No they aren't.
Live view is so incredibly small (320 x 240) that you can't even take advantage of onion skinning, and you have ZERO control of the focus. The only option to control it is to tell the camera to auto-focus and then lock it. Trust me, the C910/9000 are a better choice by far for animating.
(That is, if you haven't got a good camcorder or a DSLR at your disposal)
Source: owner of a G9.
PS: And you can only use a small selection of older models for tethered shooting! Don't assume you'll be able to connect that cam you saw at target to your PC! Because it won't work.
Here's a full list of cameras that work with a PC: http://www.breezesys.com/PSRemote/features.htm#ps
But still, the life view will be REALLY REALLY small, so... I wouldn't say they are a good choice. Better to buy one of the top-class webcams and then save up for a nice camcorder or DSLR that supports remote capture.
Last edited by pacific (July 30, 2011 (07:29am))
-pacific