Superzoom Series | Canon PowerShot SX40 HS Review

Canon PowerShot SX40 HS Specification:

Key specs	Canon PowerShot SX40 HS
Price (MSRP)	$429.99
Dimensions (WHD)	4.8 x 3.6 x 4.2 inches
Weight (with battery and media)	21.2 ounces
Megapixels, image sensor size, type	12 megapixels, 1/2.3-inch backside-illuminated CMOS
LCD size, resolution/viewfinder	2.7-inch vari-angle LCD, 230K dots/None
Lens (zoom, aperture, focal length)	35x, f2.7-5.8, 24-840mm (35mm equivalent)
File format (still/video)	JPEG/H.264 AAC (.MOV)
Highest resolution size (still/video)	4,000x3,000 pixels/ 1,920x1,080 at 24fps
Image stabilization type	Optical and digital
Battery type, CIPA rated life	Li-ion rechargeable, 370 shots (400, EVF only)
Battery charged in camera	No; external charger supplied
Storage media	SD/SDHC/SDXC, Eye-Fi SD/SDHC cards
Bundled software	ZoomBrowser EX 6.8/PhotoStitch 3.1 (Windows); ImageBrowser 6.8/PhotoStitch 3.2 (Mac)

The Canon PowerShot SX40 HS may be a nice improvement over its precursor, the SX30 IS. Sure, they give the impression of being an equivalent, have an equivalent ultrawide-angle 35x telephoto lens, and, for the foremost half, have an equivalent shooting modes. however a switch to a replacement detector and new image processor perceived to have improved each exposure quality and shooting performance, although its performance continues to be consumption wind a trifle behind competitory models from Nikon, Sony, and Panasonic.

For that matter, thus is its feature set and its style, significantly if you would like to require advantage of its electronic view finder and manual controls. On the opposite hand, it's a number of the simplest JPEG exposure quality you are going to search out from a high-end megazoom.

Overall, exposure quality is superb for this category of camera. pictures do get softer and noisier higher than ISO 200--typical for point-and-shoots--but ISO four hundred and 800 area unit still terribly usable. Like alternative "HS" models I've tested this year, the noise and noise reduction area unit well-balanced thus you continue to get sensible color and detail up to ISO 800.

Colors desaturate some at ISO 1600 and 3200, subjects look terribly soft, and detail is greatly diminished. whereas you would possibly not need to look at them at larger sizes or heavily crop them, the high-ISO results ought to be satisfactory for the net or prints at tiny sizes, though, again, colours can look somewhat off. confine mind, too, that if you are shooting inside with lens extended, you will need the upper ISOs to stay shutter speeds quick enough to stop blur. Also, the automotive vehicle white balance is heat inside, which does not facilitate color once combined with higher ISOs; use the presets or use the custom possibility once potential. sadly, there's no choice to shoot raw files with this camera thus if you are a constituent peeper and not proud of Canon's JPEG process, you are stuck.

Color accuracy is superb, manufacturing bright and vivid results. Exposure is usually excellent, however highlights tend to blow out. alternative makers are resolution this to a point with high-dynamic vary modes which will take 2 or 3 shots at totally different exposures and overlay them for a more-balanced shot. Canon does not provide a mode like that and its i-Contrast feature is a lot of for rescuing shadow detail than highlights. However, the SX40 will have exposure bracketing, although it shoots slowly, thus your subjects have to be compelled to be still.

Video quality is on par with a really sensible HD pocket video camera: adequate for net use and nondiscriminating TV viewing. the complete HD video records at 24fps, and although panning the camera can produce vibrate and there's visible trailing on moving subjects, the video is watchable. Those things area unit typical of the video from most compact cameras, too. you'll be able to drop the resolution to one,280x720 at 30fps, however the vibrate really appears to urge worse. The low-light video is predictably coarse-grained, however it's a minimum of nearly as good as this camera's high ISO exposure performance. The telephoto lens will work whereas recording; it moves terribly slowly, though, doubtless to stop the movement from being picked up by the stereo mics on front. It will solely very be detected in terribly quiet scenes.

While it does not have plenty of trick shooting modes just like the Sony HX100V or the plentiful controls over exposure quality that you're going to realize on the Panasonic FZ150, the SX40 HS has all of the necessary things for the class. you will find full manual and semimanual shooting modes. offered apertures at the wide finish include: f2.7, f3.2, f3.5, f4.0, f4.5, f5.0, f5.6, f6.3, f7.1, and f8.0; offered in photograph are: f5.8, f6.3, f7.1, f8.0. Shutter speeds go from fifteen seconds all the way down to 1/3,200 second. If you return up with a group of values you would like to use often, there area unit 2 Custom spots on the mode dial. For those times once you need the camera to try and do the thinking there's a really reliable full-auto mode in addition as stock scene modes like Portrait, Landscape, and Fireworks.

