Good Morning,
Is it just me or is this camera really slow? We just attended a wedding and most times I was getting photos I didn't want due to the time it took to focus and snap. Not action shots, just folks walking down the isle. I was using it in auto mode, with and without flash. Really frustrating. After the wedding I listed the G1 X for sale, and I'm looking at an SL1. The pictures the G1 X takes are beautiful but not ones I necessarily want Any users have any G1 X tips to share? Or is the camera really that slow? Thanks in advance.
It is not just you, it is the nature of the tradeoffs made to achieve a camera like this, particularly such a range from wide angle to telephoto while still retracting and still covering the large sensor.
I think there are several components to slowness. I am not sure what to do about the one you describe, which is slow focusing. . Perhaps burst shooting, which is a choice under the Scenes setting.
Other components of slowness in operation, not in focusing, I have dealt with successfully:
Trying to see around the obstructed viewfinder: use the Ricoh GV-2 a tiny but superb 28 mm OVF that fits into the flash shoe. Recommended by Amin Sabet in his review of the G1X.
Viewfinder can slip out of hot shoe: use a rubber band around the foot of the finder before you slip it into the hot shoe, as demonstrated on Serious Compacts by Ray Sacks.
Taking off and stowing the lens cap: I replaced it with the JJC folding lens cap.
Moving the articulating LCD into position: I cover it with a clip-on LCD cover and leave it facing outward. That way, the LCD is protected and when I turn on the camera it is ready to shoot.
Choosing the rotating ring next to the LCD as the control for the step zoom. That way, if I know I want to shoot at say 85mm I don't have to zoom to it, the camera is set to 85mm as it opens up.
Can't see the LCD clearly with bright sunlight on it when I want to shoot telephoto: use the built in viewfinder, there is zero obstruction at 85mm or longer and it is very satisfactory for telephoto in my experience..
Camera won't focus close for portraits: hit the macro button, which is a yellow flower. This gets you close enough for a head and shoulders.
For macro of small objects, the best I can do is 28mm at 8 inches, which easily covers the page of an ordinary book. Not good for bumblebees but great for documents and maps and small art objects.
But the camera is just not very fast focusing compared to a DSLR or even some other premium cameras. But the image quality, and the compactness for a camera that zooms to 112 mm while covering a large sensor, and retracting, are wonderful. It would not be my choice for fast moving subjects or situations, such as weddings, small children, or sports.
Hope this helps some posters,
Krugman