An SLR in Your Pocket; Plus Decision-Making Software
In This Issue
Let the Newsletter Resume
Canon's G10: An SLR in Your Pocket
G10: What's to Like
G10 Designers: What Were They Thinking?
Holy Mackerel: Microsoft and Bass
Tool of the Week: ChoiceAnalyst
Web Site of the Week: Outlook's Broken!
Time Wasters
Knock Knock
Let the Newsletter Resume
No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I was out in the boondocks--Judy and I drove 4,000 miles in Utah, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho--loafing and occasionally hiking, swatting mosquitoes, camping on BLM lands, drinking beer, and BBQing locally grown beef.
The newsletter's back on track with a free edition each Wednesday. I'm also delighted to see all you new subscribers. (Tons from down under--New Zealand and Australia... welcome.)
A couple of program notes:
- Mike, my TechBite partner, and I are working through the details on member benefits. We really want it done right (no fubars), so stick around; we'll finish it up shortly
- Opinion surveys: I need to know more about you so I can tailor the newsletter to your needs. Your input will be anonymous. Watch for a few surveys coming your way.
- When you write, make my life easier: Don't just reply to the newsletter; instead, send e-mail to steve@techbite.com and use a descriptive subject. I read every message and reply to as many as time allows. And take a sec to read these two newsletters before writing: "Get Read: The Cardinal Rules of E-Mail," part1 and part 2. [top]
Canon's G10: An SLR in Your Pocket
The stars were in alignment: I needed a small digital camera to stash in my backpack; meanwhile, the Canon PR rep was on the horn and asking if I'd try their PowerShot G10, a pocket-size camera. I could have played hard to get (PR people love that), but I'm easy.
I took the G10 along for the three weeks Judy and I spent traveling. (So that's why you haven't received a newsletter recently.) I took over 500 shots, and dozens of videos, and was pleased with the results. I was happy with lots of the features and I'd almost like to own the G10. (A few problems; more in a second.)
 
The G10 weighs less than a pound, acts like a digital SLR, and is built like a brick.
But here's the deal: I have a Nikon D70, a serviceable digital SLR. It's true the G10 has more features than my four-year-old Nikon, and yes, it fits nicely into my pocket. Yet in these tough times, it's need versus want, and I can't justify laying out $450 to own another camera (and no, I don't have a rich uncle to buy one for me).
However, if you don't have a digital SLR camera, or have a chintzy, underpowered point-and-shoot or compact camera -- and have some disposable cash -- you might consider the G10. Here's why:
G10: What's to Like
The five things the 14.7-megapixel G10 impressed me with the most:
1. The gorgeous images it produces with vivid, true-to-life colors.
2. Its super-bright 3-inch LCD.
3. The basic, but somewhat handy viewfinder.
4. The ability to shoot in RAW and JPEG formats.
5. The gazillion ways I could take photos using the camera's manual control of the aperture and shutter settings, like an SLR. [top]
Two G10 shots of the Badlands in South Dakota.
On one hand, like most pocket cameras, the G10 lets you snap pictures in automatic mode. So you can hand it to Uncle Harry and he'll point, shoot, and everyone's happy.
On the other hand, if you have fun experimenting with F-stops and shutter speeds, and diddling with exposure controls, the G10 lets you go hog wild. I dug deep in the manual and found that the G10 has more settings than my SLR. For instance, there's a handy Exposure Compensation dial--plus and minus two stops in 1/3 increments; there's also a quick way to adjust ISO sensitivity. (Higher ISO settings let you snap images in low light.)
The camera has built-in image stabilization, terrific after a couple of beers, and the lens range is from a wide-angle 28-mm to 140-mm telephoto, with a 5X optical zoom. The easy-to-use macro feature gave me lots of face time with wildflowers.
 
It's a pleasure taking close-ups with the G10's macro capability..
Unfortunately, unlike an SLR, the G10 doesn't accept other lenses. It can, however use a Tele Converter (about $110), a device that increases the telephoto range to 280mm. To use it, you'll need a kit that includes the converter and a lens adaptor (LA-DC58K). Amazon sells it for about $150.
There's a truckload of neat tricks that help make photo taking a hoot. For instance, the Stitch-Assist gives you a way to string pictures together into a panoramic shot (using the included software). The Face Self-Timer detects everyone in the shot and adjusts the picture to make room for when the photographer comes back in the picture.
If you're trying to bring out the auteur in yourself (or emulate David Lynch), try the Color Accent feature that turns the image into monochrome except for one single color. I also found some of the camera's on-the-fly tools useful to have a way to quickly crop a photo or fiddle with the contrast, for instance.
You can scan all the specs on Canon's site and read Camera Labs for a more comprehensive description of the G10. [top]
G10 Designers: What Were They Thinking?
There are a few things I wish Canon would have spent time thinking through before releasing the G10.
