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Editor: Ernest Lilley
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Title:  Digital ELPH: S400 - 4mp,3x, CF card
Reviewer: Ernest Lilley
Date: 04/07/03 Rating:
MSRP $499.99 / Amazon Price: $499.99
Product Website / Manufacturer Website  / Specs

Summary: Canon has been tweaking its Digital ELPH for the last two years, starting  with a model that had size and style going for it, but not too much else, and gradually adding more and more until now with 4.0 megapixels, a 3x zoom, and that same stylish package (slightly evolved) it'd arrived as a camera that you don’t have to apologize about having a thing for.  It’s sexy sure, but it’s smart and tough as well. Best of all for anyone who uses bigger cameras for professional work, it still uses CF cards for storage. Great job Canon, keep it up.

• TYPE OF CAMERA
  Type of Camera Type of Camera Compact digital still camera with built-in flash and 3.0x optical zoom
   
• IMAGE CAPTURE DEVICE
  Type 1/1.8 inch charge coupled device (CCD)
  Total Pixels Approx. 4.1 million
  Effective Pixels Approx. 4.0 million
   
• LENS
  Focal Length 7.4 – 22.2mm (35mm film equivalent: 36 – 108mm)
• Digital Zoom 3.6x
  Focusing Range Normal AF: 46cm/ 1.5ft. – infinity
  Macro AF: 10-50cm/ 4in. – 19.6in. (wide-angle) / 33 – 50cm/ 12in. – 19.6in. (telephoto)
  Manual focus: 10cm/ 4in. – infinity (wide-angle), 30cm/ 1in. – infinity (telephoto)
  Autofocus System 9-point AiAF( Automatic Focus Point Selection)/ 1-point AF (Fixed to center)
   
• VIEWFINDERS
• Optical Viewfinder Real-image optical zoom viewfinder
  LCD Monitor 1.5 inch low-temperature polycrystalline silicon TFT colorLCD
  LCD Pixels Approximately 118,000 pixels
  LCD Coverage 100%
   
• APERTURE AND SHUTTER
  Maximum Aperture f/2.8 – 4.9
  Shutter Speed 15-1/2,000 sec.
   
• EXPOSURE CONTROL
  Sensitivity AUTO or user set ISO 50/ 100/ 200/ 400 equivalent
  Light Metering Method Evaluative/ Center-weighted average/ Spot
  Exposure Control Method Program AE
  Exposure Compensation +/- 2.0EV in 1/3-step increments
  Auto Exposure Bracketing Available
   
• WHITE BALANCE
  White Balance Control TTL Auto White Balance, Pre-set (Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, or Custom White Balance.)
   
• FLASH
  Built-in Flash Operation Modes: Auto, Red-Eye Reduction On/ Off, Slow-Sync
  Flash Range WIDE: 30cm – 3.5m/ 1 – 12ft.
  TELE: 30cm – 2.0m/ 1.0 – 6.7ft.
  (When ISO is speed is set to AUTO)
  Recycling Time Approx. 10 sec. or less.
  Flash Exposure Compensation +/- 2.0 EV in 1/3-step increments
   
• SHOOTING SPECIFICATIONS
  Shooting Modes Auto, Manual, Stitch Assist, Movie, Continuous (Approx 2.5 sec.)
  Self Timer Operates with approx. 2 sec. or approx 10 sec. countdown
  Wireless Control Not Available
  Continuous Shooting High Speed: Approx. 2.5 shots/sec.
  Normal Speed: Approx. 1.5 shots/sec.
  (Large/ Fine Mode and LCD monitor is Off)
  Photo Effects Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening, Sepia and Black&White
   
• IMAGE STORAGE
  Storage Media CompactFlash (CF) Card Type I
  File Format Design rule for Camera File System (DCF*1)
  Print Order Format Digital Print Order Format (DPOF) Version 1.1
  Image Recording Format Still Image: JPEG (Exif 2.2 compliant)
  JPEG Compression Mode SuperFine, Fine or Normal
  Number of Recording Pixels 2048 x 1536 (Large), 1600 x 1200 (Medium 1), 1024 x 768 (Medium 2), 640 x 480 pixels (Small)
  Movie: 320 x 240 or 160 x 120
   
