I’m getting some use from the G11 here in Zion National Park. I was out shooting all morning and the surprises continue.
For example, the control dial on the back of the camera, well, I expected it to work by pressing up, down, left and right (which it does). I didn’t expect it to rotate like its bigger dSLR cousins. But it does and what a pleasant surprise that was. It didn’t take long to get into the habit of spinning the dial instead of repeatedly pressing the direction buttons.
The dial spins when you’re accessing menu options. It works when you’re browsing captured images. And here’s a really cool thing. If you start to rotate the dial really fast when reviewing your pictures it switches from show-one-at-a-time mode to a cool scrolling mode where thumbnails of the pictures just float by. It’s really neat – and really handy.
One thing that takes a bit of getting used to is you can accidently hit some of the buttons. Each of the four directions also does something else – they are multi-functional. For example, the left button can also put you into macro mode or the up button can put you into manual focus mode. Now, this can be very handy when you want to switch modes quickly but it can be puzzling when you end up in a mode and don’t know how you got there. But eventually you realize that this can happen and are prepared for it.
There are also two buttons just above the control dial that I found myself accidentally hitting as my thumb went whirling around. So, be on the lookout for fat fingers – or thumbs as the case may be. And when you finally get used to it (which doesn’t take all that long), enjoy!
More to come….
To see Ralph’s photography click here.