Filling in the Gaps: A supposedly glitchy Canon Powershot G12

Filling in the Gaps: A supposedly glitchy Canon Powershot G12

Although I think that I have all of the cameras I need to keep me occupied, I sometimes come across a camera that I've been seeking for quite a while. One of these 'nice to haves' is a glitchy camera. I don't mean one that's naturally glitchy because it was made that way, like the Vivitar Vivicam and its shutter lag, or one that has been artificially glitched, like the circuit bent kiddiecam from Freedom Enterprise,  but a camera that over years of use has developed a fault that still allows it to be used but the results are not the natural looking photographs that one might expect.

So I was torn by indecision when I came across a Canon Powershot G12 on the Kamerastore website. Under normal circumstances the Powershot G12 is a solid camera, regularly being awarded 4 or 5 star reviews. Released by Canon in 2010, the G12 is a 10 MP CCD sensor camera described as a premium compact and continuing the prestigious G-series of digital cameras. Over a decade after its launch prices are still quite high for the G12, so when I came across a 'not passed' model on the Kamerastore website I was instantly intrigued.

Looking at the description of the camera I could see why it was so cheap. 'The sensor is failing,' read the description, and 'it randomly draws horizontal lines and distorts the colors (sic)'. I paused at this point, do I really want to buy a damaged camera that at any moment could be unusable? But then I reasoned, well, even if it lasts a year I'll have had a glitchy camera and can cross another project off my photography bucket list. So I pressed tbe'Buy Now' button and waited.

A few days later the package arrived and I couldn't wait to open it up and parade my new glitchy camera. So imagine my surprise when I turned the camera on and ... there were no horizontal lines, no distorted colours. What was going on? Have I been sold a perfectly good camera? At the moment I can't tell, it seems to be working properly at the moment.  Perhaps when I've had it switched on for a while it'll start glvitching. Here's hoping. In the meantime I took it across the road for its test frames with my favourite tree and well. 

I must say, the Powershot G12 is a wonderful digital camera. It's hefty in the hand, the features are easy to access and it's a joy to use. Of course, my first test images need to include some infrared images and the camera behaved admirably in infrared.  Indeed, I took a colour infrared image for some colour shifting and it was splendid. Sometimes I get a decidedly blue colour cast with channel mixed images, but in bright sunlight the Powershot G12 performed admirably.

One thing I do fancy playing with is the 'miniature' option, where the preset adds blur to the top and bottom of the image for a tilt/shift type of effect. I did have a try with this method and it certainly shows promise. So I shall keep on trying to get some glitches out of the Powershot G12 but in the meantime will just enjoy this lovely camera. 

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