G10 Face Detection in Self Timer Mode

Thoughts and Review on the G10

This may be entirely too much information in order to best explain this camera’s face detection feature but…

I hadn’t been in Montreal in 11 years. It had been 18 years since I lived and attended the university there. Leaving San Diego for business in Pittsburgh, then for fun in Montreal, I made an educated decision. Should I bring my 5D Mark II? Nah! No photo ops that a G10 can’t handle. Plus it’s lighter and has a built in flash. Perfect for this type of trip.

My solo return to downtown Montreal included a visit to an old haunt – a café at St. Catherine “au coin” Crescent.  The ownership changed and I was surprised but not shaken to see a Chinese lucky cat on the counter. Still the cafe Latte was strong and served in a real porcelain mug and the chocolate croissant was still as delicious as I remembered.

I made my way upstairs for a better seat and view of the busy corner and was surprised to be the only one on that level. I decided to take out the G10 and snap some self-portraits of me at the café 18 years older. What surprised me most about the experience was the self-timer feature that knows when you look at the camera! I was introduced to face detection, a new and improved self-timer option which exploits face detection to wait for the photographer to enter the frame. I saw the prompt come up on the back screen and it seemed like a moment where a robot was telling me what to do and I listened! This Quick Time video here shows my results.

The camera was even able to detect when my eyes were looking into the lens – how freakish! And as you keep looking into the lens it keeps firing (thus the series here). Nothing like the Canon AE-1 I sported the last time I was in that café!

I see lots of potential uses for this feature – hello Cindy Sherman! Most of all, it makes me realize how far and efficient auto focus technology has come. Now to point out the down sides of the G10… When in Pittsburgh on a riverboat at twilight, I was forced to use a high ISO (never a problem with my 5D) and the photos had tons of digital noise that was obviously even more noticeable when uploaded. No forgiveness and no fixing the noise and grain from ISO 1600 and terribly noticeable grain at 800 ISO. Yuck! See the results:

Noise at 400 ISO

Noise at 1600 ISO

One other annoying thing about the G10 are the dials and buttons on the back are easy to rub up against and change. This design almost needs a lock like a cell phone keypad! I was constantly changing features and modes accidentally. Finally, perhaps someone can shed some light on why this photo of me is so blurred?

Me at 320th, 400 ISO

A friend (that does not have crack hands BTW) took this snapshot of me at 320th of a second at 400 ISO! Why the blur? Nothing is in focus here!

So the moral of the story here is to suck up the weight of my 5D, buy myself a compact flash and realize the limitations of a point and shoot high range digital camera are nothing I want to live with! I am officially spoiled!

More to come on the 5D Mark II features that have spoiled me!