What an excellent forum this is! Thank you to everyone who has offered advice. It does seem as though I'm going to have to do some experimentation regarding the EC setting. The SX40 is obviously capable of taking very good photos. My decision to buy was based to quite a large extent on the quality of the photos shown at this forum.
I guess it was the second photo I posted (sorry for the large size) that gave me the greatest cause for concern. This was taken in fairly evenly balanced, relatively dull conditions. 1/40th / F/3.5 / ISO 320 / Focal length 8mm. The extent of over-exposure on the faces of the 2 ladies in the middle and the gent on the right, plus the white paper in the map case is really not what I would have expected, and certainly not as good as I would have obtained from my S2 IS. Anyway, I'll let you know how I get on with some in-camera tweaking.
To put perspective to my particular photographic needs, I'm not a pixel peeper and I rarely print larger than A5 size. My main mode of looking at photos is on a 24 inch monitor (Dell Ultra-sharp 2407WFP) which, although not a top of the range monitor, in my opinion provides pretty good viewing. I enjoy taking photos of wildlife, flowers, and mountains, but also take quite a lot of photos of people, which is why I have this initial concern about the degree of overexposure on faces.
A few comments relating to the helpful advice given:-
"All digital cams need a little post processing. A run through Picasa is all that is needed".
Good point, but I'm reluctant to do batch post-processing because I find that very frequently individual photos require individual treatment. And doing a lot of photos individually is pretty time-consuming.
"If you adjust the exposure compensation in P mode, the camera will save that setting until you adjust it again. This setting is not changed back to default when you power off the camera".
I guess another possibility is to save individual settings for certain situations in C1 or C2.
"There's a learning curve in photography. Photographers who learn it will get consistently better results".
Absolutely right. I remember the time when one carried around a light meter, played with different types of film, etc, etc. Now, it is too easy to get into the 'point and shoot' frame of mind whereas actually cameras like the SX40 do offer the potential for better results with a bit of time and effort.
"Blown out data is very difficult to restore in photoshop because there is no data to work with".
This has been entirely my experience. I use PS Elements mainly for Levels, Saturation and a few other bits and bobs. However, I've never been successful in correcting blown photos.
Thanks again.
Jeremy
