At about 4.5 Panthera uncia ( without electric battery ) , the 5 - megapixel Canon PowerShot SD400 is 1.5 ounce lighter than the 7.1 - megapixel Canon PowerShot SD500 ) , but otherwise offers very interchangeable features . Like its more or less larger sib , the SD400 is a pocketable point - and - shooter that takes excellent pictures .
The 2 - inch LCD is bright and easy to see , and it lighten up mechanically when shooting in scurvy - light conditions . Buttons and controls are arranged to put most configurations within pollex ’s orbit , and menu are light to take and navigate . There ’s no lively histogram to help you judge exposure ( a histogram is available in Playback mode ) .
The 3x opthalmic rapid growth lens ranges from a quick f2.8 at the wide end to f4.9 at the foresighted destruction . In macro mode , the SD400 can focus to 1.2 inches . A responsive 9 - point AiAF ( contrived intelligence information autofocus ) observe the subject automatically , irrespective of where it is in the skeletal system ( this can be incapacitate for nerve centre autofocus ) . An AF - Assist beam ( which mechanically lights up to help the television camera focus before it take a picture in low light ) helps you focus .
Like the SD500 , the SD400 does n’t have a lot of manual controls . The fashion switch offers three survival of the fittest : Playback , Shooting , and Movie style . Manual modal value adjustments are throttle to exposure compensation , white balance ( including custom white equaliser ) , ISO ( from 50 to 400 ) , and exposure burden options . You ca n’t set aperture or shutter speed directly , but a retentive shutter selection let you prefer a shutter speed of 1 to 15 seconds . There are six scene modes for pip everything from Kids & Pets to Underwater ( for use with the optional All Weather Case , which will set you back about $ 150 ) . Stitch Assist serve you shoot overlapping images for creating panoramas ( you ’ll necessitate the bundled PhotoStitch computer software to get together the image on your computer ) .
A My Colors mode offer some originative possibleness for in - television camera experiment , include the power to lighten up or darken skin tones , selectively make blue , William Green , or reds more brilliant , or swap a specific color for another colour . I found the results uneven . You ’re better off making these kinds of adjustments in an image - redaction programme like Adobe ’s Photoshop Elements (; February 2005 ) , but you have nothing to lose except computer memory blank on your impregnable digital card by experimenting with the in - tv camera adjustments . you may always save up an unaltered transcript of the image in addition to your adjusted image .
The PowerShot SD400 ’s inauguration is almost instantaneous , and shutter lag nearly nonexistent . Continuous shooting modality takes a shot every second or so , and I managed to click a dozen pictures before the television camera began pausing to indite the image to retentiveness ( performance will depend on your memory card ) .
The figure from the PowerShot SD400 were first-class , with exact , saturated colouration and just detail . Noise becomes noticeable above 200 ISO .
The SD400 captures movies at VGA quality ( 640 - by-480 pel ) and 30 material body per 2d ( fps ) , but individual magazine are limited to three minutes . The video quality is excellent . A Fast Frame pace mode lets you record television at 60 Federal Protective Service , utter for capturing sports action , but the resolution is limited to 320 - by-240 .
Macworld’s Buying Advice
If you may do without manual control , the PowerShot SD400 takes first-class pictures . If you necessitate more pel , the 7.1 - megapixel PowerShot SD500 has a similar band of features for about $ 100 more .
[ Robert Ellis is a picture taking fancier with a growing aggregation of digital cameras . He is a frequent contributor toMacworldand maintain the blogFuturosity . ]
Jury Tests
scale of measurement = Excellent , Very ripe , Good , Flawed , impossible
Specifications
[ EDITOR ’S NOTE : This review was corrected to commute the type of memory card to Secure Digital , the correct type of card for this camera . ]
