Canon PowerShot SX40 HS Black Digital Camera

Only for some wildlife photography, the long focus lens ideal for many situations where time is inadequate for using sophisticated component systems. The rotating viewing screen is useful for facing away from subjects to avoid scaring them. Zoom mechanism is a bit coarse and noisy, doesn't sound good to my engineer's ears.

Easy to use , similar menus to my Powershot s95.
Put it in programme mode and leave the camera to make the decisions picks appropriate shutter/ISO etc to maximise lighting zoom in use, so far it has been spot on. If need be you can quickly up the ISO change shutter speed etc.
Seeing subjects zoom in is great fun and for wildlife allows you to take pictures without getting to close.
THe i.contrast and trimming facility are very useful.
There can be a bit of snobbery surrounding super zooms but this is a great camera that ticks all my boxes. In one package you can go from wide angle landscapes to extreme telephoto without the need for a bag full of lenses.
I can fully recommend this camera.

This is not a technical review, but just my experience of the camera. I'm an avid wildlife observer and always carry a camera when walking the dogs.

I have difficulty in holding a camera still, so image stabilisation and a viewfinder are very important to me.

I only ever use telephoto and macro features, and usually shoot in 'P' mode. I'm not at all interested in wide angle nor portrait photography nor full manual mode, and only use the LCD screen for menu setup (and the occasional viewing of an existing image), so can't comment on those features, other than that the LCD display is very sharp and clear, with good visibility from side angles.

The camera has a solid feel and sits nicely in my hands.

Some of the features that I've found of benefit are:

1. The LCD screen is protected when closed. As I use the viewfinder to focus
I seldom have the screen open, so it is usually fully protected.

2. You can start taking HD video when in non-Movie mode by pressing the
dedicated red button next to the view finder.

The actual Movie mode allows you to record in HD or slow motion at 120
or 240 frames per second. Again recording is started by pressing the red
button.

By having set up the Movie mode for slow motion, I can quickly choose to
shoot in HD or slow motion by either just pressing the red button (for HD)
or changing the mode from 'P' to 'Movie', before pressing the red button
(for slow motion).

3. Setting the 'AF-Point Zoom' feature on causes the small area that you are
focusing on to be enlarged in the viewfinder, making it easier to confirm that you have focused correctly. If the auto-focus fails to lock on, then this enlarged area will be blank.

4. The continuous shooting option of 2.4 frames per second is more than adequate for my needs and took some good shots of a deer in flight.

5. At high zoom, it is easy to lose sight of the subject, and can be very
difficult to re-find it. However, the SX40 has a dedicated button that will
zoom out and remain zoomed out for as long as the button is held down.
As soon as the button is released, the zoom will return to its previous
setting. This allows you to quickly re-aim the camera correctly. This is
termed 'Zoom Framing Assist' in the manual.

6. You can create a copy of an existing image at a lower resolution for using as an email attachment etc.

Compared to my Panasonic FZ45, I find the image quality of the SX40 to be superior and the auto-focus seems to work better and faster at longer focal lengths.

I also find the image stabilisation of the SX40 to be better. Although I haven't used an external flash with the camera, it is comforting to have the flash shoe in case I want to.

The video recording works excellently in daylight and I was even able to take a HD video indoors at night with only a single house light on. The result was a bit dark, but clear.

My main complaint is with the manual. To start with it is a soft copy in PDF format. With a camera of this price I don't think it is asking too much to have a printed copy. I get the feeling that each section was written by different people, then just gathered together. The index is abysmal.

My other issue is having to purchase a filter adapter ring in order to attach a UV filter. This is just an expensive piece of plastic that could easily have been incorporated with the camera. They could then have supplied a 67mm lens cap rather than me having to also purchase one of those.

Despite these two issues, I would highly recommend this camera for its ease of use, image quality and stabilisation.