# CAmeras



## avbill (Jul 4, 2012)

Does anyone have G10 G11 or g12  and use it for their pen photography?   What are your comments about the camera?
thanks
bill


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## farmer (Jul 6, 2012)

*g10  canon*

hi bill
i use a canon g10 
It is my first nice camera. really it is the first camera that i control the settings.
I like mine but I am still learning how to operate it.
Farmer


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## TomWalton (Jul 11, 2012)

All of those cameras are more than you need for pen photography.  The key to pen photography is good lighting - a window with a southern exposure and a piece of poster board as a reflector will work fine .  A light box is nice, but not necessary.  Avoid all the HDR/multiple exposure nonsense you'll see touted here - a pen, unless its badly lighted against your background, is not a high-dynamic range subject.  Use a tripod for stability if you've got one.  White balance with Canon cameras can be challenging;  if you use window light, choose the "Shade" white balance in preference over Auto or Daylight. Move back 6-8 feet and use the nice zoom on the G-series cameras to give a nice perspective on your pen.  Experiment until you're happy.  Your camera will be fine.

--Tom


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## G1Pens (Jul 11, 2012)

I have a G11 and it works great for doing pen photography. It has all the control and adjustments you will ever need. It shoot in JPG or RAW. It does great macro/close focusing and has a nice optical zoom range.

As Tom has said. The lighting is more important than the camera, but the G series is more than capable of doing what you need (and then some)


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## Haynie (Jul 11, 2012)

If you are going that big go Nikon.  Check out the coolpix line..


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## moke (Jul 12, 2012)

Bill,
Tom hit it right on the head all the way around! I couldn't have said it better. This site is locked into "light boxes", and advice that your pen is "overexposed" here or there that I have seen here countless times is marginally true....the overexposure some people elude to, is as a result of uneven lighting. 

A "light box" is actually a "lighting tent" a "light box" is an illuminated box to view slides or transparencies on. Use the Southern exposure advice or if that is not available use indirect light, never use direct light unless it is for a desired effect. Lighting tents are used for in-studio photographs if you do not have the right timing or light availablity or have a products that is larger than ours. The sun is free, and you can with a little experience, achieve as good of results. I have photographed more than 1400 weddings in my career and have used window light at most of them.

As for the "G" series of cameras, they are Canon's high end p/s(point and shoot). I owned a camera store for twenty+ years in addition to my studio and most of the G's I sold were to people that had Canon DLSR's and wanted a good P/S to take with them here or there, that wanted to use their flash or wanted some exposure control.

They are fine, well designed, high quality cameras, but pricey. As mentioned, you certainly do not need all that to take good pen photos. If I learned anything from owning a mini lab for many years, I learned that many of the people taking amazing photos are doing so with some of the worst equipment, quality is often in the tricks we learn and the practices we use.


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## underdog (Jul 13, 2012)

I've been using a Canon A410 for the past several  years, and have loved it. It's a durable flexible camera for a P/S.
But I'm running into a lot of limitations with it. I can't get good exposure adjustments and the autofocus can be touchy up close. But super Macro can remedy that. 

I can't get super clear photos with it though. Those close shots even on macro just don't seem to have the same crisp details even with lots of light. I'm sure I can improve on the lighting... but I think part of it is just the small size of this old camera.

Are there some cheaper options than those $400-$500 G series?


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