• NUMBER OF RECORDABLE IMAGES
  Menu Selection File Size
  (KB) Resolution
  (pixels) 32MB 64MB 128MB 256MB
  Large / SuperFine 2,002 2,048 x 1,536 14 30 61 123
  Large / Fine 1,116 2,048 x 1,536 27 54 110 222
  Large / Normal 556 2,048 x 1,536 54 110 220 443
  Medium 1/ SuperFine 1,002 1,600 x 1,200 30 61 122 246
  Medium 1/ Fine 558 1,600 x 1,200 54 109 219 440
  Medium 1/ Normal 278 1,600 x 1,200 108 217 435 868
  Medium 2/ SuperFine 570 1,024 x 768 53 107 215 431
  Medium 2/ Fine 320 1,024 x 768 94 189 379 762
  Medium 2/ Normal 170 1,024 x 768 174 349 700 1,390
  Small / SuperFine 249 640 x 480 120 241 482 962
  Small / Fine 150 640 x 480 196 393 788 1,563
  Small / Normal 84 640 x 480 337 676 1,355 2,720
   

These figures reflect standard shooting conditions established by Canon.

Actual totals and file sizes may vary according to the subject, shooting conditions and shooting mode.

• TIME OF RECORDABLE MOVIES
  Resolution (pixels)      32MB    64MB   128MB      256MB
  Movie / High 320 x 240   91sec. 183sec. 368sec.   735sec.
  Movie / Low 160 x 120   242sec. 486sec. 973sec. 1,954sec.

  Individual movie clips are limited to 3 minutes maximum per clip. Above figures show total movie capacity on various CF cards, measured under Canon's standard test conditions, and may vary depending upon scene, subjects or camera settings.

• PLAYBACK SPECIFICATIONS
  Playback Modes File Single, Index (9 thumbnails), Magnification (2x to 10x), Slide Show or Movie
   
• ERASING SPECIFICATIONS
  Erase Modes Stil Images: Single Image, All Images
  Movie: Part of Movie, All Movie
   
• INTERFACES
  Computer Interface Universal Serial Bus (USB)(mini-B jack)
  Video Out NTSC/ PAL
  Other CF card slot (accept Type I card). Direct connection to Canon Card Photo Printers and Bubble Jet Direct Photo Printers (no computer required)
   
• POWER SUPPLY
  Power Source 1. Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery (NB-1LM or NB1L)
  2. AC Adapter Kit ACK-500
  Shooting Capacity Approx. 190 shots (LCD monitor ON)
  Approx. 440 shots (LCD monitor OFF)
  Playback Time Approx. 140 min
   
• PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS
  Operating Temperature 32 – 104 °F (0 – 40 °C)
  Operating Humidity 10 – 90%
  Dimensions (W x H x D) 3.43 x 2.24 x 1.09 in./ 87.0 x 57.0 x 27.8 mm (Excluding
  protrusions)
  Weight Approx. 6.52 oz./ 185g (Camera body only)
   
• COMPUTER SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
  Mac Requirements Please install the software on a Macintosh computer that meets the following system requirements.
  Hardware: Power Macintosh, PowerBook, iMac or iBook
  OS: Mac OS 8.6 through 9.2, OS X. (Please see our Mac OS X Compatibility Statement)
  Note: Adobe Photoshop LE, Canon File Viewer Utility v. 1.0, and USB Mounter v. 1.8 software are not supported in Mac OS X.
  CPU: Power PC
  Interface: USB: Cable connection via camera's USB port is limited to genuine Apple Computer brand models with a built-in USB interface (Power Macintosh NEW G3/ G4, PowerBook G3, iMac, iBook).
  RAM: 20MB and over for application
   
• PC Requirements Please install the software on a PC computer that meets the following system requirements.
  Hardware: IBM PC/ AT compatible
  OS: Windows 98 (including the Second Edition), Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP (Please see our Windows XP compatibility
  statement)
  CPU: Pentium 150 MHz and over
  Interface: USB: Cable connection via camera's USB port is limited to pre-installed Windows 98, Windows 2000 and pre-installed or upgraded Windows ME or Windows XP systems.
  RAM: 64MB or more (Windows 2000/ Windows ME/ Windows 98)
  RAM: 128MB or more (Windows XP)
   

*1 "DCF" is an abbreviation of "Design rule for Camera File system" standardized by Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA).