Most helpful client reviews
174 of 180 persons found the following review helpful.
Remarkable little camera!
By “Gimpy” Peach Johnson
My last digital camera was a 3.1 MP Kodak EasyShare DX6340 — a nice little point and shoot in it is day, but that was seven years ago! Though it still works like a champ, I decisive it was time to upgrade to something a little more compact that likewise offered better picture quality *and* HD video. I expended over a month buying goods around, looking at Canon, Panasonic, and Sony models, and toyed with the idea of sacrificing little size (and HD video) to go with the new Canon G11. Finally, I settled on the new SD940 IS as a reasonable compromise amidst size, features, and picture quality. I’m very happy I purchased this thing — so far it has actually impressed me!
This thing is TINY — it’s when it comes to the same size and weight as my old Motorola RAZR cell phone (when folded closed). Still, it feels rather solid. Despite the compact size, it delivers amazing performance. It boots up quickly, menus are snappy, and shot-to-shot delay is minimal. Picture quality is very good — not one thing extraordinary, but not one thing to sneeze at either. I shot a number of test photos over the past couple days and I’m rather pleased. Macro mode shots are amazingly crisp and detailed. Outdoors in medium sun, I did detect numerous tell-tale “purple fringing” around high contrast areas (the dark green leaves of a tree versus a white cloud had a discernible purple halo around them when I zoomed in on the image). I don’t know that other P&S cameras of this size will inevitably do any better with the purple fringing, but I didn’t find it to be too bothersome. On my monitor colors looked rather natural, not overly-saturated nor washed out. I tried a good deal of of the manual ISO settings and beneath 400 I didn’t detect any grain or problematic fuzziness. Obviously, you can’t suppose SLR quality with a P&S, but I’m very happy with the pictures this thing turns out.
The aspect that in truth sold me on this camera is the HD video. Of course, I largely wanted this to take stills, but I wanted the flexibleness to switch to video when the moment calls for it. For such a tiny camera, the HD video quality is stunning! Very liquid motion, sharp picture, and in an outstanding manner clear audio! The video is best in brightly-lit situations of course, but it does rather well in low light too if you don’t mind a little grain in the image. You may choose among various memory-saving standard-def settings and high-def (which switches to widescreen format automatically). While the optical zoom can not be used in video mode, you CAN use the digital zoom up to 4x while recording — a nice little bonus. The video files invented are .MOV files which I was capable to import into iMovie on my Mac with finish ease (and very speedily too!).
The control buttons are in truth little and flat, but I have had no trouble managing them (it helps if your fingernails are not trimmed too short). People with larger hands or very short fingernails might have a little more difficulty. I’m still getting employed to menu navigation on this, but it seems somewhat intuitive. I expended ten minutes reading through the “getting started” guide that comes with it, and that was helpful in outlining the basic features, but there are a lot more that the guide doesn’t cover. This *does* use a proprietary battery, but the charger is fortunately very compact and charges the battery to capacity in 90 minutes. It doesn’t bother me that the battery has to be taken out of the camera for charging. So far, after two days, I have not depleted the battery, so I can’t comment yet on how long battery life is, but mine has already lasted through assorted hours of use and is still going strong.
This may not be the most versatile camera on the market — full manual controls are fixed — but for a simple-to-use, high-quality P&S camera with crisp pictures and HD video, I think it would be hard to beat the SD940 IS. It is exceedingly little and lightweight and does all that most casual users could want. It may be a bit pricey equated to numerous others, but it’s worth each penny. By the way, if you plan to use the HD video feature, be sure to get a Class 6 or higher SD memory card for best results. (Lower-rated cards may not be fast sufficient to capture the stream of info being written to the card). Don’t skimp on the card — cheap off-brands are not always dependable and may soon die, taking your irreplaceable photos and videos with them. I got a few SanDisk Extreme III 8GB Class 6 cards to go with this and they work great!
Highly recommended!
