Canon Powershot SD400 5MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom
by Canon
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Our Price: $599.95 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $45.00 (click here) Category: Digital Camera See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon Powershot SD400 5MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom
Customer Review: Stop splitting hairs...this is a great camera
Summary: 5 Stars
I just got this camera and started learning the options, different shooting modes, etc... and I am not disappointed in any aspect of it. Most people who have problems with image quality or blurriness either have shaky hands or are trying to take a picture in such dim light that a darker, noisy photo is to be expected.
This is a compact camera that costs a lot because of its size and amount of options for a camera that small. It is not going to win you any photo awards, but as an amateur photographer or just snapping pictures for fun, it's perfect for your needs.
The movie mode, as well, in 30 or 15 fps (you have the option to choose), is just as high quality as any other camera on the market.
Pros:
- Image quality is fantastic so far, inside and outside.
- Movie mode is very easy to use and playback/upload to computer
- Blazing fast start-up speed
- Small, attractive design
- Canon is a reputable brand
- LCD screen size/viewfinder. People, you're holding this thing one to two feet from your face, you don't need a 2.5" LCD screen that eats up batteries and pushes out a viewfinder. This camera has a 2" screen WITH a viewfinder, which is great for me. It saves batteries, gives you the option to use a viewfinder if you're in extreme sunlight or something malfunctions with the LCD while you're on vacation and can't bring it in for repairs
Cons:
- I honestly cannot think of any cons that a typical consumer would find with this camera. The image quality is great (I was this close to getting a Sony T-1 but read reviews about how the image quality was very, very poor, which steered me away from that brand, as well as the insane cost of the Sony memory sticks).
- There are some negative reviews about error messages and LCD screen malfunctions with the camera, which I paid close attention to before making my decision. Ultimately, I decided to get my camera at Best Buy and got a warranty for 4 years. This way I'm covered, and I can go into the actual store and talk to someone in person. It's much more relaxing and I suggest that course for any camera that is purchased.
Overall, this camera is so well-worth the money for yourself or as a gift. [...] If you are interested in seeing sample images from a real person who has basically no professional photography experience whatsoever. I'll show you how well this camera takes photos.
Customer Review: SD400 only improves the Elph series
Summary: 5 Stars
Whenever a new version of a favorite product is released, I always worry that it won't be as good as the last, that I'll be disappointed in some way. The SD400 is the third Canon ELPH I've owned, and it does not disappoint.
As a long time user, I was extremely pleased that not only did the SD400 improve upon my last Canon (S400), it also didn't change or remove any of the functionality that I had grown accustomed to using.
Plenty of reviews here praise this camera in general terms, so I will instead compare major changes compared with the Canon S400/410. Some are subtle, others more obvious.
* Smaller and lighter than the S400
* A larger LCD than the S400.
* USB 2.0 (notably faster) instead of the USB 1.1 in the S400.
* 5MP instead of 4MP.
* Digic2 instead of Digic (only the SD cameras and SLRs have it at this time).
* Shoots video at double the resolution (640x480) steadily until memory card is full.
* The default version of ZoomBrowser software (5.x) is much improved from the older versions -- faster and smoother to use, with better features to control the camera. The new version can be downloaded for older cameras.
* Same metal casing, but a small plastic hinge flap covers the output ports now, instead of a rubber one.
* Uses SD memory cards instead of CF1. These can be notably faster than CF1.
* The physical controls are slightly more closely packed together, but I had no trouble with pressing the wrong ones by accident or anything like that. If anything, the small controls are better organized than previously. I always used to rotate the S400's dial into the wrong mode, which has not been a problem with the new layout which uses a slider switch and software menus.
* Far more shooting modes (such as portrait, pets&children, night snapshot, etc), and better control over focus method, flash metering, exposure metering, etc. It's not a manual SLR, but it gets as close as pocket digital camera can.
* Much faster feeling. Shooting a photo and having it stored to my "ultra" (high speed) SD memory card seems to take less than half the time it used to with the S400.
Highly recommended, no complaints at all.
Customer Review: More than I expected
Summary: 5 Stars
This camera is AWESOME!
1) Besides of being a good looking camera is really small and light, and most important, Canon makes no sacrifices in performance to achieve this. The zoom is very good. The resolution of the pictures is great.
2) The pictures it takes at night impressed me, it's awesome the quality of the pictures in places that are poorly illuminated.
3) The most outstanding feature is the MY COLORS MODE (the best are Color Accent and Color Swap), no other camera has something like this. Playing with colors is really fun and you can put your creativity to work. And you do it all from your camera, before taking the picture, not AFTER and having to use special software.
