Initial Impressions of the Canon G9

[okiediver1]

very nice shots! I am looking at this same setup.

 

[George A]

Awsome shots! What settings did you have the G9 and flash on? Fully automatic or aperture priority? What ASA did you use?

George, Apalachin, NY.

 

[Celeus]

Awsome shots! What settings did you have the G9 and flash on? Fully automatic or aperture priority? What ASA did you use?

George, Apalachin, NY.

I shoot almost entirely in Aperture priority mode. By the end of the week I had figured out to set the custom settings- C1 for Macro and C2 for larger field of view.

For C1/Macro, I used auto white balance, ISO 100, aperture pri, spot metering and focus, force flash and a few other settings for picture review etc (I like to have the picture review stay up until I pull the trigger again). I used the safety-mf focus setting, turned off safety-shift (adjusts iso for camera shake), turned off the focus light, set it on continuous IS.

For C2/Wide I used "underwater" WB, upped the flash output by about 1/2 stop, and essentially the same other configs.

I have the left top button- the one that is assignable set to custom wb. BTW, the arm that actuates this button is the most frustrating part of the housing, if it is not set up correctly when you assemble it, you can shift the camera out of position a bit, or create a pinch on the o-ring when closing it.

For Video I use continuous IS and towards the end of the week figured out that I really needed to set wb before any shots.

For the strobe, I used S-TTL and would occasionally take it up or down a click or two (1/3 stop each?) If I was under or over-exposing, I would normally make the adjustments with the flash control on the camera or the EV adjustment. Occasionally I would adjust the iso to 80 or 200. The strobe recovered/recharged quickly. I never ran out of batteries on it, I changed them daily. 3-5 dives a day. The focus/spotting light is pretty bright, I used it without the red filter. It's brighter than most lights people were using on night dives (not close to my lights for the Nortwhest, but plenty bright).

The camera ran out of power once. I think I had left the display on and it was on between dives and ran down.

I still don't know for sure what EV adjustment actually does- whether it changes ISO, aperture or shutter speed, or if it does some of each intelligently- I just know it works. If I'm going for a near-subject properly exposed, back dark (e.g. Faucet.net Gallery :: TC2007-12 :: IMG_1142) then I would up the flash output as needed and leave EV alone. If I wanted the full frame more exposed I would adjust EV up and up the flash. A few times I tried max-flash, but never got what I was looking for. Practice!

By the end of the week, dives typically went like this, drop down to the top of the wall/sand at around 55-70, set wb for video and sometimes for wide angle (c2), either drop on the wall if part of a larger group or hang for a few minutes looking at macro stuff on the wall (and when lucky sharks cruising the top) until the group moves on, then depending on what my buddy and I were doing that dive, either poking along the top of the wall or dropping down it looking for things on the wall for 10-15 minutes (resetting wb when at 90-100), then back on top of the wall making our way back to the boat (wb again!), then 15-20 minutes working through the coral heads/grass while using up our gas/bottom time.

My only complaints about the camera are that I've never been impressed with it's internal flash and I'm not 100% happy with it's exposure control. I might try it with a friends ds-125 and see if the ikelite TTL does any better. I'm thinking its a camera issue, because I ran into the same issues doing land based macro work with the built in flash.

I got better as the week went by- I'm looking forward to playing with it here in the Puget Sound and then taking it on the next warm-water trip!

Let me know if you have any other questions!

 

[samurai_k]

So I also bought a Ikelite G9 housing and DS-125 u/w rig and having problems with the TTL functionality of this setup.

How is TTL supposed to behave with this rig? I can't get it to work. As of now I have been forced to run full manual with the following:

On the G9- M mode, ISO200, 1/125, and depending on the ambient light f/5.6-8. On the DS-125 I am force to run at 1/4 power. I have a UCLS 8" arms which places the strobe typically 12" away from the subject in macro.

While wide-angle shots have been great, macro or even standard shots have been challenging as the strobe at 1/4 power still washes out my shots.

When I change it to Av (aperture priority) mode and set it to f/5.6, I can't get the camera to lock at 1/60 or 1/125 even though the strobe is attached with TTL turned on. It ends up setting the shutter to whatever is appropriate. Moreover, when I go to the menu of the G9, the "Flash Control" is greyed out, when I push down on the Flash button the "Flash Control" menu doesnt open, and there is no "lightening bolt" icon present on the screen indicating a strobe is connected, even though the stobe is firing.

Interestingly, I plugged my Canon 10D to the TTL converter of the Ikelite G9 housing and the camera is firing the strobe and the on this camera the lighting bolt icon is showing.

