G15 vs. P7700

skysailor · May 25, 2013

Looking for a "live in the tank bag" P&S that isn't a POS. My budget is around the $400 mark. The camera will live in my tank bag on my motorcycle. I've used a G9, and really liked it. Live view is a must so I can leave the helmet on for quick shots. That's about it.....any others I should be looking at?
Lyle

Nyfty · May 25, 2013

My tank bag camera is the older P7000. While its two generations old it does everything I want when I don't have a DSLR along. With a little protection in the tank bag it's been with me for thousands of dual sport miles and keeps working. If I had to buy a replacement tomorrow I'd purchase a P7700.

skysailor · May 26, 2013

Found a new P7100 for $150 less than the P7700. I'm checking specs, but I'll probably go with the 7100.
Lyle

CRP6001 · May 27, 2013

I bought a P7000 in October 2010, used it as my main camera for two years, generally satisfied
with the image quality. I thought about getting a P7700, but decided to put the money toward a
D600. I still use the P7000 in situations where the DSLR would be a distraction. A friend at work
has a Canon G10, and thinks my P7000 has better color. I agree.
Hard call between a closeout priced P7100 and a full price P7700. The P7700 out performs the P7100
by a full stop of dynamic range, 11.7 Evs vs. 10.7 Evs. The P7700 has filter threads, the P7000/7100
do not, and require an adaptor to use filters. The P7700 uses a lens cap, while the P7000/7100 have a built in lens blind, which has failed on some examples. I think the improvement in DR is the most
important difference.

Ed911 · May 28, 2013

skysailor wrote: »

Looking for a "live in the tank bag" P&S that isn't a POS. My budget is around the $400 mark. The camera will live in my tank bag on my motorcycle. I've used a G9, and really liked it. Live view is a must so I can leave the helmet on for quick shots. That's about it.....any others I should be looking at? Lyle

Hi Lyle...looks like you haven't had much of a response to your query. I happen to have gotten a P7700 as an early birthday present in March. I was looking for the same thing as you...a high-end point and shoot...easy to shoot...lots of controls on the body...and most of all...DSLR like images with as much usable ISO as possible.

I love the P7700. We went on vacation, and I left my D700 at home....no...yep...not this trip...just took the new P7700.

Here are a few shots from my vacation. Most are natural light...I'll comment on each.

All images are SOC...straight out of the camera...otherwise, we wouldn't have a baseline if I adulterated the samples in PS or LR...

All images were shot in either Auto or Aperture preferred mode. If I wanted to vary the exposure, there's a handy thumb wheel right on top...just dial in +/- 3 stops.

1. This was taken from our room on our cruise ship in Freeport in the Bahamas...the morning we docked. ISO 80, F2, at 28mm, shutter speed 1/1250

2. Here's the same shot...zoomed to 66mm, ISO 80, f3.2, shutter 1/1000. I was about 75 or more feet from the boat

3.Here's another zoomed to 88mm across the port from our ship...the day was rainy and hazy...so crisp and clear aren't evident here...but you can still read Freeport Bahamas on the cranes...f3.5, shutter 1/1000, and ISO 80

4. This next image was taken at Atlantis on Paradise Island in bright sunlight...I put it in so that you could see how well the P7700 handles bright, contrasty daylight. Again, pretty good resolving power.

5. I thew this one in just to show you how the P7700 handles odd lighting. We were under the water and behind 3 inch curved glass...not bad. I like this image. It's not a low light image...the shutter speed was 1/1600...it was brighter than you might suspect.

6. This is where we had lunch. The sun was ducking behind the clouds...so I threw this one in so that you could see how the P7700 handles shady outside light.

7. Another bright, contrasty shot...very sharp...good color...Key West, the sailboat, Western Union

8. This is another really bright day...with a much darker interior...I think the camera did a pretty good job of exposing the interior of the shop...

9. This is moi...having an afternoon libation...a cool glass of the Dos XX's...this was shot, as were the rest...without flash. One of the things that I think you'll notice is that even though all of the images were shot between f2 and no smaller than f3.5...the bokeh leaves a little to be desired...but it's the same for any camera with this size sensor...including the G15.

10. More revelers shot without flash using VR as were all other images...at f2.8, ISO 160, shutter 1/50 at 35mm.

11. Again, mottled light...bright sunlight and shade. Again, sharp...pretty good exposure. This used to be a fountain...but the city of Key Biscayne decided that it was more eco-friendly to plant trees and flowers...one year fountain...next year tree...lol...

I shot over 2000 images...got pretty good battery life, but recommend a second battery for sure, as this camera had nowhere near the battery life of my D700, but then I chimp a lot...a whole lot. One of the things that I do like about it is that it does have a 28-200mm lens...that's pretty darned good through out the range. I'm keeping mine...

Hope this images helped. I could have told you that I like the pictures from the camera, but showing is much better.

I was pretty lucky...since I had just gotten the camera and opted not to take my D700...trusting a brand new camera, with minimal exposures less than a week before we left. I'd have to say that it didn't let me down. And, I have to say that if it has some short comings, it's the limited ISO range and the focus time in VR mode, which more than makes up for the slight delay by producing extremely sharp images...oh, and the lack of bokeh...and no peep sight...but I don't find not having an optical viewer that important with a PS. And, I felt a lot more love from the random people that I photographed using my P7700, than I would have shooting them using my D700.

From what I've read...ISO performance is on par with other like priced cameras using this size sensor, including the G15...with the differences only being discernible using test equipment.

Hope this helped. Which ever you choose...G15 or P7700...you'll be happy with your purchase. Note that the P7700 does have a longer reach with it's lens than the G15.

I would like to go on the record as saying that I'm a big G series Canon fan...and until the Nikon guys came out with the P7700, I was going to buy a G12 last year, but decided to wait. And, that I'm not advertising for any one brand or model, but just posting images from the P7700.

Since the P7700 has a screw mount that accepts 40.5mm filters, if you decide on a P7700, buy a UV or daylight filter when you buy your camera and put it on as soon as you take the camera out of the box, I did. It protects the lens, and now I don't use the lens cap. And, I sure feel a lot better cleaning the filter than the front objective of the lens. Just FYI.

Have a good one.

skysailor · May 29, 2013

Ed911, what can I say. Thanks for the test flight on the P7700! Looks like it'll more than do the job for me.
Lyle

ggeinec · May 31, 2013

skysailor wrote: »

Looking for a "live in the tank bag" P&S that isn't a POS. My budget is around the $400 mark. The camera will live in my tank bag on my motorcycle. I've used a G9, and really liked it. Live view is a must so I can leave the helmet on for quick shots. That's about it.....any others I should be looking at?
Lyle

If it's not too late, try this:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-g15-nikon-p7700-shootout

Hope it helps.

skysailor · June 1, 2013

Pretty sure my Metz flash which I bought for my D200 will work on the P7700. That's a big consideration. Probably pick up the P7700 next time I get to my camera store.
Lyle

G15 vs. P7700

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