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Title: Canon S30/40
Reviewer: Ernest Lilley
Date: 11/12 Rating:
S30 MSRP $299.99 Amazon: $299.99
S40 MSRP $299.99 Amazon: $299.99
Website: Canon S30/40 / Specs

Summary: These cameras are as close to identical as twins get. While the S40 may be the smarter sibling, lording its 4.1 megapixel image sensor over the S30's 3.2 megapixels, the S30 is more sensitive, using noise reduction to provide an 800 ISO equivalence. This additional sensitivity makes it better in low levels of available light than anything else in its class. The S40 only goes up to 400 ISO equivalence, which is typical of cameras with comparable size and features. While 4.0 megapixels may be the new sweet spot for prosumer digital cameras, 3.2 remains a good choice in resolution, capable of providing excellent prints even at 8x10.

The PowerShot S40 ($799) and S30 ($599), are destined to take their place between the PowerShot S300 Digital ELPH (Digital Camera June 2001, Vol.4 Issue 20) and the PowerShot G2 as "upper-mid-range" products for anyone who needs a camera they can slip in their pocket, from beginner to pro. The new cameras borrow a considerable amount of technology from Canon's upper range G2, including many of the menu and feature settings and the use of RGB filters on the CCD for "color reproduction accuracy."  (more)

Introduction: 

Canon's nearly identical digital twins, the PowerShot S40 ($799) and S30 ($599), are destined to take their place between the PowerShot S300 Digital ELPH (DC June 2001, Vol.4 Issue 20) and the PowerShot G2 as "upper-mid-range" products for anyone who needs a camera they can slip in their pocket, from beginner to pro. The new cameras borrow a considerable amount of technology from Canon's upper range G2, including many of the menu and feature settings and the use of RGB filters on the CCD for "color reproduction accuracy." 

The cameras are as close to identical as twins get. While the S40 may be the smarter sibling, lording its 4.1 megapixel image sensor over the S30's 3.2 megapixels, the S30 is more sensitive, using noise reduction to provide an 800 ISO equivalence. This additional sensitivity makes it better in low levels of available light than anything else in its class. The S40 only goes up to 400 ISO equivalence, which is typical of cameras with comparable size and features. While 4.0 megapixels may be the new sweet spot for prosumer digital cameras, 3.2 remains a good choice in resolution, capable of providing excellent prints even at 8x10.

There are a number of 2.1 megapixel cameras in the same price and feature range, including Canon's own S300, which is a bit smaller in its ELPH style body at 3.7 x 2.5 x 1.2 inches. By comparison, the S40/S30 is 4.4 x 2.3 x 1.7 in. (excluding "protrusions"), which makes it wider, slightly shorter, and half an inch thicker. When you're down to this size range, that extra half an inch is actually noticeable, and I found that I missed the S300's more pocketable form factor. Not a lot though, as the S40/S30 slips easily into pockets and purses. We took ours along to Key West  to try out an underwater housing (Canon WP-DC300) and then to Virginia for a house-hunting trip back on dry land. On both expeditions I took along more expensive digital cameras, but they stayed in the bag for the most part while the S40/S30 came out to play.

Operation: 

If you try looking for the ON switch, you'll be looking for a while, as the camera doesn't' actually have one. Instead, Canon borrowed a page from another manufacturer and gave the cameras a sliding lens cover that does double duty as an on/off switch. You can turn the camera on to review pictures with the cover closed, a convenient feature, and the integral cover will protect the lens from smudges and scuffs. The camera will put itself to "sleep" after about three minutes, retracting the lens, turning off the LCD and minimizing the power drain.

As cameras get smaller, the area designers have available to put controls on shrinks as well. The S40/S30's buttons are reasonably comfortably laid out, with an up-down-back-forward game-pad type control for moving between pictures, or for navigating menus and enlarged images. The multi-purpose control required a more careful touch than the larger pads on bigger cameras, but was easily manageable.

