My last digital camera was a Kodak EasyShare DX6340 3.1 MP - a nice little point and shoot at the time, but that was seven years ago! Although it still works like a champ, I decided it was time to upgrade to something a little more compact than the picture quality and also offers better HD video *. I spent over a month of shopping around, looking for Canon, Panasonic, Sony and models, and played with the idea of sacrificing the small size (and high-definition video) to go with the new Canon G11. Finally, I decided on the new SD940 IS as a reasonable compromise between size, features and image quality. I'm very glad I bought this thing - so far I have not been impressed!
This thing is small - approximately the same size and weight as my old Motorola RAZR phone (folded closed). However, he feels very solid. Despite its compact size provides outstanding performance. It starts up fast, flexible menus, and shot to shot delay is minimal. The picture quality is very good - nothing extraordinary, but not insignificant either. I shot a series of photos on the proof of the last two days and I'm pretty satisfied. Macro shots are so incredibly sharp and detailed. Outdoor school sun, I noticed some developers "purple fringe" areas of high contrast (dark green leaves of a tree against a white cloud had a noticeable purple halo around it, when zooming in image). I do not know what other P & S cameras of this size is necessarily better with a fringe of purple, but I thought it was very uncomfortable. In my monitor colors looked very natural, unsaturated or water. I tried some manual settings below ISO 400 and did not notice any grain or inaccuracy problem. Obviously you can not expect SLR quality with an S & P, but I'm very happy with the photo this is.
The aspect that this camera is really high-definition video. Of course, I wanted above all to take the picture, but I wanted the flexibility to change video when the moment demands. For such a small camera, the quality of HD video is incredible! Very fluid movement, fresh and clear audio! The video is better in brightly lit situations, of course, but does well in low light and if you do not mind a little grain in the picture. You can choose from several options for saving memory and high-definition standard definition (which automatically switches to widescreen format). While the optical zoom can not be used in video mode, you can use the 4x digital zoom while recording - a nice little bonus. Video files are generated files. MOV that I was able to import into iMovie on my Mac in a simple (and soon!).
The control buttons are indeed small and flat, but no problems to manage (it helps if the nails are not too short). People with large hands or too short can have a little more difficult. I'm still getting used to the navigation menus on this, but it seems pretty intuitive. I spent 10 minutes reading through the "Getting Started" guide that comes with it, and it was useful to delineate the basic features, but there is more that the guide does not cover. * Not * using a battery of its own, but the charger is, fortunately, very compact and charge the battery capacity in 90 minutes. I do not mind the battery must be removed from the loading chamber. So far, after two days, I have not exhausted the battery, so I can not comment yet on how long the battery life is, but mine has lasted several hours use and still going strong.
This may not be the most versatile camera on the market - full manual controls are limited - but easy to use, high quality P & S camera with HD video and crisp, I think it would be hard to beat the SD940 IS. Is extremely small and lightweight and does everything that most casual users want. It can be a bit pricey compared to some others, but worth every penny. By the way, if you intend to use the high-definition video, make sure you have a class 6 or higher SD memory card for best results. (Low grade cards may not be fast enough to capture the flow of information being recorded on the card). Do not skimp on the card - cheap off-brands are not always reliable and may die soon, with their irreplaceable photos and videos with them. I have a small SanDisk Extreme III 8 GB Class 6 card to go with this and a great job!
Highly recommended!
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