Finally a high-quality camera you can take anywhere! The Canon S40 is amazingly small for all the features crammed into it. This is not a toy. It's a computer sized down to true pocket size.

The multitude of features will not overwhelm you, unless you go looking for them. You can use this camera as a simple point-and-shoot, and it will deliver. You only have to get used to first pushing the shutter button half-way down and pausing there for a second to give the camera time to adjust the exposure and focusing. Then push it all the way down to actually take the photo.

People in the market for a digital camera often ask if it is really worth paying the extra money for the Canon S40, when the Canon S30 offers all the same features except for a maximum resolution of 3 megapixels as compared to the S40's 4 megapixels. Is the additional one megapixel worth the extra money?

First, as a point of reference, let me say that 2 megapixels is generally a sufficient resolution for regular 4 x 6 inch prints (10 cm x 15 cm). In fact, I have even printed amazing 8 x 10 inch prints (20 x 30 cm) from 2 megapixel images. On glossy photo paper, these prints look almost indistinguishable from film prints.

So, if you will never print images larger than a letter-sized page, maybe you really don't need more than 2 or 3 megapixels. True. But, keep in mind that you may often want to crop the photo and enlarge just a small detail of it. You might want to zoom into a face in the crowd, or enlarge a small hummingbird you noticed sitting on the branch of a tree. In case of any enlargments like this, the more resolution you have, the better. If you digitally enlarge the image to double it's size, suddenly your resolution is only a quarter of what it used to be. A 3 megapixel camera is now only a 0.75 megapixel camera! A 4 megapixel camera will at least give you 1 megapixel when the image is doubled in size.

The optical zoom of both Canon S30 and S40 is 3x, which is pretty standard for digital cameras, but is woefully inadequate when you want to get closer to some distant object.

Using the digital zoom on the camera will immediately lower the resolution of the image. This is the same as enlarging the image later on in the computer, except that, in the computer, you usually have more precise control and better feedback regarding how much resolution will be lost when zooming in and cropping the image. So, I prefer to disable the digital zoom on the camera, and do all my enlargements and cropping later, on my PC.

So, I would definitely recommend the S40 over the S30. Paying a little extra now is less expensive than upgrading to a higher resolution camera later, after first investing the money in the S30.

Both cameras are a marvel of miniaturization. They offer a full set of manual controls for everything (focus, exposure, aperture), but they also offer several pre-programmed modes (for shooting landscapes, portraits, dynamic fast-action scenes, special effects - such as sepia, and more).

The manual is well written, with numerous cross-references. If you plan to use the full power this camera offers, it really pays to read the manual. But, at the same time, the camera is simple enough to use without reading anything. Simply set in the AUTO mode and click away!

I have heard many people complain about other digital cameras that the power on/off button is too close and too similar to the shutter button. The Canon S30/S40 does not have this problem. You turn the camera on by simply opening the lens cover (sliding it to the side).

If you wish to just view photos already taken, you don't need to open the lens. Instead, simply slide a slider-switch on the back of the camera briefly to the right, and the camera will come alive to show you the latest photo taken. You can then browse through all the other photos using a 4-way SET switch. Simply push that switch to the left to go back or to the right to go forward in your browsing.

In the viewing mode, you can also put the camera into the slide-show option, which will display each image for a specified number of seconds and then automatically advance to the next image. You can connect the camera directly to a TV (with an included cable), and watch the slide-show on TV, so all your friends can see your masterpieces!

If you accidentally leave the camera turned on for too long, with no activity on the camera, it will automatically turn itself off after a few minutes, to save batteries.

The LCD screen is small, but large enough to get a good feel for what you are shooting. It would be nice if the LCD screen were movable, so you could hold the camera either above your head (when you are trying to shoot in a crowd) or from hip level (to be less conspicuous). If you want that moveable LCD screen, you will need to buy a slightly more expensive camera, the Canon G2 (which is also slightly bulkier).

The Canon S40/S30 is truly a pocket camera. It fits easily into a shirt pocket, but I find it handier to carry it in my pants pocket, or even better: in the outer, velcro-ed pocket on my hiking shorts.

This camera simply has too many features to name them all here. It is a veritable tiny little computer, with more features than you will ever use. But, let me just name a few.

1. You can record 15 or 30 seconds of video in live action, recorded in the MPEG format, complete with sound, so you can email someone a short video.

2. You can print directly from the camera to a Canon photo printer. Personally, I don't think I will ever use this feature. Partly because my printer is an Epson (without the direct connect feature). But, more importantly, I find that I usually want to enhance all the photos I take by applying at least two adjustments:
a) The "Curves" adjustment in Photoshop, or the "Levels".
b) The "Unsharp" filter, to sharpen the image.
So, I prefer to download all the images to my PC, apply the adjustments, and then print from my PC.

You can read more about how I enhance my photos in a separate article I wrote for Epinions. You can find it by searching all my epinions, or by searching the epinions web site, looking for the keywords "Digital Photography" in the "Software" category, and then look for reviews of the "Top 5 software programs".

3. You can set up the Canon S40 to play back a slide show of all your photos.

4. You can view the images either on your TV or on your PC. Two separate cables are included for these options. You can display the photos on both American/Japanese NTSC televisions as well as on European/Australian/African PAL TVs.

