New 'Prosumer' non-SLR. G7?

So thanks for the link. But it looks to be somewhat inferior to the Canon. Is that it? I mean, it's looking like a very easy decision but I'd like to be reasonably sure I don't later go "ah darnit, I should have bought that one".

... that this market had taken such a dive, from reading the reviews. I really didn't do much research in the last 2-3 years camerawise so I had no idea.

I loved the 'prosumer' V1 and although superior in many respects I really don't like the Lumix because of it's bulk and I've ended up finding the DSLR unmanageable in the situations that I take photos.

And I doubt I'm a unique case, so it's somewhat surprising.

Only a few years ago, all of the camera makers had Premium prosumer cameras.

Many of these cameras had lenses that were very bright.
Olympus had the f1.8 lens that was last seen on the C-5050 (2002).
Sony had a f2.0 lens that was last seen on the F717 (2002).
The last great lens was on the f2.0 lens on the Canon G6 (2004).

It costs too much to manufacture these lenses, so they were dropped in order to keep the price of the camera down.

But with the emerging low cost DSLR, the camera makers could see the price on the Premium prosumer cameras would cross the price of the DSLR.


The non-DSLR market was turning toward the mass produced, lower cost cameras.
Now that market is getting over saturated with smaller and smaller cameras.

The days of the really classic non-DSLR cameras is over.
One of the true classic cameras was the 2 megapixel Olympus C-2100UZ which came out in the year 2000.
Lovingly called the UZI.
Because of its 10X optical zoom with image stabilization.

If you have one of those, it could bring a good price on eBay.

...
..
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Can't comment at all on the Nikon, but I've had the G7 since November. It's not without its shortcomings, but for most of my shooting, I love it. Most of what I do is landscape, nature, and pet photography; and the G7 gives me some beautiful results. There are only a few negative comments I can make:

For a point-and-shoot, it's pretty big and bulky
It's as expensive (or more expensive!) than an entry-level DSLR. (On the other hand, the cost of a good, fast zoom lens for the Rebel makes my head spin)
The G7 isn't much good for indoor, low-light sports photography (in my case, figure skating competitions).

After some very disappointing skating shots last season, I finally had to break down in the spring and go with one of those entry-level DSLR's (the Rebel XT) for my sports work, and the G7 was a great introduction to the world of aperture and shutter speed. You already seem familiar with the manual mode, so the G7 ought to be a breeze for you. I'm looking forward to taking some great shota at the Championships this year with my Rebel, but It's the G7 that lives in my car and goes into my bag or a pocket.


------------------ Trilby

I see I have some trying out to do.