135 of 146 humans found the following review helpful.
Disappointed, looking for replacement
By Kevin K. Fosler
I have had some Canon cameras over the years, so I expected a lot from this camera. Prior to this one I had a SD880IS which was more prominent but had a in truth good design with a larger LCD and raised controls (not flush like this one).
More when it comes to the camera …..
The main thing I don’t like with regards to the camera is that with the automati mode I got a great deal of blurry shots. That was indoor on automati with flash off while subject is not totally still.
I had much better luck in program mode. I think for what I was attempting to do the “kids and pets” scene mode would have worked better.
I always take shots with the flash off because I want natural lighting so possibly I’m just expecting too much of the camera.
What I do like:
- Black color, very nice looking
- VERY portable. With the leather case I could keep it with me all the time. The leather case has a belt loop and fits the camera very well.
- HD movie mode, even though it may get jumpy if you are indoors and moving around, so the camera needs to be very steady (using both hands helps a lot).
The menus are OK but I’d like access to ISO by way of a committed button rather than through the menus.
So, I am marketing mine at a very low price. The other reviews, IMO, are exact — I am in all probability just expecting too much from this camera’s automati mode.
Update:
I sold the camera today (1-11-2010). The camera I purchased to replace it is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3. It gives rise to much better pictures in Auto mode, gives rise to systematically good pictures in other modes, has better HD video that is much more stable, and a great deal of other things that I prefer (including 12x optical zoom).
Note, however, that it lacks one major vantage that the Canon SD940IS has — the fabulously little size. It was a hard decision to trade the SD940IS because with it is little size and the splendid belt case available that fits it perfectly, I could have it with me wherever I went and I would hardly observe it on my belt. For a lot of persons that will be the settling advantage, so it’s a matter of priorities.
In the end, I decisive that it was too mixing up for me to have two cameras. I have found that each camera has it is learning curve, and that to take good pictures with a good deal of cameras one will have to take the time to experiment with the respective settings. The Panasonic is much more forgiving and formulates better point-and-shoot pictures with less experience. I suspect that the Canon SD940 may likewise provide good results but that to obtain them I would have had to spend more time learning how to use the manual settings.
I will still keep my eye on the Canon Elph cameras and predict that I will come back to them at numerous point in the future. For now altho the Panasonic meets my needs better — your mileage may vary.
Update 4-2-2010
I purchased the successor to this camera, the SD1400IS, and like it much better. It seems like it once in a while takes Canon a few iterations of a “form factor” before they get it right (in my opinion). The pictures are clearer, and the video much more smooth on the SD1400IS. I wrote a review of that camera and suggest people skip the SD940IS and consider the SD1400IS instead.
73 of 77 people found the following review helpful.
Upgraded from Canon SD750
By M A
Please do not be affrighted away from this camera because of the idiotic 1 star review over battery charging preferences. This is an awful camera that takes terrific quality photos. The automati mode is fantastic. Just in a literal sense take out of the box and get started to point & shoot and pictures are clear, lighting perfective ,etc. The IS function is great. This was missing out in my 750 (which I loved – but had to replace when I lost it). Also added HD video which is a nice touch. My videos are super clear and the sound is rather good as well. Setting it to Manual mode is rather fun and may actually heighten pictures, exceptionally low light and outdoor photos. The ISO settings aren’t closely as good as my now ancient Fuji F10 but just ok. However, this camera makes up for it with it is unbelievable automati mode, lightweight feel and crisp clear photos. If you are looking for SLR quality then go buy one of those. If you are looking for a very portable camera that you may take with you everyplace and makes new meaning to the saying ‘point-and-shoot’, then this camera is for you. Don’t miss any shots while attempting to find the perfective settings. Set it to Auto and go! This camera will not disappoint.
PS. I have this one in the blue color. Be careful it scratches easily. Get a protective sleeve if you are concerned regarding that kind of thing. I notwithstanding am more concerned with the quality of my photos. 
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