Pros: Value, manual control, construction quality, panorama mode and software, image quality
Cons: slight delay in shutter, movie-mode limited to 10 seconds, sometimes frustrating focus
The Bottom Line: If you're looking for style, I would go for Nikon Coolpix 2500. But if you want more manual control, slightly better image quality, A40 is the only game in town.
incyphe's Full Review: Pentax Optio A40 Digital Camera
Canon A40 is an improvement upon its critically acclaimed predecessor A20, which is essentially identical to this new model except that it lacked microphone, had limited ISO ratings and retailed for $200 more. So when you buy A40, you're buying a camera with pedigree.
Pros:
1. Value: At $260 street, this camera is a tremendous bargain. There are cheaper 2.0 mega pixel cameras out there, but remember that not all 2.0 mega pixels are actually backed by 2.0 million CCDs. Some are 1.3 million CDs interpolated to 2.0 mega pixels. Remember, it's number of CCDs that matters, not the actual pixels.
2. Manual Control: A40 supports wide range of ISO settings from 50 - 400. This is especially useful for people who want extra control for indoor shots or night shots where the lighting condition is less than optimal. In addition, A40 also gives you control over aperture settings.
3. Image Quality: A40 image quality is absolutely superb. At its maximum resolution of 1600x1200, the image can still be quite sharp. Of course, it takes a tripod and ISO setting of 50 to take sharpest possible image, but it is possible. Just see for your self here.
4. Software: I was most pleasantly surprised by the great panorama mode that A40 sports. It has a great panorama mode that makes taking panoramic picture a snap. In addition, it comes with a superb, yet easy to use image stitching program that does all the joining for you. The software itself is brilliant; you will see no seems, and for those do-it-yourselfers, it also allows good degree of manual control over how the images are stitched.
5. Construction: Although this camera is bit on a heavy side, it is made of high quality plastic that will take considerable amount of abuse. Because of its heft, it actually feels very secure, and it's battery hump allows you to grip it very comfortably.
Cons:
1. Shutter Delays: Although A40's shutter delay is problem that many digital cameras suffer, it is nevertheless an annoyance for those you are used to traditional film-based cameras. Because of the minute delay after you press button, sometimes you can miss fast moving shots. But A40 does offer rapid-fire mode in the situation where you have enough time to prepare to capture fast moving objects.
2. Focus: A40 does not have full manual focus mode. But it does allow you to have some control over what you can focus by employing series of small boxes that float on the LCD screen. But the result is inconsistent, and you can never get it to focus exactly the way you want it. This becomes especially apparent when you're taking close-up shots.
3. Movie-mode limitation: Regardless of how big your Compact Flash card is (mine is 128MB), you cannot capture movie for longer than 10 seconds, because the buffer is not big enough. The 320x240 max resolution is low, so no one serious about capturing movie should rely on this feature anyway.
3x optical, 6x digital zoom, 2.5" LCD, triple anti shake, face recognition, digital zoom enhancement, 21MB internal plus SD/SDHC slot, MPEG4 movie mod...More at eCOST.com
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