Canon PowerShot SD40 (olive gray)

Manufacturer: Canon USA Part number: 1274B001

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Bottom Line:: Its small size makes it an attractive pocket camera, but its speed and image quality issues are too great to ignore.

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CNET editors' review

Canon PowerShot SD40 (olive gray)

price range: $506.00

Its small size makes it an attractive pocket camera, but its speed and image quality issues are too great to ignore.

The good: Small and stylish; comes with dock and remote.

The bad: Terrible image noise; remote control is almost superfluous.

The bottom line: Its small size makes it an attractive pocket camera, but its speed and image quality issues are too great to ignore.

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Change isn't always big. New versions of products aren't always massive, sweeping upgrades to their predecessors. A system pack, a bug fix, or a single handy new feature might be all a product gets. It might not be revolutionary, but at least it's an improvement.

That's the case with the Canon PowerShot SD40. Canon took its supersmall PowerShot SD30, dropped in a 7-megapixel sensor and new image processor, threw in a few handy accessories, and called it a day.

The camera is small and stylish, using the same body as its predecessor, the SD30. Its candy bar-size form is all metal and comes in a variety of oddly named colors, such as Olive Grey and Precious Rose. At less than an inch thick and weighing only 4.3 ounces, the SD40 fits easily into almost any pocket.

Alas, small size means small features in the SD40's case. The viewfinderless camera has only a 1.8-inch LCD, and it uses a relatively narrow angle of view for the 38mm-to-90mm-equivalent lens, the same as the SD30. Beyond the higher resolution, the SD40's most notable improvement over the SD30 is its new Digic III image processor. Canon claims the Digic III processor increases image quality, performance, and battery life, but we didn't notice any significant improvement over the SD30. If anything, performance was a bit sluggish, though that might be simply because of the camera's higher resolution. The SD40's sensor can also bump up its sensitivity to ISO 1,600, a fair improvement over the SD30's ISO 400 ceiling. Finally, the camera features SDHD support, allowing the use of 4GB and larger SD memory cards.

Though it doesn't have many new features, the SD40 includes some extra accessories the SD30 lacked. The camera now comes with a small cradle to rest it on while charging, plus an infrared remote control. The cradle's a nice home for the camera, but the remote has more limited uses than we typically see; it works on the camera only while it's on the cradle and only for reviewing, uploading, or printing images. The remote can't be used for shooting.

We recorded some lackluster performance in the tiny shooter. After taking 1.3 seconds to wake up, we could snap a shot once every 2.3 seconds. With the onboard flash enabled, that wait more than doubled to 5.2 seconds. Shutter speed was acceptable but not breathtaking; the shutter lagged 0.5 second in bright light and 1.4 seconds in dim light. Burst mode was very slow, sustaining only 1.2 frames per second.

Image noise is the SD40's biggest problem. Speckles and grain became visible at ISO 100 and rendered photos almost unusable at ISO 800 and above. The camera's sensor may be able to hit ISO 1,600, but at that setting, photos look like they're covered by a thin layer of sand. Colors were faithfully captured, though the automatic white balance tended to give indoor lighting a marked yellow pallor.

The Canon PowerShot SD40 proves that sometimes beauty is only skin-deep. Its small and stylish body is pleasing to look at, but its sluggish performance and heavy image noise make it a poor choice for a regular shooter. If you really want a small and stylish digital camera, you might want to check out Sony's Cyber Shot DSC-T10, or Casio's Exilim EX-Z850 instead. Both are slender, similarly priced cameras without the performance and image issues of the SD40.

Shooting speed
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Typical shot-to-shot time

Time to first shot

Shutter lag (typical)

Canon PowerShot SD40

2.3

1.3

0.5

Sony Cyber Shot DSC-T30

1.6

1.8

1.3

Note: In seconds

Typical continuous-shooting speed
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Sony Cyber Shot DSC-T30

