G7X Mark 3 turn on grid and level?

[stevelee]

As a travel camera I think the 24-200mm equivalent lens is a better option than a 24-70mm. For a vlog'ing camera it's probably not.

And that is a matter of priorities. The longer zoom is a much slower lens. For my travel pictures, having an f/1.8-2.8 lens is more important than having a longer zoom. Now perhaps having f/2.8 at 200mm equivalent would be the best of both worlds, but then it would be harder to make it fit in my pocket. I don't do vlogging, and can't imagine that I'd ever want to.

On the other side, I wouldn't want to be limited to 70mm, either. The 100mm equivalent of the G7X II or III works fine for me. I'm much more likely to wish I had something wider than 24mm than to wish for something longer than 100mm when I'm traveling. For wider, I make shots to stitch together once I get home. For a little more telephoto, I can crop, up to a point, of course. The G7X II replaced an S120 as my travel camera. It would zoom to 120mm equivalent. I have not missed the difference. There is enough more resolution with the 1" sensor so that I can crop the pictures tighter than the 120mm would give me, and can still have more pixels than with the S120 shot's whole frame when zoomed in. Other folks will want different zoom ranges, and that's fine.

Anyway, I don't need to rush into this purchase (or nonpurchase). If by October when I'm traveling again I'm that the III (or the 5 II) will be advantageous for me, then I might make a purchase. I'll still watch these threads and look at reviews over the next month or two. Otherwise, I'll be happy to tromp around Italy and sail to some Greek islands using the G7X II to document the trip but not get in my way. I might have to restrain my residual amount of GAS, however.

Thanks to you and to the others who are helping provide ideas and links to consider.

 

[Stereodude]

More winning or just whining?

 

[stevelee]

It seems to do fine some of the time, and get fooled some of the time. It is hard to tell much when the light is bright and the ND filter is off, since the lens is topped down somewhat and the difference between in and out of focus is not so great. Without comparison videos of the II or of the Sony from three years ago I don't learn much.

What he is doing for the test is so far from something that is likely to happen in a video of mine, I'm not sure that even the bad results say anything about what I might experience in real life. I'd try making my own version of the test if I had someone to play Bruno and four pretty stewardesses.

I also don't know what this might mean for autofocus in still photography.

 

[Stereodude]

In contrast, I learned a lot from his several videos and those posted by others. I learned it has very substandard AF performance in video for a camera in 2019 compared to class leaders. Considering that and other things like overheating and the usual rash of typical Canon feature crippling there's no way it's worth the price Canon wants for it. Whether the sensor is responsible or Canon's processing of the data is irrelevant to me. The camera is the sum of its parts and programming, and this one adds up to a big fat 0 if you want to use it for video and are expecting competitive performance.

I had such high hopes for the G7X III, but Canon... You dashed them.

 

[stevelee]

Since this thread has been revived I will update my experience. I looked at getting an M50 for my travel camera, and took another brief look at the Sony option. I decided to get the G5X II. I still wanted something that would fit in my jacket or pants pocket, and I still prioritized lens speed over long focal length. The G7X III seems to have been aimed more at vlogging, which I don’t do. The pop-up viewfinder of the new 5 is a welcome addition for shooting in bright sunlight. It is not clear enough to use for focusing, but fine for choosing composition. The diopter adjustment is too fussy, so it can take several tries to get it close enough to use. Besides having a little longer zoom (but still a fast lens), the new 5 seems to have a bit better lens otherwise.

I left for Italy in October, 2019, traveled around for over a couple weeks, and then went on a 14-night Mediterranean cruise that came back to other towns in Italy. I threw the G7X II into my bag as a backup, and wound up using it by chance on my first day in Rome, given my sleep-deprived and jet-lagged brain. It did fine, of course. After that I took over 3.000 pictures with the G5X II. I never missed having any longer focal length, and I was happy to be shooting at f/1.8 to 2.8 in dark interiors. I had some great shots of Venice by night as we sailed out, so handheld in the dark from a moving ship. One of the shots is displayed in homes in three states now.

And outdoors in the sun, I was glad to have the viewfinder.