I found the icons on the 1.8 inch LCD display a bit small, and trying to make out all the various camera mode settings under less than perfect light was a challenge. That's partly because the camera has so many modes, and partly because it doesn't have an LCD display on top to give you the information separately from the LCD viewfinder. You'll want to read the manual to get the most out of the camera. Once you do-- or even if you just leave it in "Auto"-- you'll find that the camera is easy to use and consistently takes great shots.

The S40/S30 uses Compact Flash, and ships with a 16 MB card which will hold about 8 shots for the S30 at "Superfine" and maximum resolution, or about 7 shots on the same settings for the S40.

The camera uses a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery, and comes with a wall charger with a slot for the battery.  I liked the charger's design, as the plug folds flat for travel and its compact size doesn't block your outlet. The battery was adequate for a day of vacation shooting, and recharged in less than 2 hours for evenings out on the town. 

If you tried (but why would you?) you could get the sliding cover to misalign when closing, rather than fitting neatly in its tracks. Even though I managed to do so, it didn't stop the camera from turning on or off, and the next time the case was opened, it re-aligned itself. 

Resolution and File Formats

The  S40's 1/1.8-inch, CCD sensor makes images up to 2272 x 1704 pixels while the S30, uses a sensor the same size but with 2048 x 1536 pixels. Below their highest resolution settings, both cameras offer; 1600 x 1200, 1024 x 768 and 640 x 480, at 3 levels of JPEG Compression or RAW files which you need to extract via Canon's ZoomBrowser or a separate utility they include to turn RAW into TIFF>

Direct Printing with Canon Printers

Canon has two printers that you can hook up the S40/S30 to via USB and print pictures without using a computer. Their new S820D Bubble Jet photo printer outputs 1200 x 1200 dpi 8-1/2 x 11-inch color prints in "as little as two minutes."  If you happen to want or need wallet-sized prints on the spot, which seems like a good idea for security or greeting badges, you can hook up the S40/S30 to a Canon CP-10, a dye-sublimation printer, to get wallet-sized pictures without the need for a personal computer.

Exposure Modes

There are 13 different "exposure modes" you can select from the dial on top of the camera.  Canon divides these modes into "Image Zone" and "Creative Zone" settings in the manual. In the Image Zone you can select automatic settings depending on what you're doing, much like the Nikon 880/885's "Scene Modes." Settings include:  Full Auto, Pan Focus, Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Color Effect, Stitch Assist, and Movie. To find out how each mode works (which is a really good idea even if all you want to do is to use the automatic settings), you have to look them up in the manual, where they are clearly explained. One of my favorite flash settings is usually called "Slow Flash," and I couldn't figure out why they had left it out until I found that Canon made it part of the "Night Scene" setting which uses the flash with a slow shutter to allow background lighting to fill in. It's prone to motion blur, but if you're shooting a close-up of a subject in a dim lighting and don't want the background to turn out black, it's a handy setting to know.

You'd think that the "Color Effects" (Vivid, Neutral, Sepia or Black and White) would be part of the "Creative Zone," but  the "Creative Zone" is where Canon turns control of the camera over to you. Zones include Program AE, Shutter-priority, Aperture-priority and Manual. In Program AE, you can "bias" exposures towards higher shutter speeds or smaller apertures, depending on the depth of field you want. 

Like the Canon G2, you can get a "Histogram" display next to your image. Using the Histogram gives you the opportunity to adjust your exposure when taking the picture to get the best range of light levels, so it's a great feature to have. 

If it's mini-movies you want, the Movie mode provides two resolutions with sound: QVGA (320x240), and Q2VGA (160x120). Recording duration is 30 seconds in QVGA and two minutes in Q2VGA.

"My Camera"

A feature I had high hopes for was the "My Camera Settings."  I thought that it would allow changes the camera default settings.  Instead, it only lets you select start-up images and sounds, including  those for shutter, self-timer and camera setting adjustments. You can even use the bundled software to add your own sounds. Canon included this feature specifically to make the digital photography experience more fun, or to bring smiles to children's faces. Not a bad reason, but not the degree of personalization I was hoping to achieve.

