The other week Canon hosted an event at the Doug Fir Lounge called Bring It in Portland. If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you might have seen me post some stuff on the night of denoted with #CanonBringIt hashtag.
It was a really fun little event, where you were able to check out a camera and test it out for the evening. There were a bunch of different stations where staff helped you learn about the features a bit more, or gave you the chance to test out your new knowledge and borrowed tech.
Not to mention there was a DJ, food being passed around, and a bartender making some killer Spanish Coffees. I’m also going to preface that all the photos that I included in this post haven’t been edited by me and are pretty much straight out of the camera – save for a it of cropping.
There was a great station with the cutest little Pug, which was great if you wanted to test out portraiture modes or see how the camera would perform in a more posed setting.
There were also quite a few food photography stations. Being a city known for its craft beer and foodies, there happened to be a number of food bloggers at the event.
The timing of this event was actually really helpful to me. My current camera setup is a Canon 40D that I got when it was released back in mid-to-late 2007, and my iPhone 6. As it is I’m increasingly using my iPhone because my DSLR is getting more and more laggy – I have basically used this camera to death. It also lacks video capabilities. I want to upgrade as soon as I can.
Unfortunately, the camera I was waiting to be released – isn’t available in the US. The Eos M3 has only launched in SE Asia region & Europe so far. So if I want to go ahead and get it, the only real way to do so is to order it from Japan on eBay. Before doing that, I thought I’d test out whatever point-and-shoot Canon had available at the event. Maybe there was something closer that would be less of a headache.
So I checked out this bad boy for the evening, the Canon G7X,. I downloaded the accompanying Camera Connect app, which let me link my phone and the camera over wifi, enabling me to share photos between the devices, and even use my phone as a remote shutter. I don’t know about you guys, but I immediately thought that would be awesome for OOTD photos when you might not have someone available for slave labor to take photos of your cute ensemble.
It occasionally could be a pain in the butt to link up the devices, but so is figuring out how to work cable after you just get it installed. A mild annoyance until you’ve figured out all the little tricks and rain dances needed to get it to work seamlessly.
I was actually really impressed with how the camera performed in low light situations, and adjusting the exposure on the fly was super easy as there is a click wheel next to the shutter button that lets you change it immediately without having to go into the UIX settings.
It also shared a feature that originally attracted me to the EOS M3, a tilt viewfinder. Yep, great for vlogging or videos because you can see yourself while filming. Not having to guess if I’ll be in focus or cropped in correctly would be lovely.
Back to low light capabilities. Let me remind you this was taken in a dark bar setting. With warm yellow diffused lighting. Yes it’s rather noisey, but I’m just impressed I was able to get this shot of out of the camera without doing 1 second+ shutter speed.
General specs of the G7X? 20MP, 24-100mm equiv. F1.8-2.8 lens, touch screen, flip screen, wifi enabled, built in ND filter (but you can read a more in-depth review here). Not only did I take advantage of the bartender’s Spanish Coffee making skills for aesthetics, I also had one. They were delicious. Although I totally didn’t let it cool down enough before sipping it and totally burnt my mouth. Really I have the same problem with pizza too. Luckily he was whipping up some nice iced beverages as well. Gotta love that free bar.
All in all, it was a great little event. I learned a lot about what Canon‘s current line-up is, got to meet some really interesting photographers in the area, and got a better idea of what camera I want to upgrade to in the coming months. As much fun as the G7X was, I still think I’m going to hold out for the EOS M3 since it has more lens choices and will actually work with my current lenses via an adaptor.
Do you guys have a favorite camera you use? Or are you like me and wanting terribly to upgrade your gear? Lemme know in the comments below!
♡Em
