Canon PowerShot S40A new shape, sleek design, direct support for a Canon inkjet printer, and four megapixels of resolution!<<Design :(Previous) | (Next): Optics>> Page 4:ViewfinderReview First Posted: 10/1/2001 |
ViewfinderThe S40 features both an eye-level optical viewfinder and a 1.8-inch LCD monitor on the back panel for image composition. The real-image optical viewfinder zooms along with the lens (except in Digital Telephoto mode, which requires the LCD monitor), and displays a set of brackets in the center of its screen. Two LED lights next to viewfinder report the camera's status during certain operations. For example, when you depress the Shutter button halfway, a steady green light (on top) indicates that the camera is ready to record and / or the battery charge is complete; a flashing green light indicates that an image is either being written to, read from, or erased from the CompactFlash card; a steady orange light (on top) indicates that the camera is ready to record and / or the battery is adequately charged for use with flash; and a flashing orange light indicates a camera-shake warning (i.e. the shutter speed is too slow to handhold), or the battery is charging. The lower LED light glows yellow when the camera is set in Macro or Manual focus modes.
Measuring 1.8-inches diagonally, Canon's low-temperature, polycrystalline silicon, TFT, color LCD monitor briefly displays camera settings when the camera is powered on, and then turns itself off. It can be reactivated by pressing the Display button -- once to show the image without settings, and twice to show the image with settings. Depending on the Shooting mode, the LCD reports the flash setting, drive mode, metering mode, image size and quality, and the number of frames remaining. Additional functions are shown as they are enabled and battery status is only displayed when power is low. A third press of the Display button cancels both displays.
In Replay mode, the LCD monitor provides a full-frame display of captured images, which you can view individually by scrolling left or right with the arrow buttons on the Multicontroller. Depressing the Flash / Index button brings up a thumbnail index display of nine images at a time, which you can also scroll through with the arrow buttons. The Zoom lever doubles as a Digital Enlargement button (marked by magnifying glasses), which allows you to enlarge an image to 2.5X or 5X its normal size on the screen. The arrow keys permit you to move around the enlarged image and check fine details.
Depressing the Display button one time in Replay mode brings up information about the captured image, including the file name, date and time it was recorded, compression, resolution, and what number it is in the sequence of captured images. Another press of the Display button brings up a thumbnail view of the image with detailed information such as the shooting mode, aperture, f/'stop, exposure compensation, and metering mode. In addition, the screen shows a histogram next to the image to indicate the distribution of tonal values. Besides the histogram display (and actually much more useful), any blown-out highlights in the image will blink from white to black and back again, letting you see exactly where detail has been lost. (We particularly like this form of display, applaud Canon for including it, and hope we see even more manufacturers adopt it in the future.)
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