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.

High Winds Energize Stella

First of all I hope all of my readers from the state of Mississippi made it through "tornado alley" yesterday without any damages to your home. I cannot imagine sitting through those type of winds. We have had tornadoes pass through this area but in all directions around us, in past years. Yet at 5am this morning I was bolted awake with a loud sound as if my driveway was filled with idling cars, trucks and motorcycles. No it wasn't a dream. I got up to check outside from every side of the house. I was hearing sounds from my house I have never heard before.

So when Stella and I stepped outside this morning around 10am the winds were howling but with the new app suggested by Maricacb a few weeks ago showed me they were only 19mph from the west and we might have a burst up to 38mph at times.

From the first step she took in the field, Stella was energized. She hopped her first few steps and then took off trotting out in front of me. I continue to give her the joint supplements so it's possible she was just feeling really good this morning. She ran a few different times during the walk.

While putting on my down parka I had decided I would take the Nikon D3200 this morning but by the time I headed outside I had changed my mind. I have fallen in love with the Canon G9 X Mark II after all the frustration I had setting up the manual settings. A reminder, that is manual settings but still shoots pictures with auto focus.

It did not take long to get use to taking  a picture by looking at the monitor in back of the camera instead of through a viewfinder. The much smaller size still gave me room to use it with a light pair of North Face gloves on. I'll post a review of that camera sometime today. I have it written but want to review it and add anything new I have found the past month.

As you can see Stella was pretty far out in front. She wasn't exploring scent this morning nor was she searching out and eating deer scat. She seemed to be leaning into the wind as she walked and trotted, which was coming from her left side.

This is looking back in the direction of the high cold winds. It's the Southwest and the normal direction that gives me most of my winds, big or small.  Like I have said a few times before, from my past, I am always concerned about those three Sycamore trees on the left side of the house.  In 2008 with straight line winds I had two Sycamore trees that size pulled out of the ground and blown down parallel to the house, covering the front yard.

This isn't a real good picture but I was trying to capture the blowing grass to show how strong the wind was. In between photos, the grass was almost bent over ground level before rising up to the level you see in the picture.

I barely caught Stella trotting. She did a lot of that this morning.

Again, I barely caught her ... I turned and she was almost past me.

You can see by her ears the wind is even stronger as we were at the back of the field. With all of that open space, the wind was howling, and very loud.

At times I will find those grocery store plastic bags blowing in the yard or this field. I always grab them, put them in my pocket and throw them in the recycling bin when I get home. This looked a little different from a shopping bag. I caught glimpses of a bright reflection as the wind moved it.

It looks like someone lost their Valentine balloon.

When I downloaded this picture it sure did bring back memories of a picture I took of Bertha in 2002. I was able to get that date from Bertha's picture file information. 17 years ago already, hard to believe how fast time passes.

I think Stella was as anxious as I was to get back home. It was freezing cold and we would be walking directly into the wind all the way home.

This picture may give you a better idea just how strong the wind was this morning.

Yet, she strolled through the walk as usual with the breeze blowing her ears.

I like to see her hopping and running by herself. In fact she tried to get me to play, which I did, but was unable to capture that with the camera. Did the high winds really have that kind of effect on Stella?

After our walk I did walk around the yard to see if there were any large tree limbs blown down last night. There was really not many more than from normal wind activity and none of the limbs were very large.

It was good to see all my roof shingles were still in place. Of course if had some wind damage I could file an insurance claim, pay my deductible and get a new roof put on. If nothing happened last night, it looks like I will be paying the full price for that roof when I decide to replace it.

It was just a fast trip outside after lunch. Still very windy and cold and neither hound was excited about staying outside. By the time I returned from the mailbox, they were heading for the door.

Heidi spent her afternoon rotating from this position on the couch, then running across the living room and jumping up in the big leather chair where one of her many blankets are located. That spot is only for sleeping, which she does quite well.

By late afternoon Stella was at the door wanting out, so I decided why not ... let's take a walk.

As you can see it was still quite windy.

With an early announcement of the new China Trade Deal, it will be interesting to see this spring how many of the fields in this area plant soybeans instead of corn. There are some amazing annual sales numbers for soybeans, corn and wheat if that deal goes through. I have no doubt it will. It's good to hear just how much it will help the farmers. I'll keep an eye out for which fields plant soybeans. They normally rotate between soybeans and corn each year but I have a feeling most of the fields will be soybeans.

My little Apple app 'Reminder' told me this morning it was time to download my annual credit reports from the three reporting agencies. I have all three of them scattered throughout the year, every four months. Today was time for the TransUnion report. It was good to see nothing out of the ordinary had taken place as well as seeing what few monthly payments I make were being recorded accurately. I use Annual Credit Report.

Hauwei's Mate X foldable phone is pretty amazing. I am pretty sure, in fact I am positive I will not spend the $2,600 to buy one once it is on the market. It's not only the price but I don't trust Hauwei as a company based on their past. I may be paranoid again but I have no doubt they have inserted tracking chips in their phones for the Chinese government.

Again, it's not that I have anything information they need or want ... it's the principal of them following me by a phone. Sure there are chips made in China for my Apple iPhone but I trust Apple as a company. When they said nothing like that had happened in their China facilities I believed them. Later it was proven to be true by an independent inspector.

The past week Firefox kept crashing during normal internet activity. I would send a report to them each time it happened. By Saturday I was tired of it and went back to Google Chrome after trying Safari on my iMac. Safari was just too slow.

I have started a 30-day journal about my change to the Keto Diet. Each day I am starting each post with total calories - carbs - proteins - fats in grams. I will weigh myself once per week, every Saturday morning. I will post that journal here for anyone interested, on March 24th. I plan to stick to it for 30 days no matter what. So far so good, low carbs and I have not been hungry all day.

This morning was my 2nd day in a row of drinking black coffee, although on my first cup this morning I added a tablespoon of heavy whipping cream. It tasted just like it would if you bought a latte without any sugar, vanilla or cinnamon at a Starbuck's store. One thing I have noticed after my first 24 hours of a strict diet ... I don't feel bloated and my stomach is smaller. After only 24 hours !!!!

After that initial excitement a few weeks ago for the new AAF Football League, I have not tuned in to watch a game. Maybe even as a football addict I need a break from any kind of football to prepare for next season, which starts in August for college.

Manny Machado finally signed for 10-years, $300 MILLION the other day in MLB. Since Bryce Harper is a better player it looks like he may get what he wanted or at least more than Machado signed for. Harper wants to be the first $400 Million professional player in any sport. As a sports fan .... I say that is ridiculous.

The MLB Players Union President is already talking about a players strike when their CBA expires in 2022. The last players strike was in 1994. I wasn't around then since I was floating around on deployment on the USS Vinson, an aircraft carrier. I will say if they do strike in 2022 that will put me one step closer to pulling the plug on tv. I am almost there now.

High winds, sunny skies here today in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.