- I love taking short videos on a vacation; a 3-minute snippet often gives me a better record of a spot than a bunch of snapshots. And with an 8GB memory card, the G10 can record an hour and a half of video at 640 by 480. The deal breaker is that the zoom doesn't work while recording. Canon decided that the focus and zoom are fixed and based on the values selected for the first frame. Good grief, but that's annoying--especially knowing it's a feature available in Canon's lower-end pocket cameras. A minor issue--and probably easily fixed by Canon -- is that the G10 saves in MOV format rather than AVI.
- I wouldn't buy a camera without a viewfinder. That's because in sunlight, even a bright LCD is valueless. (Besides, turning off the LCD saves battery power.) The problem is Canon's viewfinder isn't terrific. The specs show it covers only 77 percent of the image--the LCD shows 100 percent--so what I see isn't exactly what I get.
- Most of the pocket digital cameras I've tried are small--around the size of a pack of cigarettes--and lightweight. At 14 ounces (with the battery), the G10's bulky and heavy. Yeah, I know, there's lot packed into the camera, but putting it in perspective, it's a little shy of a pound. My Nikon SLR is a pound and a half.
- The dials aren't stiff enough. Half the time either the Exposure Control or the other Settings dial was different when I pulled the camera out of my pants pocket.
- The strap is dreadful. It probably cost them 20 cents, and it's thin and always seems to wrap around itself. I'd much prefer Canon include a wrist strap. But that's just me being picayune.
In the meantime, I just shipped back the G10 and popped open Adobe Photoshop to start playing with the images. [top]
Holy Mackerel: Microsoft and Bass
Microsoft is following me on Twitter. When I heard, my jaw dropped and my 401K immediately, uh, stayed the same. The barista at Starbucks gave me his usual morning ho-hum, and my wife said, "That's cool, but it's still your day to do the laundry." Spouses aside, I'm in good Twitter company. Now all I need is some face time with Ballmer so I can tell him what I'd like to see when Windows 2014 comes along. (You can follow me on Twitter, too. And you might as well do Facebook while you're killing time.)
Tool of the Week: ChoiceAnalyst
Say you're trying to decide whether to fly or drive on your next vacation, figure out what car to buy, or wondering which financial advisor to choose (let's see, Madoff is in jail and Milken is out of the biz...). Try ChoiceAnalyst, a simple-to-use, yet sophisticated program that helps you solve problems and make better decisions. The tool helps you to think through your options and criteria. You can add decision makers--spouse, coworkers, and so on--and assign them a level of influence. ChoiceAnalyst displays the ratings and results; it also guarantees in writing that it's made the right choice for you. (Nah, just joking about the guarantee.)
It's in beta, so you get in on playing with it for free. I don't know what it'll cost; but when it's released, I know I can get you a deal. [Note to PIBMUG alumni: You might remember its creator, Carey Harwin -- he presented many times and gave away lots of software to members.] [top]
Use ChoiceAnalyst to help you make the next decision.
Web Site of the Week: Outlook's Broken!
That's not news. The hot stuff is that lots of people are ticked off and complaining about it on Twitter. Add your name to the list at Outlook's Broken: Let's Fix It. [top]
Time Wasters
Numpty Physics: You'll laugh, you'll cry, and boy will you struggle.
- I know about Michael Jackson's demise. And Farrah Fawcett's gone, too. But you oldsters may not know that Gail Storm, from "My Little Margie," has also died. Watch a couple of videos as well as a video interview of her when she was 87. (She spends lots of time saying, "What? Speak up, willya?") While you're reminiscing, check out "Topper" (I had a crush on Anne Jeffreys) and
Betty White in "Life with Elizabeth."
- Here's an interesting interactive graphic. (It's slow loading, so you'll need patience.) When the image appears, click anywhere on it and keep clicking, even when you think it's finished. Neat, no? [Thanks to Don Peck.] [Just how long do you need to keep clicking? -Editor. Till you get bored. --Steve.]
Knock Knock
Who's there? Hey, you know it's me. I'm at it again: asking you to forward this newsletter to your aunts and uncles, the ones still using one of those green, disposable click-and-shoot cameras. (LOL--unless you're still using one...) Make sure to suggest they sign up to get their own copy by going to http://www.techbite.com. By the way, if you're enjoying this newsletter and getting something out of it, become a TechBite member by sending us some financial support using PayPal. I promise, good things will come your way... [top]
_____________________
Steve Bass is the publisher and self-appointed Chief Content Officer at TechBite; he continues to experience the cool feeling of having his own newsletter. Send him your feedback at TechBite. To sign up for TechBite's free Steve Bass Technology newsletter, head for our signup page.
Steve's also the author of "PC Annoyances, 2nd Edition: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things About Your Personal Computer," available on Amazon. You haven't purchased your copy today yet, have you? Don't wait, supplies are limited...
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