Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II Review

I probably don't need this but in a way I do need it. I'll write more about why I bought this camera a week after Christmas at the same price it was at the beginning of November. I bought it online through Best Buy for various reasons, in case people are wondering why not Amazon? Well Best Buy ships this too me for free in three days without any kind of membership required. They offer a price match. They offer a 15-day full refund with no questions asked. They are local and driving distance for service or exchange.

I had been looking at smaller point and shoot cameras for almost a year. I emailed bloggers that I knew were using smaller cameras. It wasn't until a regular reader told me his experience taking photos at high altitude in Colorado, then using the same camera at beach level altitude ... that I understood how photos are sharper than others.

At the time I did not know about his camera. I was looking at the Canon ELPH models, the Sony X100 models and even the Canon Point and Shoot that looked like a lighter DSLR camera. In fact I bought one and returned it within a week due to picture sharpness.

In December 2017 I upgrade my iPhone 6S to the 8+ and the difference in the camera was obvious. The iPhone 8+ has a great camera for taking low light photos inside and using it's 2x zoom outside. I thought that would be my 2nd camera that I could take everywhere. It wasn't, because I found that when I took it on the morning walk, shooting the same photos of the bloodhounds you see in most of my posts ... they were not as good as my Nikon D3200, as expected.

So really what I was looking for was a small camera with zoom capability, able to take sharp up-close photos (macro), could capture Stella running or deer showing up unexpectedly on our walks .... all with the same sharp picture quality as my Nikon D3200 and the iPhone 8+.

I still did not know about this camera ...

Until my friend emailed me a few months ago excited and shocked how his photos were turning out with this exact camera. Over the past 15 years of so he had taken over a 100,000 photos with professional cameras costing $5,000 - $6,000 per camera. He told me this small package had a 1" sensor, a rare feature in a point and shoot model. I looked at his photos on his blog ... crystal clear. I downloaded some into my computer so I could look at them enlarged on a 27" 4K monitor ... sharp, crisp and just as close if not better than my Nikon D3200.

I also factored in the humidity here even in the winter compared to where he lives out west. I wrote honestly what I was doing in setting changes, showing what photos looked like with different settings. I admit I was having problems with the camera but felt better about it when I decided it was more 'user error' than the camera.

During the week I wasn't getting every photo right but there were just enough photos that kept me from returning it. I kept fine tuning the settings in "M", which seemed to be taking better quality photos than when I used "Auto". Also using "M" did not mean I had to manually focus the camera, that was still automatically done.

I also figured out that it also matters what time of day I use the camera. Like any camera, the light between 8am-9am is never really optimum lighting for taking photos. Yet that is the time we take the morning walk. It is the time of day I take most of the photos. I happened to find other adjustments I could make inside Apple's Photo editing program.

I kept taking photos inside the house at night so I could compare it to the good quality photos my iPhone 8+ takes in low light conditions. It was not until January 13th where I took a photo that was just as good if not better than the iPhone 8+.

Since I take a lot of photos with a zoom lens at 200mm, this was my concern before buying the camera. Could I still get those photos that far away with clarity and sharpness?

It was this picture of Stella that convinced me to keep the Canon G9 X Mark II.

I am not getting any money for this review or for stating the reasons I bought it. All of this is just for "Information Only" for any readers that might be looking for a small camera with all the features this Canon has.

From this point on I am writing about what I have found this past month or so.

I finally found the correct settings for the "M". I went to a few forums that dealt with this model of camera. I also re-read the review sites that I used before buying the camera. In a couple of different review sites I found what I was looking for. For some reason I get better photos in the Manual setting than I do in the Automatic settings.

Manual does not mean I have to manually focus the camera as that is still done with auto-focus.

Of course like any other camera, lighting plays a role in the quality of the photos. I shoot most of my photos on my blog between 8am - 3pm. One key answer to my frustration when I started, was finally understanding the zoom capability of this camera. Once I understood that, those zoomed pictures I had taken where they turned out blurry, was solved. I also decided I could live with the maximum 84mm zoom compared to my Nikon's D3200 200mm zoom lens.

If I stayed within the zoom range of the Canon G9, then I still had crystal clear photos. As I used this camera more it has become my favorite camera over my Nikon D3200. It's much lighter of course, it can be carried in a side pocket on your cargo shorts or cargo pants. It did not take me long to get use to not having a view finder and found it easier to shoot a picture while looking at the monitor on back of the screen.

With the design of the zoom lens I find the camera lens on the Canon G9 stays much cleaner than my larger lens on the Nikon D3200. There are many times where I do not have to edit the picture in any way and I can post them to my blog in their original form.

Shooting pictures inside, in low light, it's a tough close call when compared to my iPhone 8+ camera. Both are very sharp and clear pictures and about the time I am ready to declare one camera the best inside, the other takes a picture that is even better. I don't mind having both cameras.

As advertised the battery does not last as long as a DSLR camera. I haven't counted the exact number of pictures I take before I have to charge the battery but I will say the batty does last for a few hundred pictures. If you were traveling it would be good to take a spare battery. The battery does take longer than I expected to recharge. Also, once you see the battery icon flashing on your camera monitor, it will die very soon after that, within a couple of pictures.