1.4

Canon PowerShot SD40

1.2

Note: Frames per second

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Specifications

Manufacturer: Canon USA
Part number: 1274B001

General
Product Type Digital camera - Compact
Color Olive gray
Weight 3.7 oz
Width 3.8 in
Depth 0.9 in
Height 1.8 in
Main Features
Resolution 7.1 megapixels
Sensor resolution 7.1 megapixels
Optical Sensor Type CCD
Effective Sensor Resolution 7,100,000 pixels
Total Pixels 7,400,000 pixels
Optical Sensor Size 1/2.5 in
Light Sensitivity ISO 200, ISO 800, ISO auto, ISO 400, ISO 80, ISO 1600, ISO 100
Digital Zoom 4 x
Shooting Modes Frame movie mode
Shooting Programs Landscape, Aquarium, Foliage, Snow, Color accent, Beach, Portrait mode, Night snapshot, Kids & pets, Underwater, Color swap, Stitch assist, Indoor
Special effects Vivid Red, Vivid Blue, Vivid, Black & White, Vivid Green, Lighter Skin Tone, Sepia, Positive, Custom Effect, Neutral, Darker Skin Tone
Max Shutter Speed 1/1600 sec
Min Shutter Speed 15 sec
X-sync Speed 1/500 sec
Exposure Metering Spot AF area, Center-weighted, Evaluative, Spot
Exposure Modes Automatic, Program, Manual
Exposure Compensation ?2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
White Balance Custom, Automatic, Presets
White Balance Presets Tungsten light, Fluorescent, Cloudy, Daylight
Digital video format AVI
Still Image Format JPEG
Continuous Shooting Speed 1.6 frames per second
Remote control Remote control - Infrared
Color support Color
Remote Control Remote control - Infrared
TV Tuner None
Video Capture AVI - 320 x 240, AVI - 640 x 480, AVI - 160 x 120
Memory / Storage
Flash Memory 16 MB Flash
Floppy Drive None
Image Storage Normal JPEG 3072 x 2304 : 16 - With 16MB card, Super-fine JPEG 640 x 480 : 56 - With 16MB card, Normal JPEG 2592 x 1944 : 21 - With 16MB card, Fine JPEG 3072 x 1728 : 10 - With 16MB card, Fine JPEG 2048 x 1536 : 16 - With 16MB card, Normal JPEG 2048 x 1536 : 33 - With 16MB card, Fine JPEG 2592 x 1944 : 10 - With 16MB card, Fine JPEG 1600 x 1200 : 26 - With 16MB card, Super-fine JPEG 2592 x 1944 : 5 - With 16MB card, Normal JPEG 3072 x 1728 : 21 - With 16MB card, Fine JPEG 640 x 480 : 88 - With 16MB card, Super-fine JPEG 3072 x 2304 : 4 - With 16MB card, Fine JPEG 3072 x 2304 : 7 - With 16MB card, Normal JPEG 640 x 480 : 138 - With 16MB card, Super-fine JPEG 2048 x 1536 : 9 - With 16MB card, Super-fine JPEG 1600 x 1200 : 14 - With 16MB card, Normal JPEG 1600 x 1200 : 50 - With 16MB card, Super-fine JPEG 3072 x 1728 : 6 - With 16MB card
Flash memory 16 MB
Supported Flash Memory MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card
Lens System
Type Zoom lens - 6.3 mm - 14.9 mm - F/3.2-5.4
Focal Length 6.3 mm - 14.9 mm
Lens Construction 4 group(s) / 4 element(s)
Additional Features
Self Timer Yes
Self Timer Delay 10 sec, 2 sec
Additional Features USB 2.0 compatibility, Display brightness control, DPOF support, Face detection, Audio recording, Safety zoom, MOTION PRINT, PictBridge support, AE lock, RGB primary color filter, Digital noise reduction, Built-in speaker, AF lock, Direct print, Digital image rotation, Camera orientation detection, Auto power save, In-camera movie editing, Date/time stamp, Histogram display
Camera Flash
Effective Flash Range 1 ft - 6.6 ft
Type Built-in flash
Flash Modes Flash OFF mode, Fill-in mode, Slow synchro, Auto mode, Red-eye reduction
Red Eye Reduction Yes
Effective flash range 1 ft - 6.6 ft
Features AF illuminator
Viewfinder
Viewfinder Type None
Display
Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 1.8 in - Color
Mounting Built-in
Resolution 118,000 pixels
Digital Player (Recorder)
Type None

Microphone
Type Microphone - Built-in
Mode Mono
Connections
Connector Type 1 x Docking station, 1 x Composite video/audio output, 1 x USB
Expansion Slot(s) 1
Lens Systems
Auto Focus TTL contrast detection
Type Zoom lens
Focal length 6.3 mm - 14.9 mm
Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera 38 - 90 mm
Focus adjustment Automatic
Auto Focus Points (Zones) 9
Min Focus Range 11.8 in
Macro Focus Range 10-50cm
Lens Aperture F/3.2-5.4
Optical Zoom 2.4 x
Zoom Adjustment Motorized drive
Lens construction 4 : 4
Features Aspherical lens, Built-in lens shield
Miscellaneous
Cables Included USB cable, A/V cable
Included Accessories Docking station, Wrist strap
Min Operating Temperature 32 ?F
Max Operating Temperature 104 ?F
Power
Power Device Power adapter - External
System Requirements for PC Connection
Operating system MS Windows ME, MS Windows XP, MS Windows 2000 SP4 or later, Apple Mac OS X 10.2 - 10.4, MS Windows 98 SE
Peripherals USB port, SVGA monitor, CD-ROM drive
Battery
Supported Battery 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery - 760 mAh ( Included )
Software
Type Canon ZoomBrowser EX, Canon PhotoStitch, Drivers & Utilities, Canon ImageBrowser

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Canon PowerShot SD40 (olive gray)

Where to buy

CNET editors' review

Product brief

User reviews

Submit your review

Specifications

General

Main Features

Memory / Storage

Lens System

Additional Features

Camera Flash

Viewfinder

Display

Digital Player (Recorder)

Microphone

Connections

Lens Systems

Miscellaneous

Power

System Requirements for PC Connection

Battery

Software

Accessories

Manufacturer info

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