Canon PowerShot S40 - Quick Preview

Having only received a PowerShot S40 in the last two days I've only just started the review proper. As a taster to those who are interested in this four megapixel compact digital camera I've prepared a very brief preview article which consists of product shots, major features and our standard ISO 12233 resolution chart. A full review will follow in the next seven days. (04:00 GMT)

Notes: This is a quick preview article, no conclusions are given nor should any be made at this stage. No comments about image quality nor extensive samples are yet available. This camera is full production.

Canon PowerShot S40 - Quick Preview

Major features

• Slim, stylish 'go anywhere' case design, sliding lens cover doubles as power switch
• Aluminium body
• 4 megapixel resolution (2272 x 1704)
• JPEG and RAW file output
• Compact Flash Type I and Type II support (including IBM Microdrive)
• Compact 3x optical zoom lens, 35 - 105 mm equiv. (F2.8 - F4.9)
• Three automatic or manually selectable auto focus points
• Full manual controls (Aperture priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, ISO 50 - 400)
• Full picture settings control (Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation)
• Three metering modes (Evaluative, Center-weighted average, Spot)
• Scene exposure modes (Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Fast Shutter, Slow Shutter, Colour Effects, Stitch Assist)
• 15 - 1/1,500 sec shutter speed range
• Noise reduction for slow exposures (slower than 1.3 sec)
• Movie clips with audio (30 sec @ 320 x 240, 120 sec @ 160 x 120)
• Unique shooting priority play mode*
• New NB-2L Lithium-Ion battery
• "My Camera" programmable sounds and startup picture
• Direct print to new S820D desktop Bubble Jet printer

* Sliding the play switch to the right engages play mode, a half-press of the shutter release returns to shooting mode. The play switch can also be used with the lens cover closed.

Compared to the PowerShot G2

Size wise you can see that the S40 is approximately the same width, is shorter and less deep.

Primary feature differences compared to the G2

• Slightly slower lens (F2.8 - F4.9 vs F2.0 - F2.5)
• Fixed LCD screen with no anti-reflective coating
• No dedicated AE Lock button
• No external flash support
• No remote control
• No pan-focus mode, additional Fast shutter and Slow shutter modes
• Compact Flash slot is in same compartment as battery (base of camera)
• Shooting priority play mode (G2's play mode is on mode dial)
• "My Camera" programmable sounds and startup picture
• 16 MB Compact Flash card (G2 is provided with a 32 MB card)
• S40 uses a new 570 mAh battery versus the G2's 1100 mAh battery
• Direct print to new S820D desktop Bubble Jet printer
• Battery charges outside camera, AC adapter is optional
• S40 is 187 g (6.6 oz) lighter (fully loaded) than the G2
• S40 will have a waterproof case option (see below)

Camera body elements

Top	Base
Combined CF / Battery compartment	Connections

New Accessories

Soft case	Waterproof case

ISO 12233 resolution chart crops

Captures of PowerShot S40 printing direct to the Bubble Jet S820D

The LCD monitor captures below show the new menu options and printing features available on the Canon PowerShot S40 when connected directly (via USB) to a Canon Bubble Jet S820D. You can now select from several different paper sizes as well as bordered or borderless, date stamp and the number of copies to be printed. You can also use the built-in trimming feature to print just a portion of your image.