Canon PowerShot G7 & WP-DC11

So has anyone here actually have the G7 and Ike set up? I would like to see some real photos and then read their comments

Does the WP-DC11 have acess to the dial on the back of the G7? It does not look like there is a knob that turns on the images I found on the net.

cheers

Oskar

Have the G7, just waiting to receive my housing from Ikelite. Will be running those two along with dual SB-105's.

Chris

Can this camera be focused manually?

On the wide angle lense side of things for the G7 I've been told the effect is useless as it has such a long optical zoom lense that the space for it in the housing means the wide angle lense doesn't give great results.

This was the camera that I've been looking at recently as I've just flooded my Canon Powershot s60 and Canon has now discontinued the series so I can't get the latest one in shops in the UK only second hand on Ebay!!

I've loved my Canon Powershot s45 and then s60 so I'm a bit stumped about where to go next at the moment as everybody has started to rave about the improvement to your photos of using Wide Angle Lenses.

I've been pointed towards the Canon IXUS 65 or IXUS 800. I thought these were much more point and shoot. Has anybody had any experience with them?

I've been pointed towards the Canon IXUS 65 or IXUS 800. I thought these were much more point and shoot. Has anybody had any experience with them?

I have an experience of going from a Canon S50 to a point-and-shoot Fuji F30 -- don't go there, get a full-manual camera.

I have an experience of going from a Canon S50 to a point-and-shoot Fuji F30 -- don't go there, get a full-manual camera.

Any suggestions? Manual compacts sutable for diving seem very scarse!

Finally, I've checked out the G7 and the cannon UW-hoouse in a photo-shop. The thumb-wheel on the back is not available through the UW house. However the function of increasing +/- exposure compensation and P/ Aperture and Time priority. is axessed by clicking the four buttons in the middle of the thumb-wheel.

This is done by

1. selecting function, i.e. exposure compensation on the right

2. pressing and holding the print button on the left corner while

3. clicking on the left/right button on the mid right. (the closeup button, and the flash button)

Still, It's a bugger Canon did not give it more wide angle!

Any suggestions? Manual compacts sutable for diving seem very scarse!

If I were chosing a new compact, I'd probably get a Canon A540, as suggested by many others here. Just for u/w -- unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a compact that's good u/w and topside and also pocketable (S80 was it, but it's discontinued).

Have the G7, just waiting to receive my housing from Ikelite. Will be running those two along with dual SB-105's.

 

Chris

Hi Chris,

Keep us posted about how it goes in the Ike housing. Did you also purchase a strobe?

Cheers,

Ryan.

I just did my first dives last week in Maldives with G7 in WP-DC11.

I got the cam 1 day before leaving for my trip, and the guide-book

was in Chinese (I'm in Hong Kong) -- so I used it mostly in 'P' mode,

fixed at 100 ISO, with exposure controlled by my external strobe.

I'll have a better feel for the cam after another few trips,

but my initial feelings:

Dislikes:

- Shutter lag with flash ON is real, and _painful_; workaround (*-button)

is a kludge; wish they had a fixed power slave mode setting.

- Focus in macro not as good as my trusty old C5050

- You will need an external strobe with WP-DC11; housing nose blocks the

internal strobe.

Likes:

- Cheap, compact combo (under US$700 total for Cam+Housing+2Gig).

- More megapixels (I often have poor framing, and crop a lot).

- ISO100 noise is low (the sharks shot: no chance with C5050).

- Longer zoom is good to catch skittish small fish from a distance.

Surprises:

- Didn't really miss the 28mm.

- Didn't miss large aperture (prefer more DOF).

If my server is working, some photos from the trip are here:

G7 in Maldives

Best regards,

Ajay.

Dislikes:

- Shutter lag with flash ON is real, and _painful_; workaround (*-button)

is a kludge; wish they had a fixed power slave mode setting.

Thanks for the report! The wide angle possibility might still be the dealbreaker for me, but it definitely grew a couple of notches!

What about the shutter lag without flash, is that acceptable?

One technical solution, could be to use the flash connector on top of the G7, and make a small fake flash with the only purpose to flash a LED for setting of the slave via a fibre optic cable. This would not have to be poverful and would not have any recycle time. This provided you can fit a connector on top of the G7 while it's in the house. Do you know what the lag is if you use the external flash connector?

Thanks for the report! The wide angle possibility might still be the dealbreaker for me, but it definitely grew a couple of notches!

 

What about the shutter lag without flash, is that acceptable?

 

One technical solution, could be to use the flash connector on top of the G7, and make a small fake flash with the only purpose to flash a LED for setting of the slave via a fibre optic cable. This would not have to be poverful and would not have any recycle time. This provided you can fit a connector on top of the G7 while it's in the house. Do you know what the lag is if you use the external flash connector?

Let me modify my earlier comments somewhat:

(i) response at flash OFF is very good for me.

(ii) if you have external strobe, I think the better way (which

I should have done) is to run the camera in Aperture/Time

priority. In these modes, you can use the flash in pre-set

power mode; set it to low and run it as a slave driver.

best,

Ajay.

Hi Chris,

 

Keep us posted about how it goes in the Ike housing. Did you also purchase a strobe?

 

Cheers,

Ryan.

Yes I already had one Nikonos SB-105 stobe and just got another. Ike states that with their housing you can run dual Nikonos strobes with their special sync cord. So hopefully this works well enough. Was running the one on slave mode with our old Canon A85 and Canon housing. Will post how it works out once it arrives.

Chris

yup! the wide angle (& macro) wet-lenses are a great advantage for compact cameras. Infact, it's one set of advantages that for me out-weighs upgrading to a dSLR setup.

So if the wet-wide-angle lens does not work well w/ the G7.....then it's a COMPLETE DEAL BREAKER for me! Would love to hear comments from anyone using a wet-lense with the G7 housing....This of course appies only to the Ikelite housing users it guess, since they're the only ones w/ this option.

On the same not, ditto for the sync cord versus optical firing of strobes...any 1st hand user reviews? I'm willing to give up RAW mode....but if the camera doesn't work well with the wet lenses AND firing strobes via a sync cord is not working well....FORGET IT!!! What's the point right???? ....i'd rather stick w/ my c5050 & 5 Megapixels!!