Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Camera
Review: I have had this camera for over 2 weeks now and am very impressed with the photo quality and the wide range of shooting options available. The camera has a solid feel to it and the sliding lens cover not only protects the lens but doubles as an on/off switch. The feature rich menu and settings are candy to anyone who is interested in exploring the creative elements of digital photography. The automatic setting turns the camera into a no-brainer point and shoot for the neophyte. My wife took the camera to a childrens choir performance with about 30 seconds of instruction and came home with some GREAT pictures. The ability to pop out the CF card and put it in my notebook computer's Type II slot helps save the camera battery when I want to download photos. The sound recording feature and video are handy when you want to capture an action event. Overall I'm very impressed with this camera. Kudos to Canon.
Rating:
Summary: Quick test - nearly flawless
Review: I have had the camera for only a week now, but already taken it on a trip to California's lost coast. Not only did the battery pack last over the whole 4 days and 70 pictures, but its features will be very intuitive to any SLR user such as me. I found especially helpful the zoom feature in replay mode that lets you pinpoint just how sharp the picture really is. The only things I will be missing is a shoe for external flash and the possibility to use regular batteries. Although the pack charges very quickly.
Rating: 
Summary: Perfect handheld for the amatuer photographer!
Review: This is a great camera for anyone looking for advanced features at a compact size. Unlike Canon's "lower-end" models, the S40/45/50 series pack in all the adjustable/tweakable features seen in most "SLR" cameras at a lower cost. This camera is not as compact as some of Canon's and some of the other manufacturer's units. But the additional features offered by these cameras outweight the size/weight penalty.My only complaint with these cameras are their less than desirable lenses. The S40 has a 3x optical zoom (11x digital) and doesn't have the lens power of some of the other Olympus cameras. Then again, if you're looking for that type of lens capability, you're not looking at these cameras and are more apt to looking at the higher-end SLR versions. Overall, these cameras have the Canon photo quality and the construction quality. A great buy!
Rating:
Summary: If you want to get into digital photography
Review: ...this is a good camera to start with. Especially if you use a Mac because it works great with iPhoto. If youre a beginner like me, you may be overwhelmed by the amount of features the S40 offers, but dont worry. Just put it on automatic and you will be able to take great pictures. It just takes a little practice to get used to the delayed response shutter button. Some of the things I like about it:
1. It takes very nice pictures. Your pictures will look as good as anyones.
2. It has a movie mode that I didnt know existed until recently. Saves the movie (with sound) in AVI format (QuickTime player will play it)
3. Attractive small body (and who doesnt like attractive small bodies?)
4. The LCD display is great for reviewing your pictures
5. It takes gigantic pictures. At 100% they are about 20" tall by 30" wide. You probably wont ever print out anything this large, but this just means you have a lot of detail and resolution wont be a problem. What I dont like as much:
1. Too many manual settings keeps me from experimenting too much. You would have to read the manual if you want to do any shooting besides automatic. And who wants to read a manual?
2. You have to get pretty close to your subject. Taking group pictures from much further than 10'-15' will not turn out very good. If you can get up close you will have great pictures. Dont try to use this camera at a football game from the stands. I just dont think it has enough zoom power. Ive enjoyed using mine for the last year and a half. Like the reviewers before me, I recommend doing the following:
1. Get an extra battery cause you never know when the battery will run out of juice. It will cost $25-$50 depending on what brand you get.
2. Im not sure what size compact flash card comes with the camera, but its probably in the 16MB range which is pretty much useless. Being a 4.0 Megapixel camera, and shooting such a large picture, it eats up memory. Get a couple of 128MB's or even larger if you can and you will have room to take 100 or so pictures.
3. I dont think it comes with Photoshop Elements, but if you can afford it, get it. If you do cropping and getting photos web-ready you will want to have this or the full Photoshop package (you better be very good if you want Santa to bring this) You will like this camera and all your friends will tell you that you take great pictures.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing battery life
Review: Firstly, understand that I am a die-hard Canon fanatic. I have 6 different SLR bodies from a basic AE-1 through EOS 1N RS up to the EOS 1Ds. I bought the S40 specifically to have a compact pocket digital camera for snaps on vacation or when it's just too darn inconvenient to carry a full-sized SLR with all the miscellaneous lenses, flash, filters, and other gadgetry. I was vastly disappointed at the battery life. I found that after about 25-30 photos, my battery was dead. I bought a second one at a photo shop, thinking that mine was somehow defective. Same story there, too. Having been spoiled by an older Sony compact digital camera, I was disappointed to find that I needed to carry along my charger and a couple of extra batteries in my pockets, or else plan to ration my shots for the day. The additional hassle of bothering people for the use of an electrical outlet to charge my batteries adds to the fun. I'm probably spoiled by my professional camera. The battery pack in my EOS 1Ds is good for more than 100 shots, operating all the features of the camera, including the autofocus and the LCD display. Nonetheless, battery life is troublesome. In all other respects, I am happy with the functioning of the camera. The images are crisp and the autofocus and exposure metering are quite good. The level of manual control afforded by the camera satisfies the urge to control my exposures and to experiment with different exposure schemes and focus points. If they can improve battery survival, this will be an awesome compact P&S digital.
Rating:
Summary: Great camera
Review: I am extreamly happy with it. Picture quality is super, easy to use, small to carry. I took it to vacation. All the pictures turned out to be excellent quality. 30 sec video feature is great too.
Rating:
Summary: Note on Microdrive
Review: The other reviews sum up on this excellent 4MP camera well, I just want to comment on the Microdrive issue. Microdrives draw a lot of power, so if you use one in the S40 expect battery life to drop by at least 60%. Also remember microdrives use moving parts (heads and platters) so you absolutely don't want to drop it. Prices on 512MB CF cards are dropping and 1GB cards are coming, and you can take a lot of picture with them, so microdrives may not be a good investment.
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