First Impression Of Ixus 40

Location : London, England.

One of the things I hated about my stolen Sony DSC-P8 digital camera was the fact that shots taken at night always appeared too dark. It wasn't a camera setting problem. That is why if you have checked out my online photo album before, you would notice that most of the photographs taken are in the daytime. It was such a prevalent shortcoming that I had to consciously try and avoid taking night shots. Well, I haven't noticed this sort of problem with my new camera so far. In fact, this post is my own personal review about my new camera, the Canon Digital Ixus 40 or Powershot SD300. I don't want to list technical specifications and all that jazz because there are enough websites out there that do that. But here are some of the things I like and dislike about the Ixus 40, so far :-

Likes :-

1. Still shots can be taken continuously as long as you hold the shutter button down. This is good for action shots like sports or fast moving creatures like children. =)

2. Customisable video frame rates. Frame rates can be adjusted based on the activity you are shooting for the purpose of saving space on your memory card. Available frames-per-second(fps) ranges are...
15fps - resolutions (160X120)good for emails, (320X240) and (640X480).
30fps - resolutions (320X240) and (640X480)
60fps - resolutions (320X240)good for surfing videos
On the camera, the video clip can be played in slow motion or viewed frame by frame. Video clips can also be recorded in sepia or black & white modes.

3. Clear indicator of remaining number of still shots/video minutes available in the memory card. Instead of a graphical representation in the Sony I had, like a memory card capacity icon as it is being drained, the Ixus 40 provides numerical data.

Dislikes :-

1. No constant battery power indicator. The only battery indicator appears when it is RUNNING OUT which in my case means only 2 or 3 minutes of battery power remaining. That means I should have a spare battery pack or ensure a full charge before I go out. In this aspect, the Sony was better because it indicates remaining battery power by the minutes.

2. No aperture control. The manual settings only allow you to mess with white balance and exposure. But it shouldn't matter because it is only a pocket camera.

Well, that's all for the moment. As I increasingly use it, I'm sure there will be more likes and dislikes but these are the firsts I've concluded after browsing through the camera using common sense. It's hard to explore the full functions of the camera because I can only read the manual through my computer screen since I don't understand French(read my last post).

Posted by Ripcord at June 8, 2005 01:38 AM