canon powershot SD400 camera review

Announced in February 2005, the SD400 (which goes by the names of Digital IXUS 50 in Europe and IXY DIGITAL 55 in Japan) is the latest in a long line of ultra-compact 'ELPH' or 'IXUS' cameras stretching back to early 2000 (and a lot farther back than that in the film camera world). Like the SD300 before it, the SD400 incorporates two UA (Ultra-high Refractive Index Glass Molded (GMo) Aspherical lens) elements which has allowed Canon to produced its smallest cameras yet to feature a 3x zoom. It may be smaller than a credit card, but Canon has still managed to cram a fairly comprehensive range of features into the SD400;

• 5.0 megapixel CCD


• 2.0-inch color TFT monitor


• 35-105mm (equiv.) F2.8 - 4.9, 3x optical zoom


• 640 x 480 movies at 30fps


• Print/Share button


• Fast Frame Rate movies (320x240 pixels @ 60fps)


• 'My Colors' feature


• Six special scene modes


• Custom white balance


• Spot, center-weighted and evaluative metering


• DIGIC II processor & iSAPS


• 9-point AiAF

The PowerShot SD400 has an average bundle. Inside the box, you'll find:

• The 5.0 effective Megapixel Canon PowerShot SD400 Digital ELPH camera


• 16MB Secure Digital card


• NB-4L lithium-ion battery


• Battery charger


• Wrist strap


• USB cable


• A/V cable


• CD-ROM featuring Canon Digital Camera Solutions, ArcSoft PhotoStudio, and drivers


• 193 page camera manual + software manual (both printed)

Canon includes a 16MB Secure Digital (SD) memory card with the SD400, which holds a grand total of five photos at the highest quality setting. That means that you'll want a larger card right away, and I recommend a 256MB card as a good starter size. The camera can use either SD or MMC (MultiMedia) cards, though only the former is recommended. The SD400 takes advantage of high speed SD cards and one is required for the unlimited burst mode or for the highest movie quality. Look for a card rated at 60X or higher quality canon nb-4l battery for best results.

The SD400 uses the same battery as the SD200 and SD300 (but NOT the SD500). That's the NB-4L battery which packs just 2.8 Wh of energy. That translates to just 150 shots per charge using the CIPA standard -- which is below average. The SD300 can take 140 shots per charge using the same battery, while the SD500 takes 160. Some non-Canon cameras do a lot better in this area. The Casio EX-Z57 takes a whopping 400 shots per charge, the Nikon Coolpix 5900 can take 270, and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T33 can fire off 180.

My usual complaints about proprietary batteries like the one used by the SD400 apply here. They're expensive, and you can't put in a set of alkalines to get you through the rest of the day like you could with an AA-based camera. Then again, you'd be hard pressed to find an ultra-thin camera that uses AAs.

When it's time to recharge, just drop the nb-4l batteryinto the included charger. This is my favorite style of charger -- it plugs right into the wall (yes, I know some people don't like this). It takes about 95 minutes to fully charge the battery.

Overall I recommend the SD400, but if you can swing it, I'd buy the SD500 instead. While it's a bit bigger, it takes better pictures and has both a more powerful flash and a longer-lasting battery.

What I liked:

• Very good photo quality (though see issues below)


• Compact and very thin metal body


• Blazing performance


• First rate movie and continuous shooting modes


• Unique My Colors feature


• LCD visible in low light


• AF-assist lamp; good low light focusing


• USB 2.0 High Speed support


• Optional underwater case and external slave flash


• High quality canon nb-4l rechargeable battery

What I didn't care for:

• Images noisier/softer than I would've liked


• Redeye


• Some corner softness and purple fringing


• Cheap plastic door over memory card / battery compartment


• Battery life isn't great


• Can't swap memory cards while camera is on a tripod


• More manual controls would be nice


• Tiny memory card included

Some other ultra-thin cameras worth considering include the Canon PowerShot SD300 (4MP; missing the new features listed at the top of the review) and SD500, Casio Exilim EX-Z57,Fuji FinePix Z1, Nikon Coolpix 5900, Olympus C-630Z and Stylus Verve S,Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX7, Pentax Optio S5i, and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T7 and DSC-T33.