At the point I am thinking the Ikelite TTL unit is busted on my housing. Wondering if any of you are seeing a similar situation.

Thanks!

 

[Celeus]

Well, I've only used my Inon Z240 so far, which uses a fiber optic sync cord. When I get a chance I'll try and borrow my buddies Ike strobe for a dive.

When I plugged the ikelite cable into the hotshoe of my G9, I saw similar behavior. I'm not sure what your asking about when it comes to setting shutter speed in Ap priority mode- if you want to set app and shutter you will need to use manual (which btw, isn't so bad since there is a button to push to get it to guess at settings and will tell you whether it thinks you are over or under by x stops).

I think I remember the G9 not allowing me to do auto flash control without being in auto mode (as opposed to shutter or app priority). I would have thought that you could control output strength through the flash strength control, but I think you are saying that was greyed out.

I'll plug my housing (sans strobe) into my G9 tonight or this weekend and see if I get the same results as you.

While it would suck if it came to this, worst case you could use one of the electronic adapters that allow you to do Nikonos to the strobe- essentially doing what the inon does.

I'm starting to think that my "well maybe this will work OK" fiber connected inon may in fact give me better control- and with more power for less $$. I actually hope that isn't the case, because if the G9's external flash control is that lame it would suck.

I may be able to borrow a land-flash for the G9, it would be interesting to see if the behavior is the same as with the Ikelite connection- if not, then it's an ikelite issue, if so, it's a G9 issue.

 

[scubapatton]

So I just returned form a great time in Roatan. 12 dives over 5 days really taught me a lot about the G9 and Canon housing. I did not go down with a strobe and in fact turned off flash after the first 2 or 3 dives. I recorded almost all shots in RAW and I have CS3 so I will edit the shots soon.. Hopefully this weekend.

The weather was superb - there were 2 10-minute storms and that was it. Some great dives - did Marys' Place, Hole in the Wall and the Dolphin dive at Anthony's Key Resort among the 12. Got some really great shots of Hawksbill Turtles and Common Octopi. I also got some great shots of some Angel Fish and three nice videos of a dolphin swim, a school of Blue Tang and a school of Glassy Sweepers inside the Prince Albert wreck.

I like this camera. A LOT.

 

[KARELNIJEBOER]

Well;

I like this camera too! I went to Spain for a few days during Christmas, and wanted to make a dive or two, to practice test my new G9 in ikelite housing. Unfortunately none of the 10 diving schools were open for business.... But I did get a few nice shots though... be it topside...

I like the quality you get at 80 or 100ISO , it is astonishing. The resolution seems endless, no fringes, noise; quite acceptable! Id did the murene shot in the aquarium, and had the wrong whitebalance...
The other shot is a 1 second exposure of the Imax theater in Valencia, with the Science Museum in the back.

Cheers from the Netherlands

Karel

 

[Kydonia]

First off, I just want to say, all this info has been a huge help. Thanks everyone.

I needed a new P&S camera anyhow because I recently lost my Canon Elph on the ski slopes. So I recently ordered the G9 with high hopes of using it as a main UW camera (as opposed to a DLSR)


I went ahead and also ordered the Canon g9 housing (wp-dc21) which seems like it should suit my needs. Plus it APPEARS as though I can use my Sea & Sea YS-27 external strobe with the fiber optic cable.

1. Can anyone confirm whether the Canon Housing has a fiber optic female connector to fire the YS-27 via flash slave ?

2. I read online several reports of the Canon wp-dc21 housing fogging up. Has anyone experienced this or heard of this?.... as this is a major fear for me, having flooded a camera last winter.

3. This is true that you cannot change ISO underwater with the wp-dc21?

thanks

 

[scubapatton]

Using the top left button (shortcut) and the wheel has allowed me to use all the options on the camera so far. I have had NO issue with fogging.. I actually had more issues with my old Canon S230 than with this one. I do put in a Moisture Muncher though just to make sure. If you let the up time for your screen be low, then the camera will not warm up much and therefore less heat change and less fogging. I really think there is no significant change from any other camera option on the fogging.

As for the strobe, you will prob have to mickey mouse something for the fiber optic, but every camera I have seen (eg Oly 350sp) had to have something put together. You should have no more problem with this camera then with any other option in the P&S range.

Congrats on your purchase!

 

[cicopo]

I'll be making up something to hold 2 fittings for fiber optic cables once my Canon housing arrives. I use 2 Sea & Sea YS 15's. I have the housing on order with a batch of other stuff and due to a backorder for 2 replacement flash diffusers for my strobes I requested "ship together" because it's best for me. Once I get my set up built I will add photos of how I did it.