Canon PowerShot S40 Review

October 2001 | By Phil Askey

(Place your mouse over the image to open the lens cover)
Review based on a production PowerShot S40, firmware v1.00

The PowerShot S30 and S40 mark a revival by Canon of the higher end 'S' series of digital cameras. Clearly since the S10 and S20 Canon have explored the ultra-compact 'pocket' type digital camera, the S30 and S40 are a little larger but more feature rich. These two new cameras (virtually identical apart from their output resolution S30 - 3mp, S40 - 4mp) now sit between the PowerShot 'G' series (G1, G2) and the IXUS / ELPH (S100 / S110 / S300) digital cameras.

PowerShot 'S' series history

Here's a little history of the 'S' series (note that the S100, S110 and S300 ultra compact's fall into a different category within Canon).:

Date	PowerShot Model	Body	Lens cover	Resolution	Zoom
Aug/1999	S10	Compact	Built-in	2 megapixel	2x optical
Jan/2000	S20	Compact	Built-in	3 megapixel	2x optical
Oct/2001	S30	Compact	Sliding	3 megapixel	3x optical
Oct/2001	S40	Compact	Sliding	4 megapixel	3x optical

The S30 and S40 are also noteworthy because they are the first Canon digital cameras with a sliding front lens cover which doubles as a power switch, this fairly common design feature on other manufacturers cameras has finally made its way to Canon digital cameras. This new cover appears to work well and help to protect the lens.

PowerShot S40 vs. PowerShot G2

Here's a quick breakdown of the primary differences between the PowerShot S40 and G2. Better features or specifications are highlighted in green.

	Canon PowerShot S40	Canon PowerShot G2
Street price	US$ 799	US$ 899
Body material	All metal (apart from compart. door)	Metal front, plastic back
Lens	35 - 105 mm, F2.8 - F4.9	34 - 102 mm, F2.0 - F2.5
Lens type	Extending	Extending
Lens cover	Sliding (doubles as power switch)	Loose 'push-on'
Add-on lenses	No	Yes, with optional adapter
Normal focus range	0.8 m (2.7 ft) - Infinity	0.7 (2.3 ft) - Infinity
Macro focus range	W: 0.1 - 0.8 m (3.9 in - 2.7 ft) T: 0.3 - 0.8 m (12 in - 2.7 ft)	W: 0.06 - 0.7 m (2.4 in - 2.3 ft) T:
Auto Focus modes	Single AF	Single AF, Continuous AF
Shutter speed	15 - 1/1,500 sec	15 - 1/1,000 sec
AE Lock	Combination of half-press and meter button	Dedicated button
LCD	Fixed 1.8"	Flip-out and twist 1.8"
LCD anti-reflective	No	Yes
Power switch	Sliding lens cover	Mode dial
Play mode	Shooting priority play mode	Switch between rec, off, play
Scene exposure modes	Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Fast shutter, Slow shutter, Color Effect, Stitch Assist	Pan-focus, Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Color Effect, Stitch Assist
Flash range (ISO 100)	W: 0.35 - 4.8 m (1.1 - 15.7 ft) T: 0.35 - 3.5 m (1.1 - 11.5 ft)	W: 0.7 - 4.5 m (2.3 - 14.8 ft) T: 0.7 - 3.6 m (2.3 - 11.8 ft)
External flash	No	Yes, hot-shoe
Programmable startup picture and sounds	Yes	No
Voice annotations	Yes	No
Remote control	None	InfraRed supplied
Supplied storage	16 MB Compact Flash card	32 MB Compact Flash card
Battery	7.4 V 570 mAh Lithium-Ion	7.4 V 1100 mAh Lithium-Ion
Battery charger	Supplied, charge battery	Supplied, charge battery and double as AC adapter
Dimensions	112 x 58 x 42 mm (4.4 x 2.3 x 1.7 in)	121 x 77 x 64 mm (4.8 x 3.0 x 2.5 in)
Weight (inc. batt)	323 g (11.4 oz)	510 g (18.0 oz)

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this review (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions.

Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (normally 960 x 720 or smaller if cropped) image in a new window.

To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top.

DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C.

This review is Copyright 2001 Phil Askey and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact: Phil Askey.