SX40 Super Zoom (2 Viewers)

Malcolm Stewart · Jun 16, 2012

Answers:
1. Lens hood isn't included. My lens came fitted with some type of bayonet adapter which allowed me to fit a standard 58mm screw-in filter. (I've seen criticism of this feature on the web.)

2. Battery charger is included, and it's different to all my other Canon chargers.

3. If you intend using the HD video features, a large SD card is recommended, but my XP PC doesn't recognise my 8GB card, so if I use that I use a USB cable for uploading images and videos to my PC. Normally I use a 2GB card, so that I can use Downloader Pro.

If purchasing used, make sure you get the CDs and/or a hard copy of the Camera User Guide - coming from a background in several Canon DSLRs, I really struggled until I'd read a few key sections in the User Guide. The "Getting Started" is very basic, and aimed at a very different mindset to people who hang out here. (I'm sure the face recognition feature will come in useful when confronted by an owl!)

Beware of the top button on the rear. I keep catching mine, and it plays hell with the EVF display. Haven't found a way of disabling it - having read the Guide, I think I see why it was included.

AndyM · Jun 16, 2012

Roy C said:
Thinking of buying a sx40 and have a few questions:
1) Do you get a lens hood or is it extra?
2) Does it come with a battery charger?
3) What sort of memory cards do you guys use?

Thanks in advance :t:

1) Lens hood is extra
2) Yes. Comes with battery charger.
3) I use 'own brand' My Memory 16GB SD Card (SDHC) - Class 10. Cheap as chips and no problems so far.

Andy.

Neil · Jun 17, 2012

I've just got back from a quick trip to Singapore where I used the SX40HS as my walk-around birding/nature camera.
I also shot some video both with and without IS ( Image Stabilsing) switched on. Here is a short video showing the difference. Without IS first http://www.flickr.com/photos/7892550@N03/7384423510/in/photostream
This is the main reason why I prefer the SX40 over the Nikon P500.
Neil

Canon SX40HS
Singapore
June 2012.

Roy C · Jun 17, 2012

Bit the bullet and ordered a SX40 today, just need to suss out the best settings now(have downloaded the manual). A biggie for me will be getting use to focussing with the shutter button after several years of back button focussing on my DSLR's.
BTW guys how easy/quick is it to set exposure compensation?

AndyM · Jun 18, 2012

Roy C said:
BTW guys how easy/quick is it to set exposure compensation?

Both easy and quick. Select from the dial on the back, rotate dial to required setting. I have mine set to -1/3.

When I get a chance I'll post my stored settings.

EDIT: Okay, so I got a chance...

These are the settings I use for non-flying birds;

Mode Dial set to P (program)

AF Frame: Flexizone
Digital Zoom: Off
Servo AF: On
Continuous AF : On
AF-assist Beam: On
MF-Point Zoom: On
Safety MF: On
i-Contrast: Auto
Spot AE Point: AF Point
IS Settings; IS Mode: Continuous; Powered IS: On
Display Area: Small

Select continuous shooting, exposure comp to -1/3, fully extend zoom and save settings to C1. Frame your subject and let the camera do the rest....

For flying birds set Mode dial to Tv (effectively shutter speed control). Same settings as above but 1/1000 shutter speed selected and saved to C2 as the saved shutter speed start point. Increase/decrease shutterspeed by rotating the dial (with thumb - LIGHTLY!) on the back

OR

Select Scene on the mode dial, press FUNC.SET from the dial on the back and select HQ (for 10fps continuous shooting). Saved settings are somewhat limited in this mode so I always switch on in C1, allow the zoom to extend automatically and THEN switch to Scene mode.

Here's what I've managed so far. They'll do for me...
http://www.flickr.com//photos/stouffer2013/show/

Hope this helps...

Andy.

punta · Jun 18, 2012

Roy C said:
Bit the bullet and ordered a SX40 today (£245) just need to suss out the best settings now(have downloaded the manual). A biggie for me will be getting use to focussing with the shutter button after several years of back button focussing on my DSLR's.
BTW guys how easy/quick is it to set exposure compensation?

Thats a great price, is that for new?? If so, do you mind telling me where you got it from please.

Roy C · Jun 18, 2012

AndyM said:
Both easy and quick. Select from the dial on the back, rotate dial to required setting. I have mine set to -1/3.

When I get a chance I'll post my stored settings.

EDIT: Okay, so I got a chance...

These are the settings I use for non-flying birds;

Mode Dial set to P (program)

AF Frame: Flexizone
Digital Zoom: Off
Servo AF: On
Continuous AF : On
AF-assist Beam: On
MF-Point Zoom: On
Safety MF: On
i-Contrast: Auto
Spot AE Point: AF Point
IS Settings; IS Mode: Continuous; Powered IS: On
Display Area: Small

Select continuous shooting, exposure comp to -1/3, fully extend zoom and save settings to C1. Frame your subject and let the camera do the rest....

For flying birds set Mode dial to Tv (effectively shutter speed control). Same settings as above but 1/1000 shutter speed selected and saved to C2 as the saved shutter speed start point. Increase/decrease shutterspeed by rotating the dial (with thumb - LIGHTLY!) on the back

OR

Select Scene on the mode dial, press FUNC.SET from the dial on the back and select HQ (for 10fps continuous shooting). Saved settings are somewhat limited in this mode so I always switch on in C1, allow the zoom to extend automatically and THEN switch to Scene mode.

Here's what I've managed so far. They'll do for me...
http://www.flickr.com//photos/stouffer2013/show/

Hope this helps...

Andy.