5. You can customize numerous features of your Canon S40/S30. You can select from a variety of sounds that will play when you press the shutter button (or you can make the camera completely silent). You can select from several start-up images, and even import one of your own photos to be used as the image that always shows up when you first turn the camera on.

6. There are two self-timer modes, to take a photo after either 2 seconds or 10 seconds.

7. You can select between 4 different resolutions:
L (large) = 4 Megapixels (2272 x 1704) - actually 3.78 MP.
M1 (medium 1) = 2 Megapixels (1600 x 1200)
M2 (medium 2) = 0.8 Megapixels (1024 x 768)
S (small) = 0.3 Megapixels (640 x 480) - VGA resolution.

8. You can select between 3 levels of compression, or use no compression at all:
a) RAW format - no compression (largest images).
b) JPEG format - Superfine compression (larger images).
c) JPEG format - Fine compression (medium-sized images).
d) JPEG compression - Normal compression (smallest images).

The higher compression you use, the more space you will have available to save more photos on the same memory card. But, also the quality of the image will be somewhat lower.

For all practical purposes, I found that the medium compression (the fine JPG compression) is perfect for most photos. It makes the image smaller than in the Superfine mode, but there is no perceptible loss of quality.

Also, like I said earlier, I find the 2 megapixel resolution to be perfectly adequate for most photos, especially closeups, if you are sure you will not need to zoom in, crop, or enlarge the photo beyond an 8 x 10 inches print.

But, I always select the higher, 4 megapixel setting for photos with lots of detail, distant objects, or anything I might want to later significantly crop or enlarge.

The enclosed software, called "Zoom Browser" is rather confusing. It sets up some sort of special, proprietary, compressed folders, separate from any other graphics folders you may already have on your computer, and not accessible directly through Windows Explorer. If you want to have direct access to any photos in your existing graphics folders, you need to first import all your existing photos into Zoom-Browser's own folders. It is a complicated and cumbersome process.

Photos from your camera will go directly into Zoom-Browser's folders, but they will not be directly accessible to other photo-editing software.

Zoom-Browser might be of some help to someone who doesn't know how to find files and folders on a computer (by using "Windows Explorer" or "My Computer"), but I find it an un-necessary complication for anyone comfortable with Windows Explorer. I prefer to avoid this additional complication of the Zoom-Browser by downloading all the photos directly into my already established folders, directly on my hard drive.

The camera gives all photos numerical names, such as: 100_0001_IMG.JPG
100_0002_IMG.JPG
100_0003_IMG.JPG, ... etc.
I find that it is best to immediately rename all the photos and give them some more descriptive names.

You can re-name each image individually, once you know what it is, perhaps by viewing a preview thumbnail image, and then name it something like: "Bob running", "Jane laughing", "Kate making faces", ... etc.

If you have a large number of images, all having something in common, such as all from the same trip, or all from the same wedding, or the same office party, then you can use the wizard that automatically starts when you connect the camera to the USB port on your PC, to rename all the photos at once. The wizard will ask you what you want to use a name. Use something short, since the wizard will then add sequential numbers to it.

For example, I took some 300 photos at a friend's wedding. When I imported these photos, I chose to name them all "Wed". The computer added a 3-digit number. So, the photos were all named sequentially: Wed001, Wed002, Wed003, etc.

If these had been your photos from Hawaii, you could name them Hawaii, and the resulting photos would be called: Hawaii001, Hawaii002, Hawaii003, etc.

How can you take 300 photos? By buying at least one additional Flash Card. The camera comes with a 16 MB FC card, which is enough for some 20 or 30 or 40 photos, depending on the resolution and compression chosen.

I purchased a 256 MB flash card, which cost me about $97 (US currency). This is about 38 cents per megabyte. And this is re-usable memory. Every so often , I download all the images to my computer, and then erase them all from the flash card, so I can start afresh.

The camera constantly recalculates the remaining free space, and it tells you how many more photos you can shoot at the chosen resolution. It displays this number in the lower right-hand corner of the LCD screen. For example, with my 256 KB CF card, which is currently empty, the camera tells me that, using the selected medium JPG compression, I can take the following number of photos, depending on the resolution:

L. At 4 MP per image, I can shoot 221 photos.
M1. At 2 MP per image, I can shoot 439 photos.
M2. At 0.8 MP per image, I can shoot 761 photos.
S. At 0.3 MP per image, I can shoot 1560 photos.

These numbers will constantly be recalculated as I save images at varying resolutions and varying degrees of compression.

By the way, I did some research into Compact Flash cards and found that they are not all the same. Some of them are faster than others in saving the images. The slower the card, the longer you might have to wait between shots. Also, some cards are more expensive than others. I found that SanDisk, one of the pioneers of CF cards, does not make the fastest cards. In fact, SanDisk cards appear to be some of the slowest cards.

The card I chose, since it offers one of the fastest speeds for the least amount of money was: the "Transcend" brand. It took some searching on the internet to find it. If you are interested, search for a "256 MB Transcend CF card".

In case you wonder, the Canon S40 is fully compatible with the IBM Microdrive, which comes in two capacities, one of about 340 MB, and the other with a full 1 GB (yes, that's 1000 MB), the highest available capacity in a CF card format.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 599
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Flexible Enough for Enthusiasts