Thread: G9 lens faults

Hi there, this is my first post here and I'm afraid it's a question.

I had a G9 some years ago when it was new. I loved it but sold it to fund a DSR. However, I'd love to get another as it's build and images were fantastic. It's only shortfall that I would need to address is its lack of a decent wide angle, but I can rectify this with a wide angle converter.

I've been looking around for one and it seems every second one has a lens fault. Just how common is this please? and is it something that should put me off sourcing a nice used G9?

Thanks in advance

What kind of lens fault do you mean? I don't recall the G9 having any special lens issues.

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Thanks for your reply, it's the E18 lens jamming problems.


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It might be worth your while to also consider the G10 and later models, since they had a wider 28-140mm lens instead of the 35-210mm in the G7 and G9.

My G10 just gave up the ghost: lens error! just at the moment my daughter was running her first hurdles race.
Lens would not retract and entire camera freezes except for lens error message, even after removing the battery and restarting the camera.

Canon Malaysia quoted an exorbitant fee for repair, almost USD 200. Frustratingly, the fault happened barely a month after the 3-year defects warranty I paid for expired.

Now a happy user of Panasonic Lumix LX7 : 24mm F1.4 lens

Thanks guys, this is my concern as they are not financially viable to fix and I'd be buying with the idea that its basically disposable if it breaks.

Did this same fault effect others Gs?

The G9 is still my favorite digicam ever. Mine has been to Iraq 2xs with my daughter, 2xs to Afghanistan with her again, fallen out of my pocket at 40 MPH on my Harley...it has never let anyone down. It had a cracked LCD screen, the first layer of glass not the internal.
It works perfectly and is the only camera I would get repaired regardless of expense. There was an issue years ago with the Power Module Unit that Canon repaired for free on many cameras including this one. That issue caused different things to go wrong with different cameras.
They may replace it now but not sure.

This is a tough decision because financially it's not worth getting a G9. Emotionally, it's a no brainer because it's such a great camera.
Don

I agree Don, price wise I'm probably better to get a later version, but I do love the styling and build of the 9.

The lack of a wide angle is a negative, but I will just buy a decent converter.

I believe the 10 still has a metal back, but after this they went to a plastic back to incorporate the variable screen,

The only concern I have with the 10 is the higher pixel count and possible loss of image quality.

I owned Canon powershots for a number of years in the mid-2000s (oh my -- is the mid-2000s now part of "back then"!!)

Lens error is prone to appear in all the Powershots AFAIK. The G9 was my last one, so perhaps the newer ones don't suffer from it, but the older ones certainly did. As others have noted, the newer Gs go wider now. Any camera loses $100 in value pretty quickly, so if you can get an old G for $100-150 I think it might be worth it, but I'd look to the G10 instead.

Originally Posted by wt21

I owned Canon powershots for a number of years in the mid-2000s (oh my -- is the mid-2000s now part of "back then"!!)

Lens error is prone to appear in all the Powershots AFAIK. The G9 was my last one, so perhaps the newer ones don't suffer from it, but the older ones certainly did. As others have noted, the newer Gs go wider now. Any camera loses $100 in value pretty quickly, so if you can get an old G for $100-150 I think it might be worth it, but I'd look to the G10 instead.

Guess I was lucky: my G2, G6, G7, G9, and G10 never had a lens error among them. I did send the G9 back to Canon for cleaning once, but that was it. But then μ43 came along and my relationship with Canon withered on the vine...