Canon G11 Tips

The Canon G11, just like its predecessor the Canon G10 has the ability to add lenses or filters. The process is not that simple as you have to acquire a lens adapter for this task.

The main problem is that Canon sells a cheap plastic adapter which is not considered having as high quality as the camera itself.

However, it is possible to get an even better replacement for this adapter, made out of aluminum instead of plastic.

Keep reading to get more information.

Both Canon PowerShot G10 and G11 use the same adapter so if you’ve previously bought an adapter for the G10, you can use it with your G11.

The thing you have to remember about G11 adapters is that you must get such an adapter that has two parts. If you fail to do so, you may experience vignetting when taking your photographs.

Vignetting basically results with a photograph that has a black circle over its edges. It results from a long adapters blocking the lens’ sight.

Review

These adapters are sold on eBay from either Hong Kong or China. Their price range is about $6 – $12 for an aluminum tube. However, the tube is not perfect. Using the two parts together you will experience vignetting when the zoom is on its wide end. You would have to zoom-in till the black circle disappears.

In order to avoid that side-effect,  use only one part of the tube. This way there’s no vignetting, but there’s also a down-side: You cannot use the zoom up to its full range because the G11’s lens is blocked by the external filter or lens you’re using.

The two parts are made of aluminum. They screw into each other, so you can easily separate them apart. I this adapter to be of good quality. The threads required lubing but other than that, it sits tight on the G11 and does not move at all.

Installation

In order to install, press on the black bottom-right button on the front of your G11, and rotate the ring anti clock-wise till it is removed. Put the adapter tube in the same place while making sure the red dot on the adapter is a little over the button. Rotate it clock-wide till you hear the locking sound.

More Solutions

I read in one of the forums about a creative solution requiring one part of the tube and a set of step-up rings. This solution, which I will discuss in a separate article, enables you to completely avoid vignetting at the wide end of the zoom, and be able to use to zoom however you want.

An alternative to this tube would be a lensmate adapter, which I will also discuss in a different article. To make it short, I didn’t like the Lensmate solution as it’s expensive and have some limitations.