canon 960 or G9 ?? which would you recommend ? im not a professional, just really want to take awesome pics.?

Question

i want to have fun with it so i want lots of features to play with.is the G9 alot bulkier than the 960....cant really tell from pics on internet?

Answer 1

If you really want to take "awesome pictures" then take photography classes at your high school or community college. Learn about light, f-stops, composition, ISO, Depth of Field (DOF) and shutter speeds. Use a 35mm film camera and develop and print your own negatives. After a year or so of classes and practice you'll begin taking better photographs instead of "snapshot" pictures.

If there are no classes available in your area you might consider the New York Institute of Photography (nyip.com). They have been in existence since 1910 and offer correspondence courses.

There are innumerable books about photography, many of them available at your local library. One I recommend is "Object & Image: An Introduction To Photography, Third Edition" by George M. Craven.

Having "... lots of features to play with ..." is meaningless unless you know how to actually use them.

Do you know what happens when you are using "Manual Mode" and set a shutter speed of 1/250 sec. at f11 and an ISO of 200 and then change the f-stop to f8? Or to f16?

Do you know when Aperture Preferred Mode would be a better choice than Shutter Preferred Mode and why?

Do you know when Shutter Preferred Mode would be a better choice than Aperture Preferred Mode and why?

Those are but 3 examples of "having lots of features to play with." You see, cameras don't take "awesome photographs" -knowledgeable, competent, experienced photographers do.

As you can see there is more to taking good photographs than simply buying a fancy camera. Regardless of what camera you buy you'll really have to study the Owner's Manual that comes with it.

As someone used to carrying a 35mm SLR with a 300mm lens mounted and a motor drive and a bag with 3 or 4 lenses I'm amused by your reference to the "bulkiness' of a G9. Yes, I'm "old school", a "traditional photographer," a dedicated film user. All the rules that apply to film cameras apply equally to digital cameras.

Answer 2

Both cameras use a 12 megapixel sensor. There are more "features" in the G9. The G9 has the ability of producing RAW image files whereas the IXUS 960 IS / SD 950 IS cannot. Depending on where you live, the 960 is called either "IXUS 960 IS" or "SD 950 IS." The RAW feature is only good if you are a professional or a serious amateur. The G9 lens telephotos out to 210mm vs 133 for the 960, but both have a 4x digital zoom. The LCD screen is larger on the G9. The G9 sells for about $50 more then the 960 in the USA -- $500 vs. $450, but the 960 weighs less then the G9 by almost half -- 7.2 oz. vs. 13.1 oz. Always remember that cameras do NOT make of take "awesome pics," the operator of the tool does. Learn to "see" things, color, and light.

Answer 3

Go to this page and look at the dimensions at the very bottom. The 960 (also known as the SD950-IS in the USA) is quite a bit smaller than the G9.

960IS - It says 96x96x28, but this is wrong. It is 96x60x28 mm. (See: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0708/07082003canonsd950is.asp )

G9 - 106x72x43 mm - at least 10 mm bigger in each dimension.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=canon_sd950is%2Ccanon_g9&show=all