Conclusion --

I bought this camera for less than $400. I knew at the time it was not going to fully replace my Nikon D3200 when shooting far away (200mm) objects. I also knew from the reviews that with the lens design my landscape pictures would not be sharp and clear as my Nikon D3200 but they would be good quality pictures. The Canon G9 X Mark ii fits the bill if you are looking for a small camera you can carry anywhere, takes sharp and clear pictures and has a zoom capability up to 84mm.

It is smaller than I thought it would be yet I am still able to hold it and operate the shutter while wearing a lightweight pair of gloves this winter. It is very durable and still works perfect after I dropped it twice on the concrete floor.

The camera does what the reviews say it will.

Super Bowl Outrage

I was more in disbelief of the weather Sunday afternoon here in 'the tropics' than the Super Bowl game. This was the temperature around noon but by the end of the day we had broke the all time high record with a 64° day. Winter returns on Friday.

Listening to sports talk radio today, seeing headlines on online sites, reading through my sports Twitter and all the "retweets" ... the general feeling was Super Bowl LIII sucked from the game, the halftime show, the commercials, EVERYTHING !!!!

The hounds sat and thought about what they wanted to do after their Sunday lunch and basically did nothing outside of their normal routine. They sniffed the air, looked around, sat and thought, then turned toward the door to go back inside. I returned to my books and knew by 1pm that I would be watching the game but not turning on my tv until they actually kicked off to start the game.

Since I like a defensive type football game in the NFL or College level, I enjoyed last night's game even if a team I dislike won. The icing on the cake was who was named the MVP of the game. They never mentioned one time during the game, that he was suspended for the first 4 games of the year for PEDs. If he had been in MLB he would not only been suspended but would have been ruled out of any playoff games and the Super Bowl. You can read about it here:

This morning felt like a Spring day. So much that it was almost scary and looked like an overcast April morning with thunderstorms in the afternoon. We will get rain this afternoon but not the spring type thunderstorms. I was back wearing my ballcap instead of a sock hat, no gloves, and a light jacket instead of the down parka. It was beautiful.

One of the local sports talk hosts had seen one of the performers of the halftime show play in Indianapolis last May and said last night it looked as if they couldn't wait to get their show over with and get off the stage. He said last May they were a fantastic show.

One key thing he said about the halftime show was "if you have to bleep out language, why is that guy performing in the Super Bowl?" Different group than the previous paragraph but I can guess which one based on the commercials in the first half of the game. Twitter was on fire during and after the game last night. A lot of hate going around and it's just not all about football either. Some idiots were mad because the game was not political enough !!!!

Needless to say, my tv has been off this morning and will be off all day ... I want 'quiet' around my house and NO WHINING .... I HATE WHINING !!!!! On blogs or tv.

Stella wasn't sure where she was going or what she was going to do on this walk. She ended up following a narrow deer path along the edge of the field in such detail that she was walking around and through the single deep red vines. She followed that path almost to the first turn.

I turned my tv off during the halftime show. Yet I watched not only every play of the game but all the commercials. They didn't seem as good as they did in past years. Maybe it was just me or have the expectations for even those now gone off the charts where companies are in a no win situation no matter how much they pay for 30 seconds? Nothing is ever good enough in this politically correct world.

Since it seems as if I finally have my Canon G9 X camera adjusted correctly on the Manual setting, which took place a few weeks ago, I rarely have to edit the photos now. The Auto setting showed me yesterday with that photo of Heidi above that the colors are too saturated, the lighting is too dark inside or outside. So I shoot most photos, if not all, in Manual mode and Auto-focus.

I ran out of eggs Sunday morning, oatmeal last Friday morning ... a sure sign I needed a grocery store run this morning if possible. So to fit into Stella's nap time and not in the range of eating ... I left right after the morning walk, especially since rain is a 90% chance after 1pm. At Walmart I found 14 cashier aisles available and ONLY ONE OPEN so for a few minutes I was an unpaid Walmart employee, checking out and bagging my own groceries. How soon will it be before Walmart hires robots to check people out?

After I returned home the weather was so nice I opened the storm door screen, opened the computer room window and the bedroom window. How nice to smell some fresh air and the sound of a misty wet highway as the traffic passes the house. I changed from a long sleeve insulated shirt/fleece to a t-shirt/sweatshirt, cotton socks instead of the wool socks. I caught myself counting the days until spring.

My eating habits continue to stay improved with 1400-1600 calories per day. No processed food, fewer cravings for chocolate or cookies, all fresh fruit or veggies matched with a steak, chicken or salmon. I shopped the same way today so I might have made the final turn onto a possible permanent path for healthy eating

In my blogging career I have disappeared for a few weeks, even deleted my other blog a few times and came back but I always wonder when a few people I follow disappear for months or years. Just recently after starting this blog, a blogger named "RetroRoxie" helped me out a lot with html code to paste to the CSS editing block. We emailed back and forth about dogs, blog ideas, and the codes for design.