Included Software

The S40/S30 ships with compatible drivers for a wide range of operating systems, and is one of Canon's first to include Windows XP. On the Mac side of the street it's currently compatible with to Mac OS 9.0/9.1, making it possible to mount the camera as a hard drive on either Windows or Mac platforms and display thumbnails of your images to simplify image handling.

Canon says that OSX support for the Mac is in the works, and will soon be available for download on their website. 

A number of programs for editing and viewing pictures are bundled with the camera, including ArcSoft's Camera Suite for still image and movie editing. and Canon's ZoomBrowser EX 3.1 (PC) and ImageBrowser 2.1 (Mac). You can also create RAW image files with the camera and translate them into TIFF or BMP using either the ZoomBrowser or the RAW Image Converter. 

If you want panoramic photos, you'll want to play with PhotoStitch along with the panoramic mode setting on the camera, which allows you to take a succession of shots with some overlap and then let the software put them together. Using the RemoteCapture program you can control an S40/S30 using a USB cable and your PC, and save the images directly into the computer. Many of the camera settings can be controlled from the PC

Conclusion: 

Both the PowerShot S30 and S40 are full-featured cameras in sleek, stylish cases. Whether you want the camera to do all the thinking or you want to take total manual control, they are ready to meet your needs and turn out consistently great pictures. With options comes complexity; if you want to get the most out either of the camera you need to read the manual, but even on full auto you'll be pleased with the results. 

The camera's form factor is comfortable to use and easy to fit into pocket or small bag, and the brushed stainless steel case should hold up against normal wear for a long time. The integral lens cover-on/off switch is a great feature as well.

Both cameras are good values, but I think the you would do well to give serious consideration to the additional sensitivity of the S30 and save money (and memory), rather than opt for the higher resolution of the S40.

Select Specs: (from product website)

TYPE OF CAMERA

• Type of Camera Compact Digital Still Camera with Built-in Flash and 3x Optical Zoom Lens.

• Type 1/1.8-inch Charge-Coupled Device (CCD)
• Total Pixels PowerShot S40: Approx. 4.1 million, PowerShot S30: Approx. 3.3 million
• Effective Pixels PowerShot S40: Approx. 4 million, PowerShot S30: Approx. 3.2 million

• Focal Length 7.1-21.3mm (35mm film equivalent: 35 - 105mm)
• Digital Zoom PowerShot S40: 3.6x (Maximum 11x digital zoom is available when combined with optical zoom.)
• PowerShot S30: 3.2x (Maximum 10x digital zoom is available when combined with optical zoom.)
• Focusing Range
• (measured from front lens) Normal AF: 80cm (2.7ft.) - infinity
• Macro AF: 10cm (0.3ft.) (wide-angle) / 20cm (0.7ft.) (telephoto) - 70cm (2.3ft.)
• Manual focus: 6cm (0.2ft.) (wide-angle) / 30cm (1.0ft.) (telephoto) - 80cm (2.7ft.)
• Focusing Control System TTL autofocus (Continuous or Single)
• AF lock and Manual focus are available.

• Optical Viewfinder Real-image optical zoom viewfinder
• LCD Viewfinder 1.8-inch low-temperature polycrystalline silicon TFT color LCD
• LCD Pixels 117,600 dots (490 (H) x 240 (V))
• LCD Coverage 100%

• Aperture Range f/2.8 - f/8.0 (wide-angle), f/4.9 - f/8.0 (telephoto)
• Shutter Speed 15 - 1/1,500 sec.
• Slow shutter operates with noise reduction.

• Sensitivity
• (Equivalent film speed) Auto, or user-set ISO 50, 100, 200, 400 or 800 (PowerShot S30 only) equivalent (At Auto setting, camera automatically adjusts sensitivity in the range of ISO 50 to ISO 100 equivalent.)
• Light Metering Method Evaluation metering, Center-weighted average metering or Spot metering (Fix to center/Link to AF frame).
• Exposure Control Method Program AE, Shutter priority AE, Aperture priority AE or Manual exposure control; AE lock is available.
• Exposure Compensation +/- 2.0EV in 1/3-step increments.
• Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) is available.
• Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) is available.