Thanks for that :t: sounds as easy as on the DSLR.
The reason I asked about the Ev comp is that with the DSLR I always change mine all the time to suit the situation and also make sure that I am Exposing to the right (ETTR) thus ensuring you get the max dynamic range and also keep noise to a minimum. The very last thing I want to do with a Camera with a small sensor like this is to underexpose and then have to bring it back up in post, thus increasing noise in the shadow areas.

Roy C · Jun 18, 2012

punta said:
Thats a great price, is that for new?? If so, do you mind telling me where you got it from please.

Yes new, have sent you a PM.

Malcolm Stewart · Jun 18, 2012

Roy C said:
...
The reason I asked about the Ev comp is that with the DSLR I always change mine all the time to suit the situation and also make sure that I am Exposing to the right (ETTR) thus ensuring you get the max dynamic range and also keep noise to a minimum. ...

I may be wrong about this, but my gut feeling is that the exposure metering on my SX40 is more reliable than on my Eos DSLRs, and I guess the reason is that exposure is measured by the same sensor as does the image capturing. I'd be interested in hearing other people's views.

Malcolm Stewart · Jun 18, 2012

AndyM said:
...
Here's what I've managed so far. They'll do for me...
http://www.flickr.com//photos/stouffer2013/show/

Hope this helps...

Andy.

Andy, that's an excellent set - puts my shots to shame.

And, many thanks for your "recipe" - it looks as though you understand what's going on "under the hood" of these Super Zooms much better than I do.

malc1 · Jun 18, 2012

I wonder if Canon will bring out an update for the limpics

Roy C · Jun 18, 2012

malc1 said:
I wonder if Canon will bring out an update for the limpics

I think they were more concerned about getting the new big superteles out for the press togs where money is no object.
The one thing I would very much like to see on any update is RAW support (as anyone here tried the hack for RAW?)

njlarsen · Jun 18, 2012

Roy, I do not know the Canon superzoom, but have used a Pana version: the buffer and save speed were such that Raw really was no option in real use (too small/slow).

Niels

Roy C · Jun 18, 2012

njlarsen said:
Roy, I do not know the Canon superzoom, but have used a Pana version: the buffer and save speed were such that Raw really was no option in real use (too small/slow).

Niels

Hi Niels, I guess that make sense with a small buffer and write speed, I suppose RAWS would be around 12mb each which would slow the whole thing up.
It was just that I suspect that the small sensor will be less forgiven than a larger one so a bit more processing may well be in order to get the best out of it (its been years since I shot in jpeg and of course it is lossy).

malc1 · Jun 18, 2012

I know that outputting a Raw takes time but the Jpeg is produced from the Raw info. Isn't it just acase of not throwing it away?

njlarsen · Jun 18, 2012

malc1 said:
I know that outputting a Raw takes time but the Jpeg is produced from the Raw info. Isn't it just acase of not throwing it away?

I do not know what is going in inside in a camera like that. However, I just did a test on my old FZ18: using raw set for medium burst mode, taking one picture the camera was saving and non-responsive for something like 2-3 seconds. With using max size jpg with medium burst mode (to avoid LCD/EVF blackout) I can take bursts at about 2 pictures per second if I remember correctly. (DPreview seems to have hidden their test of this camera so far that I cannot get their numbers at the moment).

Niels

crazyfingers · Jun 18, 2012

Fun with SX40. It was able to correctly focus on the bunny's eyeball through the weeds and scrubs.

AndyM · Jun 19, 2012

Malcolm Stewart said:
I may be wrong about this, but my gut feeling is that the exposure metering on my SX40 is more reliable than on my Eos DSLRs, and I guess the reason is that exposure is measured by the same sensor as does the image capturing. I'd be interested in hearing other people's views.

Can't really comment on meter exposure reliability over a DSLR's but I find with the SX40 that in bright conditions, the 'whites' have a tendency toward being a bit 'blown'. No different with the P500 (though certainly more obvious and with more frequency).

Hoping that bringing the exp.comp down by 1/3 will help to sort this out. Should it? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Andy.

AndyM · Jun 19, 2012

Malcolm Stewart said:
Andy, that's an excellent set - puts my shots to shame.

That's very kind of you to say so. However, I've been manipulating images far longer than I've been producing them which helps to create the illusion

Malcolm Stewart said:
And, many thanks for your "recipe" - it looks as though you understand what's going on "under the hood" of these Super Zooms much better than I do.

Being a relative novice, I can't really take all the credit for the 'recipe'. I've taken the most part from what I've read and refined it with a bit of trial and error (error mostly). Besides, when you convince your better half that you've done all the research and found the right camera, and then turn round and admit you were wrong (and need to buy yet another), you need to demonstrate near-perfect results is as short a time as possible :t:

Andy.

Roy C · Jun 19, 2012

AndyM said:
Can't really comment on meter exposure reliability over a DSLR's but I find with the SX40 that in bright conditions, the 'whites' have a tendency toward being a bit 'blown'. No different with the P500 (though certainly more obvious and with more frequency).

Hoping that bringing the exp.comp down by 1/3 will help to sort this out. Should it? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Andy.

Whites in bright sunlight almost always need to some -Ev Andy but the same bird in duller conditions will often need a fair bit of + Ev to render them white (in flat light the Camera will often render the whites 18% grey unless you dial in some +Ev). Light conditions, metering mode and size of bird in the frame compared with the background all contribute to the Camera getting it wrong if you do not dial-in any exp.comp.
The best way to see this is if you take a shot of a pure white wall in good light making sure the wall fills the frame - without any Ev comp the wall will look grey and not white.
My preferred method is to meter off something around 18% grey in tone (medium coloured grass is good) and then transfer the resulting figs into manual mode - that way metering will be right unless the ambient light changes.

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