She was my blog leader in making comments for a while and has disappeared. Her blog has not been deleted but her blog domain name shows an error message that says it will not connect to the server. I know she was going on a European vacation so maybe she took a longer one than I assumed. I have never seen an error message like that when a WordPress blog is deleted.

She had a great blog if you grew up in the 60's or 70's, with pages filled with old music, tv shows, products, or people. If anyone out there knows anything I'd appreciate if you could let me know what happened to her blog and if she is okay.

Another blogger that has a couple of labs, lives in Maine, hasn't blogged in many months. Maybe she just got tired of blogging, got busy etc. It just seems strange when people disappear after years of blogging without any kind of announcement for their readers. Is that just me or a general opinion from blog readers?

Again for those that have asked me recently, no ... I don't miss the FJ or the Z4 that I sold and traded for the Mini Countryman. The 4-door Mini, All-Wheel drive is a great multi-purpose car with great gas mileage, room for the hounds, and speed when I need it. It's a versatile car and I am happy with having just one car to maintain and drive.

Stella got in a full body shake on the walk this morning. She did not run in this part of the walk for the second day in a row. I continue to give her the joint supplements but I wonder what her reason is for not trotting or jogging. She has always like to run.

She is in this picture somewhere ... I was letting her do whatever she wanted while I stood near the yard.

I put my old blog in the private setting the other day. Regular traffic had almost completely stopped and instead, all of my traffic over there was spammers all from outside the USA. I guess that is what happens when you quite blogging but keep your site active.

I could feel that Monday was going to be a good day. Stella seemed to think so. Heidi thought so too. As we stepped inside she was barking at us instead of sleeping. I almost forgot ... yesterday afternoon Heidi started on the walk with us but then went her own way once she turned on the path walking along the edge of the field. By the time Stella and I returned she was exploring the southern edge of the yard. She spent a lot of time outside yesterday on her own.

You can tell the difference in the grass by the color. The deeper green grass I planted myself after I cut out, burned and pulled out roots of wild brush that covered that area of the darker green grass.  It shows how much yard I gained after my neighbor had the field surveyed six or seven years ago.

I was able to get a pretty good photo of Stella walking along the side of the house. I have said that has been her new routine the past few weeks and this is a perfect example of what she does. LOL ... don't ask me why ... I have no idea why she does things a certain way but it's always something funny.

I was going to wait to post this at the end of the day after I added some afternoon photos and try to get back to blogging at the end of the day instead of after the walk. I still might try that starting tomorrow.

When I saw I had 31 photos to be uploaded into the blog I decided to make it a published post now instead of waiting. I have a hard time reducing the amount of photos sometimes. We will see what happens.

I have a slight urge to redesign the blog today. That sidebar idea had crept up again.  Will reading books keep that urge to change the blog template in the background for another day?

It's a great February day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana today.

Heat Wave This Morning

What a difference 20° makes! It felt like a spring day as we stepped outside today even with ice around the door and a few snow flakes dropping from the sky. The flakes were so few you could barely see them but they were there. Stella didn't hesitate zipping past me

I hadn't checked the weather when we left so I had no idea what to expect. It's really handy to look at my watch and see 28° and cloudy without grabbing my phone. The Apple Watch still continues to impress me and I'm really happy that I made the purchase.

I couldn't find many words this morning after we got back, so I'll let the photos tell you about Stella's walk this morning. The Canon G9 X is my 'go to' camera now on these walks no matter what time of day it is or the type of lighting.

Stella doesn't like walking through puddles of water and obviously she feels the same about the ice on our path as she moved to the left of it to get around it.

I almost had to backtrack to go get her but about halfway there, she started to moved away from that spot that had a lot of data for her to collect.

There were no noises of any kind, nothing on the horizon so evidently she heard something.

You could tell she was pretty lazy this morning. She didn't roam too much, stayed on the path a lot of the time, got a little running in and is now ready for the weekend.

Although the single digit temps had left us, it seemed like the perfect time to put a pot of beans on the stove. I was in the mood for beans and cornbread for my late lunch or early dinner and to do it right that takes some time to cook.

With the beans cooking and the hounds fed, we checked the sunshine outside. As usual there wasn't a lot of activity after lunch. Heidi did her thing and then got some aerobic exercise trotting up the driveway, while Stella thought deeply about her next move.

Mid-afternoon Stella and I headed out for another walk. I was surprised to see light snow flurries because it felt so warm.

About the only difference in this walk from this morning's walk, Stella went on the right side of the ice instead of the left side. That just shows how much excitement we had going on today.

The day has been slow enough that I have thought about changing the template of the blog, going back to the "old school" format with a sidebar on the right on the home page and the post page. Of course that makes the photos smaller but with so many of you reading the blog on a tablet or from a phone, that would not make a difference to you ... the size of the photos.

I am probably wanting to change it just to have something to do. Who knows??? {I spent a few hours Saturday night looking for a different template with a sidebar on the right hand said and fairly large pictures. I made all the customizations I needed on the new design, hit the "publish" button and changed the look of the blog. By 12:06am, I turned my computer back on and brought the blog back to the design I had for the past few weeks. It will stay this way.}  :)

It's been a slow, quiet Saturday here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.