4) It also lets you set the begging and the end of a video (cutting it) and watch the videos in slow motion.
5) The software is useful and easy to use and install.
There's ONLY ONE THING I DIDN'T LIKE, it doesn't come with a carrying case. So I bought the Canon PSC-90 Deluxe Leather Case, which works great and it looks cool.
Also it comes with a really small memory card (like every camera in the market) you will always need to buy a bigger one. I bought the Sandisk SDSDH-1024-901 1 GB Ultra II.
You probably think that 1 GB is too much and maybe it is. But the size of a 2-minutes-video in the highest quality is about 190 Megabytes!
*This camera has the same features of the SD450, the only difference is that the SD450 has a 2.5 inch LCD screen (instead of 2.0), but it usually cost between $70-$100 more and the controls in the back are smaller; so is not really worth it.
* Is very similar to the SD500, the main difference is that the SD500 has 7 Megapixels. But it is bigger and more expensive. And more Megapixels don't always mean its better. I mean with my SD400 pictures can be of 2.5 Megabytes (that's a lot), so you won't always take all your pictures at the full resolution and full size.
* I really thought about getting a Panasonic Lumix, mainly because of the Optical Image Stabilization, but I haven't had troubles of blurry pictures with my Canon and the MY COLORS MODE is a better feature.
Customer Review: Great package for the price!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'll admit it. I'm a sucker for small brushed aluminum-look consumer electronics. I found this camera at a major retail chain. For $350, plus I got a $40 gift card to use. Such a deal. I replaced an old Olympus Stylus, which will not be missed!
Now, on to the camera. Out of the box, the SD400 impresses right off the bat. Sleek case, cool metal finish. I keep my camera in a microfiber bag inside it's case, so I haven't had any scratches like I've read in other reviews. This thing isn't a tennis shoe, so I wouldn't treat it like one.
I found the documentation and the quick start guide to be more than adequate. After installing the supplied software, I was ready to go. I am impressed with the quick startup of this unit. It fires up and is ready to go, right away. Just the thing for capturing spur of the moment shots.
Like a lot of guys, I like to play first, and read later. The instructions, that is, so I was off and running. The menus were pretty easy to figure out. I was able to adjust resolution, adjust flash settings and choose my photo mode within about 2 minutes of starting. Not bad.
The supplied SD card is only 16MB which is inadequate if you're going to take high resolution shots, but fine if you're going for low-res quick shots suitable for email. Quality is great even at low levels of resolution.
Details are great at medium to high resolution, so much so that you might reduce it after seeing a couple shots of yourself. No one needs to see that much of me! I chose the SD series because of the SD card, that also works with my new Panasonic DLP.
Battery life is outstanding, even with extensive use of the flash and LCD display. I'm sure I could extend it further by turning off the LCD, but the viewfinder tends to crop the field of view a bit.
All in all, I'd strongly recommend the Canon SD400. It's all the camera you'll ever need.
Customer Review: Beautiful Pictures and clarity
Summary: 5 Stars
My father owns the Fujifilm Finepix E510 5MP Digital Camera with 3.2x Optical Zoom and I bought the SD400.
I found the canon to take clearer and more detailed pics. The clarity even when changed to a jpg on my computer was outstanding.
I was trying to take pics of my new puppy with the fuji, the dog didn't sit still and the pics came out blurry 8 out of 10 times. Even with the little running guy as the shutter speed setting. The canon did just the opposite with about 2 out of 10 moving pics coming out blurry with the automatic speed (camera decides). If you dont believe me, test it out in the store, that was the first thing i did, was take pics of ppl walking, and my rotating hand about a foot away.
The camera is small and dainty, but for $350, you should handle it with care anyway. I fear for the lcd because of most reviews. Thats why i bought mine at costco, cause they take back year old meat!!!
The fuji went thru costco kirkland batteries after 20 pics. I counted them. The camera wouldn't even start on Dollar store batteries. I dont know about duracell's, its not my camera. So far the canon has taken more than 20 and its not dead yet.
The menu's were easy to use, the sub menus required a bit of explanation and reading. As a tech geek, the more the better though, just goes to show what it can do.
The software was easy to use and again, had a lot of bells and whistles to edit your pics. It even came with an instruction manual to really do some damage if you prefer. But for super tech novice, you did not need the book.
I recommend this camera as a novice photgrapher, but i think with this baby, ill be taking a lot more pics. If i have any probs, I'll update this one.