Using Supplemental Lens with the Canon Powershot G9
I received an email from a reader this morning inquiring about the use of a supplemental wide angle lenses with the Canon Powershot G9.
The inquiry reads:
“Really enjoyed your article and amazing photos. In fact, it provides inspiration to pick up the camera and go out and shoot some photos.
“Of course, I am an amateur photographer and still learning the ropes. However, I am hoping you can provide me with a bit of insight on options for lens.
“I have the G9 and will be going travelling within the next couple of weeks. I am considering getting a stronger flash and a wide angle to compliment my G9. From doing a bit of research, my options are limited on lenses. I can either go with the Canon (and/or its kit that provides both a wide angle and telephoto converter lenses) or something non-Canon like the Raynox. Since I am not too familiar with aftermarket lenses, I am not sure if the Raynox is a worthy equivalent to the Canon lenses. Nice thing about the Raynox is that i can thread in a UV/Polarizer but cannot do this easily with the Canon lenses.
“Any suggestions on lenses for the G9?”
And here is my response:
About a week ago I ordered the Canon wide-angle lens for my G9. I had previously bought the G9/G7 Lensmate adapter, which is necessary to mount supplementary lenses. The Lensmate adapter is of very high quality, made of aluminum instead of the plastic model sold by Canon. I am pleased with the adapter. I also bought a circular polarizer and a UV filter for use with the adapter.
I went out shooting with the Canon wide angle lens, excited that I had a relatively small unit that got me to about 21mm, but I was soon disappointed with the quality of the shots. The images were soft, showed a great deal of chromatic aberrations and were all unacceptable to me. So, I returned the lens to B&H Photo Video for a refund.
In sum, you likely will be disappointed with a wide angle lens mounted on the G9. I do not recommend buying one.
Instead, you may wish to purchase just the Lensmate adapter for use with filters and not mount any supplementary lenses.
I know it is disappointing not to have that extra width for doing travel photography, especially landscapes. But one alternative that works very well is simply to take two shots, set at manual exposure, and then stitch them using Photoshop. Canon offers you the ability to make panoramic images, unfortunately in JPEG only! But, frankly, I did some shots while in the Galapagos and again in Alaska using the G9 in that mode and I was very pleased with the images once stitched together.
Then, you have to ask yourself how small you want to keep the unit, that is for travel. With the Lensmate adapter attached, it is no longer possible to put the camera in a coat pocket, which sometimes is a tad inconvenient. I often take the adapter off simply because I want to keep the camera handy and as unobtrusive as possible. Then, when I am serious about doing a landscape I can always mount the adapter and add filters as necessary.
Another big disadvantage to the Lensmate adapter is that you can no longer use the viewfinder to take shots. That’s because the adapter hides the scene in front of you! Course, the viewfinder is a bit difficult to use anyway because it is not exactly “what you see is what you get” implementation. But I was trained to use a viewfinder and I work best in that mode.
In sum,
1. I do not recommend using supplemental lenses with the Canon G9, serious image degradation will occur.
2. I recommend the Lensmate adapter for mounting filters, it is much better quality than the Canon offering.
3. In most circumstances working with the G9 in the real world is best done without the Lensmate adapter attached as it gives you the ability to use the viewfinder for composition, although WYSINWYG!
By the way, I have been forced to turn off comments for my blog due to the hundreds of spam comments I receive each day, all of them totally disgusting! Sorry, a blog should be a two-way dialog but the world is filled with people who take advantage of guys like me who do not know how to implement good spam blocking software. I apologize for that.
If you want to contact me simply go to my website and click on the “About” selection, my email address is there. I welcome your email and will respond to each message.
