Top photo approximately 1 inch or 25mm <-- -->
While I'm a diehard DSLR user, I've always been intrigued with the Canon G-Series cameras, but never owned one until now. Abigail and I are planning a hiking trip and wanted something more portable than our big cameras that would still deliver quality photos. The Canon G12 seemed to be the obvious choice. I prefer to shoot in manual modes and these were taking in aperture priority with the camera mounted on a tripod. Lighting is a Westcott softbox with daylight fluorescent bulbs.
Of course I had to test it with engraving shots too, and here are a couple I did today. While the G12 can focus extremely close for macro photography, it's so close that the camera casts a shadow over the subject. I saw on a photography forum that some folks are using the Raynox closeup lenses on G12s and getting good results. I'd purchased a set for a video shoot a few years ago so I dug them out and hand held the lens in front of the G12 and fired away. The Raynox closeup lenses not only magnify, but provide a much longer working distance between the lens and the subject. These photos have had slight adjustments for contrast and then cropped, but that's it. No other corrections or sharpening. I've never been one to add more glass in front of a camera lens as the image quality starts to suffer, but in this case it seems minimal.
Will the G12 replace my DSLR? No way, but it seems like it's a very capable piece of kit, and with practice there's little doubt it can produce some wonderful photos and large prints. / ~Sam