In addition to the company's normal inventive-shooting options--Color Accent and Color Swap--it has alternative creative options: Toy Camera, Monochrome, Miniature result, Fish-eye result, a brilliant Vivid mode that intensifies colours, and an ad result that posterizes photos. These modes are not essentially must-haves, however they will be fun to play with, if solely to feature some interest to what would be associate otherwise boring shot. Plus, they are offered once shooting movies, too.

With its new CMOS detector and Digic five image processor, I had high hopes that the SX40 HS would be considerably quicker than its precursor. It's not. I mean, it's improved, however not by abundant. It goes from off to 1st shot fairly quickly at one.6 seconds then slows all the way down to two.5 seconds from shot to shot. Shutter lag--how long it takes from pressing the shutter unleash to capture--is excellent at zero.4 second in bright lighting and zero.6 in rheostat conditions. That was in research laboratory tests, though, and in my testing the camera felt slow to focus. What did show a lot of improvement were continuous shooting speeds. Canon includes a full-resolution, eight-shot-burst scene mode that's capable of up to ten frames per second. This sets focus and exposure with the primary shot, however that is common with these modes. there's additionally never-ending shooting setting that hits concerning two.3fps (again, with focus and exposure set with the primary shot) and never-ending with optical device that's way slower, however a minimum of it's associate possibility.

The SX40 HS uses an equivalent style from 2010's SX30 IS, wanting somewhat sort of a compact version of a Canon Greek deity Rebel dSLR. At the front of the massive, comfy grip may be a shutter unleash with a lever for in operation the intense 35x telephoto lens followed back by a shooting mode dial and power button. although the motor moves the lens swimmingly, it's slow and takes too long to maneuver the lens in and out. A Zoom Frame Assist button on back next to the thumbrest helps a trifle by pull the lens back and causing it forward once more once discharged, however it's still too slow once attempting to trace a moving subject.

Below the Zoom Frame Assist button to the correct of the thumbrest area unit Play and AF Frame Selector buttons, the latter permitting you to maneuver your AF frame per wherever you would like the camera to focus and alter the scale of the frame. Below that's a bearing dial that sits on high of a four-way directional pad. The dial is employed for navigation in addition as ever-changing settings. This includes changes to shutter speed and aperture; notably absent may be a thumb dial for doing this stuff. The dial moves too freely with no real stops, too, thus it's pretty simple to blow past no matter it's you are attempting to line.

The directional pad additionally sets focus sort, exposure compensation, ISO, and therefore the self-timer. The Func/Set button at the middle of the dial selects choices and brings up shooting-mode-specific settings. A separate Menu button below the dial brings up the remainder of the camera choices. It's joined by a show button.

The show button is what is accustomed go and forth from the two.7-inch rotating LCD to the little and somewhat dim electronic view finder (EVF) for framing shots. that may be fine if you did not have to cycle through totally different show settings to modify from one to the other: low-info LCD, elaborate LCD, low-info EVF, elaborate EVF. what is worse is that there area unit some modes that use the show button to access secondary functions, thus if you are in one amongst those and wish to modify from the LCD or EVF, you've got to depart the shooting mode you are in 1st. Or, you'll be able to flip the LCD, that mechanically activates the LCD if you are victimisation the EVF. Similarly, flipping the LCD to face into its cavity activates the EVF. It's ultimately a really frustrating style selection associated Canon ought to have used an LCD/EVF button placed next to the EVF like each alternative manufacturer. There area unit buttons on either aspect of the EVF, though. On the left may be a programmable road button, and on the correct may be a one-press record button for capturing movies. If you would like extra motion-picture show shooting choices, though, you'll be able to choose a full motion-picture show mode on the shooting mode dial.

In the end, the controls area unit fairly simple to use, however undoubtedly take some observe if you are not at home with Canon's menus and controls. Even seasoned Canon users can need to look at the complete manual, though, enclosed on the computer code disc bundled with the camera.

If you are looking for AA-size batteries for power, you'll need to seem elsewhere; the SX40 uses an oversized Li particle reversible pack that is rated for up to four hundred shots, that was secured in my testing. The battery is found in a very compartment within the base of the grip, that is wherever you will additionally realize the memory card slot. The compartment cowl does not lock--an odd omission for a high-end camera. Out of the box you'll assume Canon born the recent shoe from previous versions, too, however it's there on top; it's simply lined up. (There's additionally a lift-up flash activated by a button on the left aspect on high.) For connecting to displays and computers there area unit Mini-HDMI and Mini-USB/AV ports beneath a door on the correct aspect.

Conclusion
The Canon PowerShot SX40 HS does not provide all the bells and whistles of competitory life-size megazooms and its shooting performance lags behind them, too. However, it's many positives together with a number of the simplest JPEG exposure quality you will find during this category in addition as an awfully long lens. If those things matter most to you, the SX40 HS is that the thanks to go.