As always, I recommend a trip down to your local reseller to try out the PowerShot SD400 and its competitors before you buy!

Canon - Digital IXUS 60 guide

Features

The 3x optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 35 - 105mm in 35mm format. The lens has a maximum aperture of f2.8 (wide) and f4.9 (tele). For close up photography the camera has a macro mode that allows you to get in as close as 3cms. The camera also has a 4x digital zoom feature giving a combined zoom capacity of 12x. Using digital zoom will lead to a loss of picture quality.



Fewer and fewer ultra compact digital cameras have viewfinders these days. Canon have found room to include one on the IXUS 60. This is an optical viewfinder. In addition to the viewfinder there is a large 2.5" LCD screen. This is made up of around 173,000 pixels. You can adjust the brightness of the LCD screen to help make it easier to see in bright or lowlight conditions.



The Digital IXUS 60 sports a standard f/2.8-to-f/4.9, 3x zoom lens (35mm-to-105mm equivalent) and offers a basic feature set highlighted by a few notable capabilities. The 64mm LCD is accompanied by an optical viewfinder, a rare combination in ultracompacts. The viewfinder is tiny but welcome, especially when battery power runs low. The camera has a handful of scene presets, plus a VGA movie mode with a QVGA 60fps setting for watching slow-motion clips. Of course, Canon's innumerable image-adjustment parameters let you tinker with contrast, sharpness, saturation and skin tone, as well as red, green and blue levels.



The IXUS 60 lacks certain features, such as built-in memory, image stabilisation, manual exposure control and a live histogram. These would have been handy, but they're not critical, and their absence hardly hurts the camera's appeal.


The built in flash unit has a range of 3.5m. This falls to around 2m when the zoom lens is being used. The flash modes available are Auto, On and Off. You can also access red eye reduction, slow sync and flash exposure lock.

Canon's compact digital IXUS range has a reputation for stylishness allied to a host of included features that will appeal both to amateurs - who just want to point and shoot - and to those who would like to have more control over their photo preparation. It comes as little surprise, then, that Canon has now released two more models (this one and the IXUS 65) that continue in the same tradition.

Stylistically there's little to choose between the earlier IXUS 55 and the 60. Once again it comes in a sleek, all-silver casing, is about the size and shape of a cigarette packet and weighs a laughable 145g. The main change is the increase in the pixel rate, from 5.0-megapixels to 6.0MP, whilst retaining the 3x optical zoom lens (f/2.8 - f/4.9). The image processor remains the DIGIC II which enables fast, responsive camera performance, while iSAPS technology analyses each scene and optimises key camera settings, or so it's claimed.

In all the Canon IXUS 60 is a well made digital camera and take a great photo. It is certainly one of the best pocket sized cameras on the market. Images are sharp and colours are strong. The only real drawback I can come up with is I would like to have see a quicker shutter response.


Canon - Digital IXUS 60 battery code is : NB-4L.


The Canon NB-4L also can fits the following canon digital camera: Digital 50/40, DIGITAL IXUS 30, DIGITAL IXUS 40, DIGITAL IXUS 50, Digital IXUS 55, Digital IXUS 60, Digital IXUS 65, Digital IXUS i zoom, Digital IXUS WIRELESS, IXUS 55, IXUS 60, IXUS 65, IXUS I ZOOM, IXY Digital 40, IXY Digital 50, IXY Digital 55, IXY Digital 60, IXY Digital L3 Series, IXY DIGITAL WIRELESS, POWERSHOT SD200, POWERSHOT SD30, POWERSHOT SD300, POWERSHOT SD400, PowerShot SD430 WIRELESS, POWERSHOT SD450, PowerShot SD600, PowerShot SD630.

Its info: Li-ion, 3.7V , 730mAh.

I find some cheap Canon NB-4L battery replacement in internet, Canon NB-4L in US, Canon NB-4L in UK and Canon NB-4L online shop, plus these shop are selling canon nb-4l replacement, if you want to buy original canon nb-4l ,please go to http://www.canon.com : Canon's official web.

All notes are from: http://batteryknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/07/canon-digital-ixus-60-guide.html