Canon IXUS 240 HS
Canon PowerShot SX240 HS
Nikon D800
Samsung DV300F
Olympus OM-D E-M5
Nikon Coolpix P510
Canon PowerShot SX260 HS
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30
Nikon Coolpix S9300
Unusual Product Names #1
The Canon Powershot G5 was recently released, following on from the previous G3 model. A few PhotographyBLOG visitors wondered what happened to the G4 name. Well, it appears that guest Krishna was right when they said “In Japanese characters(kanji) numeral 4 also represents death/bad thing and hence is avioded in most of the version numbers of products”, at least according to the UK magazine Amateur Photographer.
AP say on page 28 of the 19th July issue that “the truth behind the leap from 3 to 5 is one based on cultural superstition - in Japan, the number 4 is considered unlucky. This is because the pronunciation of 4 - “shi” - is the same pronunciation as death. This is the reason why the EOS range jumps from the EOS 3 to EOS 5, and why the latest IXUS digital compacts bucks the trend of the IXUS v2 and IXUS v3 models by becoming the IXUS 400. Indeed, to find a Canon camera with a model number 4 you have to look back as far as the 1950s to the Canon IV.”
So now you know 
By the way, Amateur Photographer loved the Canon G5, awarding it a rating of 92% and summarising “In short, the five-million-pixel camera market contains a lot of good cameras, but very few exceptional ones. The Powershot G5 must certainly be counted among their number and is arguably the best that we have seen so far.”
Canon IXUS 240 HS Review
Canon PowerShot SX240 HS Review
Nikon D800 Review
Samsung DV300F Review
Olympus OM-D E-M5 Review
Nikon Coolpix P510
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30
Canon PowerShot SX260 HS
Fujifilm X-Pro1
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V
#1 Ryan
I guess they should have called it the G4 anyway, with the CA issues and such... hehe!
7:50 pm - Monday, July 21, 2003
#2 Mark Goldstein
"CA issues" - as in Chromatic Aberration? Amateur Photographer's review suggested that this wasn't seen on any of their test images.
Mark
7:54 pm - Monday, July 21, 2003
#3 lil
I went ahead and bought the G5, and I can confirm that the purple fringing (or chromatic aberration) issue is definitely present in images containing high contrast (such as an interior view with strong side lighting from a window, or a night street view with bright street lights). If Amateur Photographer didn't pick it up, then they weren't looking hard enough because it is quite noticable. Either that, or they just didn't test shoot under the conditions where it occurs. That said, I am really quite happy with it, and will just have to learn to live with the fact that it has a few flaws.
12:36 pm - Wednesday, July 23, 2003
#4 Mark Goldstein
So now you know that CA occurs, how do you get rid of it? Edit it out in Photoshop? Or do you just have to accept that it happens and move on?
Mark
12:53 pm - Wednesday, July 23, 2003
#5 lil
A friend jokingly advised me that I can only shoot purple subjects from now on or use a purple filter
But seriously, yes, I have no choice but to resort to retouching in Photoshop or stick to my Canon EOS film camera for those conditions. In making the purchase, I weighed up all the pros and cons for the comparable 5-megapixel compact cameras and decided the Canon PowerShot G5 was the closest match to my needs. Money aside, I really couldn't live with the weight of the 10D for a travel camera IN ADDITION to my film camera. Have you given up shooting film when you use your 10D? If not, how do you handle the weight?
1:25 pm - Wednesday, July 23, 2003
#6 Mark Goldstein
My film camera is the all-plastic EOS 300, so it's not much of a burden at all
I haven't used it much at all since I got the 10D.
I use a camera backpack to carry all my kit - I routinely carry round two camera bodies, 3 lenses, film, accessories, portable storage device etc. Using a backpack is definitely a good idea if you have a lot of kit.
Shooting just purple objects sounds like a photo project in the making!
Mark
1:31 pm - Wednesday, July 23, 2003
#7 lil
Actually, last weekend I just ditched my old Crumpler camera bag, as my kit had outgrown it, and bought the Tamrac Pro 8 shoulder bag (holding my SLR body, digicam, 4 lenses, flash, meter and tons of accessories/filters/batteries/memory cards, etc). I'll be it putting through its paces next month during a month long trip through Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Hope my shoulders hold up!
3:50 pm - Wednesday, July 23, 2003
#8 Mark Goldstein
Looks good - there's certainly enough pockets on it!
I saved some cash and bought a Hama backpack from 7dayshop.co.uk, which they no longer seem to sell unfortunately.
Mark
7:51 pm - Wednesday, July 23, 2003
#9 C Goral
I heard that Apple Computer may have had some type of trademark that hindered Canon from using G4.
3:01 am - Monday, July 28, 2003
#10 Mark Goldstein
Steve also mentioned the possible Apple connection in an earlier post that he made:
http://www.photographyblog.com/comments.php?id=P364_0_1_0_C
But it seems that the official line is that the number 4 is unlucky in Japan.
Mark
2:36 pm - Monday, July 28, 2003