Canon Powershot S400 Review

The S400 features a 3X (36-108mm in the 35mm format) f/2.8-4.9 all-glass aspherical zoom lens. When the camera is powered down the lens is retracted inside of the body and a built in shutter closes to completely protect the lens.

An advanced TTL AiAF nine-point autofocus system permits the camera to automatically select the primary subject even when off-center. Focusing range is 1.5 feet to infinity in normal mode and macro coverage is 2 to 18 inches in wide angle and 11.8 to 18 inches in telephoto.

The autofocus is light-assisted and works properly even in the dark. The illuminator also functions as the selftimer indicator.

The built in flash offers Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye Reduction and Slow-Synchro modes. Flash range is 1.5 to 11.5 ft. in wide angle, 1.5 to 6.6 ft. in telephoto or 11.8 in. to 1.5 ft. in macro mode (with ISO set to Auto.) The focus-assist lamp also serves as the red-eye reduction lamp.

You can frame your pictures with the color LCD or to save precious battery power you can use the optical eyelevel finder. This is a coupled viewfinder with approx. 82% coverage. It has no dioptric adjustment. Next to the finder are two LEDs that indicate the flash and focus status.

Controls on the top include the Power On/Off button, the shutter release button and the zoom lens control around the shutter release. The zoom lens control also functions as the magnify and index buttons in playback mode. Not shown is the microphone which is at the other end of the top. The small lever below the shutter release is the Record / Play mode switch, see the next frame.

Controls on the rear are minimal but very effective. In the upper left is the Mode Dial with positions for Movie, Panorama Assist, Manual and Automatic. In the upper right is the Play / Record switch. The 4-way controller lets you navigate menus and select images during playback. In record mode you press "Up" to change metering mode, press "Right" to change flash modes, press "Down" to change the drive mode and press "Left" to change the focus mode. Buttons under the LCD (left to right); the SET button accepts menu selections, the MENU button calls up and dismisses the menus, the DISPlay button turns the color LCD on/off and controls the amount of data displayed on it, the FUNCtion button gives you access to many settings (Exposure compensation, white balance, ISO, Color effects, image quality and image size.), it also functions as the image delete button in playback mode.

See the next page for a description of the Record mode menus.

The DIGITAL port connects USB to the computer for image download and camera control with the supplied RemoteCapture software. The AV Out handles monaural audio and the video signal can be connected to your TV set with the supplied cables.

The Powershot S400 is equipped with a Type I CompactFlash card slot and comes with an 32MB CF card. It can handle any capacity CF Type I card.

The S400 comes with a Canon NB-1LH 3.7v 840mAh lithium rechargeable battery pack. Canon claims a fully charged battery can record 190 shots with the LCD on or 440 shots with it off and a replay time of approx. 140 minutes.

The supplied 100-240V CB-2LS 2-hour rapid charger (in N. America) plugs directly in the wall socket and charges the battery "out of the camera" which is very handy if you have a second battery (highly recommended.)

Optional accessories include AC Adapter Kit ACK500 (which contains Compact Power Adapter CA-PS500, DC Coupler DR-500, and an AC Power Cord).