This final post on the Canon G11 focuses on portraits.

You may recall Taylor, one of my seniors from last year.  She was kind enough to help me take the G11 for a portrait test drive.

(1) ISO 80, f5.0, 1/800 sec, Alien Bee B800 camera right with shoot-thru umbrella

(2) ISO 80, f5.0, 1/320 sec, 580exII camera right with shoot-thru umbrella

(3) ISO 100, f3.5, 1/320 sec, 580exII camera right with shoot-thru umbrella

(4) ISO 100, f3.5, 1/320 sec, 580exII camera right with shoot-thru umbrella

(5) ISO 80, f4.5, 1/200 sec. The sun came out as we were wrapping up the shoot. No flash, white balance as shot using auto white balance.

A note on sync speed:  The specifications state a max sync speed of 1/2000. In practice, I maxed out at about 1/1250.  That's because unless you have some very high-end, expensive flash units with ultra-short flash durations, you'll be limited by the flash duration of the strobe itself, not the sync speed of the camera. But let us not quibble here. The ability to use flash sync at 1/1000 is an incredible luxury compared to the puny 1/200 max sync on my 5D!

As a portrait camera, the G11 will present some challenges. Because of the massive depth of field that comes with a small-sensor, you cannot isolate your subject with depth-of-field control. With a DSLR it's simple - just shoot your subject at 85mm, f2 and voila, instant subject/background separation.

Since you don't have depth-of-field as a tool, you'll have to isolate your subject using composition, lighting or both. In other words, you'll have to work harder and more deliberately to get professional-looking portraits, but it can be done. The G11 is not a miracle camera. Casual grab shots will look.....well....like snapshots from a point-n-shoot.

Compared to the LX3:  The LX3 is a great camera. The G11 is better. It should be, as it's technology is 15 months newer. Noise is about 1 stop better on the G11, and dynamic range is significantly better. Image #5 above would not be possible on the LX3 - the skin would have blown out. Handling is better as well, with lots of control knobs and a more comfortable size. In the LX3's favor is it's wider, faster lens.

What about micro four-thirds?  The Panasonic GF1 and Olympus PEN are really interesting cameras. Much larger sensors than the G11 with bodies that aren't much bigger. If I had an unlimited budget, I would buy one of them today, just for fun. However, in the end they wouldn't really suit my needs. Put the zoom lenses on them and they're pretty big, certainly too big for a small belt pouch. That disqualifies them for me as take-everywhere, always-with-you cameras.  

Conclusion:

My G11 will serve three functions: as a macro camera for weddings, a vacation camera and as an always-with-me camera for casual snapshots and videos of my kids. Professionally, the only time I would consider using it would be when I needed to overpower bright sun with off camera flash using ultra-high speed sync. It's either use the G11 or buy/rent $20,000 worth of high-powered lighting gear.

Landscapes, macro or portraits, there's really nothing this camera can't do. Detail is amazing. Any one of these images would have sufficient detail to print a double truck magazine ad, no problem. In short, the G11 is the best small-sensor compact on the market today.