The Break of Dawn

Older Blessings–

The devastation of the past two typhoons seem to be over – for now. Without trying to be negative or pessimistic about things, it’s really a matter of being prepared for things. Some are saying these are but the beginning and that the storms which will hit us will be ever stronger.

This should be a call for everyone to do whatever should be done. Take note: We didn’t say, “whatever little thing” as most people say. That’s just the point. Things eventually aren’t little. True, maybe throwing one candy wrapper outside the car window won’t cause a massive flood but this “small thing” reveals a very big attitude: “I don’t care. It doesn’t matter if the trash is outside the car as long as it’s not in my car or my house.” Unfortunately, even those who do care were as affected as those who didn’t care.

So what does this have to do with little blessings especially one with regard to photography? It really has to do a lot with what you have. There are so many people who want to get into photography but say they don’t have the money to do so. I like proving that notion wrong.

Case in point: The Canon Powershot G3. This is, as most people know, an old camera, around seven years old. Its younger siblings – the Powershot G7, G9, G10, and now the G11 – are favorites of many people. These are wonderful machines that have been the subject of many a gadget lust and rightly so. They’re compact and shoot very, very well resulting in some spectacular images. If a person needs a camera that can more or less fit in a pocket, these are the things to get but there is a down side: It does cost a pretty penny and that’s the reason I don’t have one.

The G3, however, is a different story. Yes, it did cost quite a bit when it was released, around the same amount of money the new ones cost now but since it’s older, it doesn’t need to be. How cheap is cheap? Try Php4,000. Since we talked about the entry-level Powershot A460 costing Php3,000 some issues back, this is significant.

The G3 has a hot shoe to accommodate an external flash and it has a movable LCD screen. Yes, it does shoot at “only” 4 megapixels but for most uses, that’s more than enough.

There are some things to get used to though. There’s the manual focus option with a “magnified” area in the middle of the screen allowing better manual focusing. Since this is just a screen-within-a-screen with extrapolated pixels, it tends to be frustrating. Better stick with auto focus.

That’s not even such a bad idea either. The G3 is one of the first cameras allowing a user to specify where the auto focus sensor was supposed to be. You can freely move it around the shooting area to almost exactly where you need it.

What about the optical viewfinder? As it goes with many point-and-shoots, it is tiny and most people really do just use the LCD screen anyway. That’s why some newer models don’t even have it anymore. What’s also frustrating here is the fact that when you do peer through the tiny viewfinder, you have the big lens actually blocking part of your view. Still, it’s nice to have it and there is a built-in diopter for people who wear glasses.

Perhaps one of the biggest appeals of the G3 is the fact that it was and still is, like the newer models, a good in-between for people used to DSLRs/SLRs with all their controls but want the compactness of a point-and-shoot. It has all the regular modes – Program, Aperture Priority (AV), Shutter Priority (TV), and even Manual.

One notable here is the built-in neutral density filter allowing you to cut down on exposure.

It also has a movie mode that doesn’t compare with those of things like the SX1 but in a pinch, it’s okay.

Another bonus is that you do get stitch-assist. You shoot one photo and when you shoot the next one, you’re given a view of the previous photo so that you can more easily align the two. That way, whatever program you use on your computer to stitch programs together will have a much easier time doing so and you end up throwing away less data.

A big plus that some of the newer models didn’t have without using firmware hacks is the ability to shoot RAW. This is an older file format akin to that of the EOS D60. Odd thing though, it isn’t read by the latest version of Canon’s Digital Photo Professional software which is supposed to be downwards compatible. Zoombrowser reads it, however. Curious. You can always just skip the Canon utilities and go straight to Photoshop, Lightroom or Aperture. No problems there.

Perhaps one of the best things about this is its size allowing it to be your convenient companion without sacrificing your level of control. Remember the photos we printed here right after Ondoy struck? All shots done in the flooded areas, SM City Marikina and the Riverbanks Mall were shot using the G3.

The idea here is that a small camera like this is not only easier to carry, it’s also less imposing. Some people do get threatened by a big SLR. There are accessories for this like a wide-angle lens attachment and a telephoto. Is that something you should get? Maybe but if you do, you end up with a much bigger camera that will be similar in size to the EOS 1000D. Oh, pesky and power-tripping security guards will bother you less with a camera like this.

All in all, a deal like this comes your way, it would be best to at least consider it. Me, I couldn’t be happier.