Canon PowerShot G3 4MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom

by Canon

Product Details

Product Manual [3.68mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 2.5 x 4.8 x 3 inches ; 8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006LU7J
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,543 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 1, 2003

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Few digital camera lines have been as successfully branded as Canon's Powershot. And the best known in that line was the powerful and fun to use G2. Now, Canon's following it up with their G3, which has the same four megapixels of resolution but now offers an improved 4X optical zoom and other updated features.

With a revamped body, the G3 feels a bit more comfortable in the hands. A mid-sized camera, you'll notice it hanging around your neck, but its 14.5 ounce frame won't weigh you down terribly. With a high-speed CompactFlash card, the G3 can take video clips of up to three minutes complete with sound.

You'll want to consider an upgrade to one of those cards, as the G3 ships with only a 32 MB standard CF card--not bad for bundled memory, but you'll be happier with more storage room. Images taken at the highest resolution quickly filled up the 32 MB card, but were highly detailed as well as bright with realistic colors.

The G3 features the same large, bright 1.8-inch LCD as its predecessor, making it easy to frame your shot in anything except direct sunlight. Like earlier G models, the LCD flips out and can be rotated around completely, letting you view it from any angle.

This works well with the G3's two options for self-timing, 2 and 10 seconds, so you can see what you're doing from the target viewpoint. And the G3's above-industry-standard 4x optical zoom lets you get in closer than the G2's 3x zoom as well.

Compatible with Canon's Direct Print feature, you can output images from the G3 directly to any of Canon's Direct Print line of printers. The G3 is a great choice for a 4 megapixel, 4x optical zoom camera with a wealth of features. --J. Curtis

Pros:

• 4 megapixels and 4x optical zoom
• Three minute video clips with sound
• Well designed

Cons:

• Only 32 MB CF card

Product Description

x 32 MB CompactFlash English F/2.0-3.0Its all up to you with the PowerShot G3. With its 4.0-megapixel CCD sensor providing amazing resolution images which stay sharp even when printing up to A3 this digita

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome pro-sumer camera, March 31, 2003

By 

Douglas Barker "dougery" (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon PowerShot G3 4MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

When shopping for digital cameras I looked at the Nikon CP5700, Olympus C5050, Nikon CP5000, and the Canon G3. Yes, all cameras except G3 were 5mp but I was looking for a lot more than just Megapixel power.

Not only was I was shopping for a camera that would suit MY casual and artistic photographic needs, I had to keep in mind that my fiance wanted to use this camera as well. Her main focus was having a camera that is easy to understand and use.

The Nikon's are great cameras. + They have great optics (CP5700 has great optical zoom)and features, not to mention take great pictures. - The drawbacks were that they were not user friendly for the casual photographer, the LCD screen is a little too small, CP5000 does not take photos in RAW format.

Olympus C5050 is a very solid camera with a metal body. + Takes sharp 5mp photo's, has great features and relatively easy to use. - I didn't care much for the tilting LCD screen, it seemed very limited and not very usefull. Photos had some artifacts and noise. My fiance just didn't like the way it felt in her hands.

We also looked at the Fuji FPs602. Nice Camera but doesn't take as sharp as pictures I thought they would, and again... fiance didn't like the feel.

The Canon G3... 4mp, 4X optical zoom, takes absolutely beautiful photos with detail that challenges all of the above 5mp cameras, easy to understand and use (has a great swivel LCD screen), a LOT of features and add-on options, comes with great software (not to be overlooked), and last but by far not least, received my fiance's stamp of approval (two thumbs up!)

A LOT of research went into digital camera's before I made this purchase, and hands down, the G3 had everything I needed plus more. The other cameras were great and I'm sure many people will beg to differ from my observations, but to each his/her own. I have no buyers remorse with this baby, and I never will.

Always remember, cameras don't take great pictures, people do!

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best so far!, December 14, 2002

By 

Steve Johnson (Redmond, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon PowerShot G3 4MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

The Canon G3 improves in almost all ways on the G1 and G2 before it, and in fact beats the Nikon Coolpix 5000 in performance (picture quality and battery life) -- which is amazing because the 5000 is a 5 megapixel camera and the Canon is a 4 megapixel camera. Canon's optics are better and I believe their processing algorithms are also better. Simply, the Canon G3 is the best digital camera out there today at this price point.

The Canon allows you to change lenses, and it accepts the IBM Microdrive (Type II Compact Flash), so you can have up to 1 Gigabyte of storage. For me on the Fine resolution setting (not maximum but very close) this adds up to over 1000 images with the 1 Gig card. The battery life of this camera is twice that of the Nikon 5000 and is better than anything else I've seen.

The only minor nits I have with the camera are it is fairly boxy looking, it needs a wrist strap instead of a neck strap, and it is a bit slow between shots. Even with these shortcomings, I still think it is the best digital camera available under $1200.

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars powerful product, January 16, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Canon PowerShot G3 4MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

Bought this product about a month ago and have used it in a variety of situations.

In general it is easy to use and well laid out. For ``cool factor'' buffs it looks and feels like a small plastic brick brick and doesn't have any wow factor. It makes up for this by being extremely easy to use with well laid out controls that can be learned quickly.
The G3 has most if not all of the features that you would want from a semi-pro/pro SLR with a good range of manual options for those who know something about photography. In the hands of someone who doesn't, it will yield good results on idiot program/auto mode. My wife, who has never used a camera before, picked it up and soon got the hang of the fact that if you don't like what you have created you just delete and try again. The photos she took are better than the results I got from my Nikon SLR and range of lenses! This is a big plus for those who a shifting to digital and the G3's large mobile screen helps with this.

Negative points:
The included memory card is too small. Go out and get a 256meg card, it's worth the expense.
It is made of plastic. For those who are used to brass cameras that can be dropped, picking up a camera like the G3 is an unnerving experience. This is by no means unique to this model, I'm sure. The zoom lens unit feels fragile and it is worth buying a good camera bag if you are going put to carry it round a lot.
This is not a handbag camera. While light, it will not easily go in small handbags or pockets.
The function lever - the one which switches between capture and view mode feels fragile.
Flash - as with all built-in flashes in small cameras, you get overilluminated main subjects with depth being lost. The G3 has a shoe which will take other powerful (and expensive) Canon flashes that will allow bounce and reflected flash photography.
The strap is horrible and gets in the way of parts of the camera you need access to. If you can afford this camera, you can afford to get a better strap elsewhere - a very minor quibble.

Good points:
The functionality on this camera is mind-blowing. Canon have packed a lot in here and the options and controls are easy to use and logically laid out. Learning how to use it will not take very long.
The image quality is excellent. Messing around with images in Photoshop (a supplied software package) and printing them on a good printer, yielded excellent results. Unless you are making posters, a G3 is more than good enough.

Range of functions - as indicated above - it has something for everyone: point and shoot power plus advanced functions for those who are serious about photography.

Please note that this is the first digital camera I have owned or used. A lot of my opinions are more relevant for those who are switching from film. I did extensive research before chosing the G3 but there's nothing like picking one up and playing with it first...