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Thinking about Buying the SX40 HS

Started Oct 3, 2012 | Discussions
stef Regular Member • Posts: 411
Re: Some pictures and thoughts...

Thanks for the support, VisionLight. It means a lot.

clearzoom Veteran Member • Posts: 3,026
Re: Some pictures and thoughts...

has anyone tried sx40 in Low light?

sunrise/sunset or Dawn/Dusk

also

 clearzoom's gear list:clearzoom's gear list
Sony Alpha NEX-6 Canon EOS 70D Sony a6000 Canon EF 70-200mm F4L USM Tamron AF 28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF) +7 more
clearzoom Veteran Member • Posts: 3,026
Re: Some pictures and thoughts...

didn't the earlier message. I saw manual of Nikon p510 and sony HX200 which has some scene mode for Night and dawn/Dusk etc, but dont see any in sx40's manaul.

if anyone can try late evening shot in sx40 and post images here,  would appreciate that

 clearzoom's gear list:clearzoom's gear list
Sony Alpha NEX-6 Canon EOS 70D Sony a6000 Canon EF 70-200mm F4L USM Tamron AF 28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF) +7 more
OpticsEngineer Veteran Member • Posts: 7,823
Low light response

The last low light shot I tried with my SX40 was a black widow spider hanging on its web in a garden shed showing its bright red hourglass marking.  Bright sunshine outside so some decent light was bouncing off the wall of the house into the shed.  I tried everything I could think of but I could not get the SX40 to focus on the spider.  Finally I gave up and got my Sony HX20V and got a good shot right away.

I am glad to hear the SX50 may be better at this kind of thing.

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IdahoMemories
IdahoMemories Regular Member • Posts: 164
Re: Thinking about Buying the SX40 HS

I've been using the SX40 for a couple of months now and highly recommend it.

Most of the photos I take are nature, landscapes etc.

Here are some of my photos with the SX40

http://pointandshootphotos.smugmug.com/CanonSX40Photos

james2k50
OP james2k50 Contributing Member • Posts: 573
Re: Thinking about Buying the SX40 HS

Well after reading and viewing all of the responses, I decided to buy the SX40 HS. So far I have taken 200 pictures and all of them came out pretty good. I was worried about IQ since I had to retire my dslr as it was getting old and for $$ reasons. Now I may take this back for some instances, but I'm amazed at the quality for it not being a dslr. So far so good

As for the autofocus issue, I haven't really had any trouble except for a few occasions. So far this issue is minor to me and expected with such a diverse range coming from the lens. I shot some video and that worked out pretty well. I noticed the autofocus seems to take a bit of time to refocus while zooming out past 10 X optical. Again, it is not a big issue for me. However if this is faulty or not working properly, I would like to know before my warranty runs out.

Besides the things mentioned, I must say I'm quite happy. I am floored by the detail thus far coming from the camera with such a small sensor! Will I ever go back to dslr? Most likely, when I can afford it financially. Thanks so much for all of the responses and great feedback James

 james2k50's gear list:james2k50's gear list
Canon PowerShot SX40 HS Sony SLT-A35 Sony SLT-A65
James Cafferty Veteran Member • Posts: 5,364
Re: Thinking about Buying the SX40 HS

IdahoMemories wrote:

I've been using the SX40 for a couple of months now and highly recommend it.

Most of the photos I take are nature, landscapes etc.

Here are some of my photos with the SX40

http://pointandshootphotos.smugmug.com/CanonSX40Photos

You captured some wonderful pictures with the SX40. Nice work.

Howie Herscovitch Regular Member • Posts: 152
Re: Low light response

OpticsEngineer wrote:

The last low light shot I tried with my SX40 was a black widow spider hanging on its web in a garden shed showing its bright red hourglass marking.  Bright sunshine outside so some decent light was bouncing off the wall of the house into the shed.  I tried everything I could think of but I could not get the SX40 to focus on the spider.  Finally I gave up and got my Sony HX20V and got a good shot right away.

Did you try manual focus? I know it's probably painfully slow but unless the spider was moving around MF should have worked. I don't have an SX40 but I use MF a lot with my SX210.

I am glad to hear the SX50 may be better at this kind of thing.

stef Regular Member • Posts: 411
Re: Some pictures and thoughts...

clearzoom wrote:

has anyone tried sx40 in Low light?

sunrise/sunset or Dawn/Dusk

also

I have gotten some photos in low light conditions and I was very surprised that they turned out as well as they did. One is a hawk in the evening on a cloudy day which I shot hand held at 1/30 of a second. The bird was I guess about 40 feet away.

The second is a fawn licking a ceramic bird attached to a bird bath. This one I shot through a glass window from inside the house and was hand held also.

This hawk was sitting on a fence and I walked up to it with a large magnolia shrub between us. If the bird hadn't been sitting so still this wouldn't have turned out at all. These large subjects were easy to focus on and that wasn't an issue here.

This fawn was curious about these ceramic birds and licked one of them to experiment. I thought it was interesting behavior.

I know they aren't "great" photos but I was very impressed with the IS and the ISO 800 noise level. I am sure that I did some light pp. I have some others that were shot in the evening at up to ISO 1250 but then a tripod was needed and I didn't have one.

james2k50
OP james2k50 Contributing Member • Posts: 573
Re: Bought the SX40 HS but DROPPED IT!

So far I'm quite happy with the SX40 , and usually I'm very careful with my cameras. You could say that I'm a little OCD about being careful.
Well as stated in my response, the worst thing has happened. I picked up my camera from the kitchen table and the strap hooked the chair, pulling the camera out of my hand. It fell to the side of the chair and hit the floor, so about a 2 1/2 foot drop! I immediately checked for damage and everything seems to be working fine. Although there is one thing that I'm worried about now. I'm not sure if this is normal, but when I half press the shutter button to focus, I can hear the lens making a slight clunk-clunk noise as it focuses. Can someone tell me if this is normal or have I damage something? I'm not sure if I noticed this before but besides that everything seems fine. Please let me know so that I can settle my mind

 james2k50's gear list:james2k50's gear list
Canon PowerShot SX40 HS Sony SLT-A35 Sony SLT-A65
Gopal Venkat Junior Member • Posts: 34
Re: Thinking about Buying the SX40 HS

Thanks for these terrific Links Jim. I am looking for a second camera and was debating between the SX-40 and SX-50. With the lower aperture and decent zoom (800+ mm) and these terrific photos, I think I can settle for the SX-40.

Gary Webb Junior Member • Posts: 26
Re: Thinking about Buying the SX40 HS

Consider buying the new SX50.  It shares the same chip as the new g-15 and the advanced G1 and has super wide angle at 24 and zooms 50X.  I've been hearing a lot of postive buzz about this new entry.

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