On Saturday, July 19, 2003, at 10:50 AM, John Callan wrote:
I'm considering buying a Canon G5 but have heard that when using wide angle
and flash you get a shadow from the barrel of the lens. Can anyone confirm
this please ? Would this problem disappear if using a gun via the hotshoe
and turning off ( if possible) the built in flash ?
Also, anyone using a G5 with the attachable wide angle (WC-DC58N wide-angle
converter) comments please.
I have a Canon G3 that I truly enjoy playing with and it's usually in my brief case for quick access. It's easy to carry about, has many useful features (like a built-in neutral density filter) and is capable of excellent photos. From what I have seen, the G5 is just about identical to the G3 with the exception, of course, of the capture chip. So, I feel confident that I can answer your questions.
It has been my experience that built-in strobes on "point and shoot" style cameras are pretty much lousy across the board. They aren't powerful enough, are too close to the lens axis, are particularly lousy for close-up work, can cause a lot of red-eye with people photos, fingers get in the way etc. Sadly, the G3/G5 is no exception. It suffers from all those shortcomings, but includes the shadow at the wide-angle setting that you specifically asked about. About the only thing I would ever consider using it for is to provide some fill flash for outdoor photos at the family picnic.
One of the Canon's nice features is that the outer lens barrel comes off (bayonet mount) and can be replaced with an extender tube that allows you to use the auxiliary lenses, 58 mm filters and/or a lens shade. A very useful $20 accessory that I would recommend getting. With this in place, the onboard flash is pretty much useless altogether.
I bought the small Canon 200EX strobe unit along with their off-camera cable. Works like a charm and is far more useful and versatile than any flash attached to the camera. Unfortunately, not many, if any at all, third-party brand strobe units will work with it - so you'll probably be stuck with having to pay Canon's prices. It has something to do with how the camera's computer calculates flash exposures by using a pre-flash to measure the required flash when combined with the ambient light. It's all too technical for me, but I was told this by several different people. Naturally, you can use studio strobes quite easily.
I have tried several brands of wide-angle auxiliary lenses on my G3. My advice is to save your money. You'll get barrel distortion as well as pin cushioning. Far too many minuses, IMHO, to warrant the expense.
Hope this helps answer your questions.
-Ben
Senior Medical Photographer Medical Photography & Media Design Services Sinai Hospital of Baltimore Baltimore, Maryland USA
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