting on AUTO, you might want to look at another camera.
Rating:
Summary: Poor External Flash performance
Review: The G1 is an excellent point and shoot camera, but failed to perform well with an external flash. I tried two cameras and returned both because of this failure. The instructions (and Canon) imply that manual exposure with manual flash power should behave as well as with a film camera - it does not do this. Exposure is hard to set, unpredictable and several stops overexposed.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent camera.....but
Review: I do not want to repeat all the praises of this great camera. I'd like to point out that the exact focusing may be a problem. The depth of field of these very short focal length lenses is very deep. I miss the rectangular marker for metering (when I do it and not in auto mode - the autofocus is so sophisticated you almost never need the override it). Not Canon's fault is the fact that many older studio strobes can not be fired from the G1. The high voltage trigger circuit may even damage the camera. Speedorton's 64V did not do any harm to mine but I can not use them together. The manual ought to warn against this. I love the G1 and use it almost every day...besides an S100 that is in my pocket :-)
Rating:
Summary: Excellent camera !!!
Review: Hi just purchased this camera on the weekend.....and all I got say is its "amazing." Myself, I am not a proffesional photographer, but am hevily into web design. Basically to sum it up 1)Excellent Images (can't stress that enough) 2)Battery life is excellent 3)Nice metal casing and feel to it 4)Features for days 4)Nightmode is extreamly impressive 5) Well worth the money
Rating:
Summary: Interesting to compare with Nikon Coolpix 990
Review: I normally use a Nikon Coolpix 990, but I recently had a chance to try this Canon for a few days. It's a very different machine to handle. I think it's actually smaller than the Nikon, but the Nikon falls more easily into my hands. The screen on the Nikon is fixed on the camera body, but the lens swivels around the body. The screen on the Canon can be swivelled in any direction. So the Canon's would appear to be more flexible, yet I found that I was constantly fiddling with the screen to get it to an angle that I liked. That may just be a matter of familiarity. The screen is very bright and shows up much better in sunlight than the Nikon's. But I think the Nikon's is better quality. They are both bristling with manual controls that make them exceptionaly flexible. They could be dauntingly complicated for the novice. The Canon has the advantage of a hot shoe in case you want to use an external flashgun. Quite a big advantage since the on camera flash on both is nothing special. You will probably want to be able to get the same high quality results with flash as in natural light - if you buy the Nikon, you will have to buy their expensive external flash and the adapter. Results-wise, in natural light, I can't really say one is better than the other. They are both superb.
Rating:
Summary: It has everything - exceeds all expectations
Review: I waited 6 months for a camera to come on the market that met all my requirements. After lots of research and reading the professional reviews, I purchased this camera, and a 340MB Microdrive. Since January, I have taken over 2,000 pictures in all lighting conditions, and the camera has exceeded my expectations The major features I considered important for purchase: * 3 megapixel * Long battery life * rechargeable battery with charger included * Microdrive capable * video with sound * spot metering * 3x optical zoom (the 4x digital zoom is useless) * built-in flash * fast focusing and small time interval between shots Great features that go beyond my initial requirements: * swiveling lcd panel * video output to watch a slide show from the camera * simulated click sound when picture is taken * software bundle (powerful and easy to use) * stitch mode to create panoramic pictures (works great) * remote control (great for playback in slide show mode) The only minor flaw in picture quality is that bright white light appears with purple overtones. I also recommend fototime.com for uploading unlimited photos. Warning about Microdrive: A friend has the same camera model with the Microdrive. At 7,000ft elevation, the Microdrive did not work for him. The same friend purchased the 1.5x zoom lens. He says the difference is minimal, so the hassle of attaching the lens outweighs its benefit.
Rating:
Summary: CanonG1
Review: I am not a "Pro" photograher in fact I never used any camera more complicated than a point & shoot Fuji film camera. Back In 97 I got my first digital camera a Kodak DC50. The camera was pretty good back in 97 but in October 2000 when I started to really check out what was new in digital I could see it was way past due that I purchase a new digital camera. So I researched for about a month comparing Images & features then decided to purchase the G1. After having the G1 for four months I can say I truly am happy with my camera. The G1 has a very sharp lens And with a external flash you can do beautiful portraits. The G1 has super low light capabilities. And lots of creative control, I most allways shoot raw in manual mode except for when I need that quick one, I use auto mode for the "snapshot". The battery is one big plus of the G1 it really seems like it goes on forever, unlike the other cameras that eat up AA batterys like candy. All in all there has been no disappointment with the G1 for me. ... ...
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