Disappointed w/ Canon G12

[olphart]

I have been shooting video with a Canon HV30 and previously an HV20 that I flooded, (incredibly stupid error..left the O ring out of the Equinox housing...even checked and didn't see that it was missing...DUH!!) The problem is that it's a bulky unit to travel with, even without lights, and though my Canon A570 did fairly well, it's not HD.
I also thought it would be nice to get away from the tapes

Time to buy more stuff!!

I was so pleased with the quality of the video that when I decided to get a smaller camera for travelling, I read all the wonderful reviews about the G12 and bought one with the Canon housing for my Hawaiian cruise. I tried it in the pool and wasn't very thrilled, but I figured that the lights in the pool, plus the slight murkiness was the cause of the less than sharp clips.
Unfortunately, the video I took in Maui was pretty much useless, as was more underwater video I shot back home. It's all slightly milky looking...sorta like, (sorry
Gopro fans), the stuff I see from the Gopro and similar cameras on Vimeo and Youtube. I thought that it was just the vis, but when I compare it to the video from the HV 30, done in similar locations, it just doesn't make it.
So, if you're looking for great underwater video, like you would get from an HV series camcorder or similar, it seems that the Canon G12 is a very poor choice.
I'll be selling my G12 and biting the bullet hauling my old Equinox around

Anyone know of a small system that takes 1080p @ 60fps and has comparable quality to Canon's HV series?

 

[annieols]

im a little confused, are you looking for a photo camera or a video camera? did you use a light?
I have a g10, bc i am mostly into photography. after getting used to the camera and strobe i get great photos. As for video, I was really unhappy about the flat washed-out look at first. After white balancing before shooting and using a video light, im really happy with the results!

 

[olphart]

im a little confused, are you looking for a photo camera or a video camera? did you use a light?
I have a g10, bc i am mostly into photography. after getting used to the camera and strobe i get great photos. As for video, I was really unhappy about the flat washed-out look at first. After white balancing before shooting and using a video light, im really happy with the results!

Pretty much video for me, with a few stills once in a while. I do white balance of course, but it's the sharpness and clarity I have with the HV30 that's missing Even when I forget the wb the sharpness is there. All the video from the G12 looks like the vis is much worse than it is. I've noticed when searching thru vimeo and youtube that all the video from Gopros and similar seem to have that quality as well.
Like I said, my only issues with using the HV30 is the bulkiness and to some extent dealing with the minidv tapes.

Here's the pool video with the G12:
Snorkel Practice in the Pool on Vimeo

 

[PatW]

I have the G11. It takes very good still pictures. It is not a DSLR but it does a good job for a point and shoot. I do not fool with video. I have the notion that still cameras can do video. But it really is not designed for video. If you want video, I would think that you really should go with a dedicated system.

 

[olphart]

As it turns out, the video from the G12 is much better than I thought. Once I processed it with Sony Vegas 9 Platinum and it came out pretty darn good! The bad news is that I could have got even better videos if I had remembered to do a white balance. (Dummy!) That much I remember from my early efforts with the HV20
Here's one of the better ones, I'm gonna render and post the best one shortly
maui no wb on Vimeo

 

[olphart]

Looks not bad for no white balance So the G12 does have possibilities
White tip G12 on Vimeo

 

[andymeng]

The video from current DSLR cameras and the Powershot series has an inherent problem. You focus to start the video, but then you lose autofocus. You would not see this with your flooded camera (sorry to hear about that), as it's a pretty darned nice video setup. So if your footage maintains approximately the same distance, and you pre-focus correctly, you should have good results. If you don't, your fotage will be soft/out of focus.

This is also true of the 5D Mark II, though rumor has it the 5D Mark III will incorporate full time autofocus for video. My results from the G12 are pretty decent, but I want better so just ordered a housing for my HFS20.

 

[olphart]

The video from current DSLR cameras and the Powershot series has an inherent problem. You focus to start the video, but then you lose autofocus. You would not see this with your flooded camera (sorry to hear about that), as it's a pretty darned nice video setup. So if your footage maintains approximately the same distance, and you pre-focus correctly, you should have good results. If you don't, your fotage will be soft/out of focus.

Looks like a good argument for using manual focus, preset based on available light, (aperture)

This is also true of the 5D Mark II, though rumor has it the 5D Mark III will incorporate full time autofocus for video. My results from the G12 are pretty decent, but I want better so just ordered a housing for my HFS20.

Can you do a manual WB w/ your HFS20 housing? You can see from my videos how useful the underwater setting is. yecch!

 

[olphart]

Here's what I expect from the G12, once I figure out the best settings. I shot this in Cozumel with the Equinox/HV30, manual WB off the sand and autofocus.

I wasn't sure that the WB was set right because it kept blinking at me, but the colours seem pretty good. So far I've been too chicken to try a manual focus , since I'm pretty happy with what I'm getting.

This looks a LOT better on the big screen TV. That snapper had just swiped a lionfish off the DM's spear and hung around hoping for more. The puffer decided, after playing hard to get at first, that a video op was a pretty good idea after all.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=484688293160

 

[andymeng]

Can you do a manual WB w/ your HFS20 housing? You can see from my videos how useful the underwater setting is. yecch!

sorry for the delay replying. I get the housing tomorrow (fingers crossed), but I'm supposed to have full access to all features of the camera, so yes I should be able to do a manual WB. However I plan to use it with video lights that are daylight balanced.