The Sony DSC S40 is an easy to use, point and shoot digital camera. It has four megapixels and a three times optical zoom lens. It is aimed at anyone who is looking for a camera that allows them start taking photos as soon as the batteries have been loaded and the camera turned on.
Its simplicity will appeal to anyone who enjoys just snapping away and the DSC S40 will be at home with all the usual photo opportunities that crop up at parties and on holiday, as well as those for the family album.
Image Quality
For a digital camera in this price range the DSC S40 really does come up trumps in terms of picture quality. There is one area where I struggled and that was in taking macro or close up photos. This camera does not have a dedicated macro mode and if taking close up shots is one of your prime reasons for buying a digital camera then it is advisable that you look elsewhere. Apart from the macro shot though this camera produced an excellent set of photos.
The most impressive shots were taken indoors. Similar digital cameras tend to find the going tough indoors when the light is low. This camera manages to do a very good job though. The two test shots for you to look at here are both very pleasing. The level of detail captured by the indoor portrait is amongst the best I have seen. Normally there are dark areas in the hair that the camera cannot cope with and detail is lost. That is not the case here. On top of that the shot is well lit and sharply focused. The same traits are apparent in the shot of bottles. This is taken in extreme lowlight and the camera still manages to focus properly and make a very good attempt at the lighting levels.
Outdoors the photos are good as well. High contrast areas are handled well and it is only the darkest areas under the trees where the camera struggles to bring out the detail. Bright areas are exposed correctly and the sky is a natural blue colour that is a true reflection of when the photo was taken.
The test for colour produces another positive result. The colours are vivid and deep. This bodes well for any landscape type shots that you might take.
The outdoor portrait finishes off the set of test shots nicely. I like the warm colours in this shot and the photo works well in general.
Overall the DSC S40 performed well in a variety of different situations. This is a good all round camera that is able to take fine photos with a minimum of effort on your part.
Shutter Lag and Recycling Times
Shutter lag is the time it takes to take each picture. A constant criticism of digital cameras is the delay in between clicking the shutter button, the picture being taken and also the camera being ready to take the next picture. From a pure shutter lag view the DSC S40 took a picture and recorded it in 0.12 seconds. This is an extremely fast time.
In terms of recycling times I was able to take five pictures in the space of 7.63 seconds. That works out at a rate of 1.06 seconds per picture. I am not claiming that this is the most scientific tests, but it should give you an indication of the recycling speed of the camera. Again this is a very fast time indeed. My test is carried out indoors under standard conditions and it is possible that you would see better results outside.
Features
The optical zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 32-96mm in 35mm format. This is supported by a 6x digital zoom and a 10x smart zoom. The camera can focus from 12cms away from a subject, but there is no dedicated macro mode.
When you first use the DSC S40 the camera is in automatic mode. All you need to do is point the camera at the subject and press the shutter button. The automatic mode is supported by a number of pre set scene modes. These help the camera to take the best possible shot for the type of photo you are taking. The scene modes available are Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Soft Snap, Landscape, Beach, Snow and Candle.
For lining up a shot and accessing the menu system there is a 1.5" LCD screen. There is also an optical viewfinder for composing images. The LCD screen appears to be very small. Perhaps I have just become used to larger screens. The screen is also used to display helpful information such as battery level and memory level indicators. There are also over or under exposed and hand shake warnings.
For shooting in lowlight there is a built in flash unit. This has a maximum range of 3.8m. This falls to around 2m when the optical zoom lens is in use. There are flash modes for automatic, always on, always off and slow synchro. Slow synchro is often used at night when you would like the background and subject illuminated. Red eye reduction can be turned on through the Setup menu. An auto focus illuminator also helps the camera to focus in the dark.
There is an advanced movie mode available. You can shoot TV quality movies at a resolution of 640x480 and at a top speed of thirty frames per second. Movies can be recorded up to the capacity of the internal memory or to the capacity of the memory card you are using. A continuous shooting or burst mode lets you take up to four shots at a rate of one shot every 0.7 seconds.
You can add something different to your photos by shooting in black and white and sepia. The sharpness, saturation and contrast settings can also be fine tuned. If you would like to appear in a photo there is also a self timer with a ten second delay. Metering can be set to multi pattern or spot and ISO sensitivity can be set to 80, 100, 200 or 400. There are white balance levels for Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent and Incandescent, as well as exposure compensation (+/-2.0 EV, 1/3 EV step). Shutter speeds work in a range of 1/8 - 1/2000 seconds. The shutter speed can only be set automatically by the camera.
Sony supplies all the necessary cables and software to connect the DSC S40 to a computer and a PictBridge compatible printer. Please note that this camera cannot be connected to a television set.
Ease of Use
You should have no problems getting to grips with the DSC S40. There are few buttons and dials on the camera that you will need to spend time learning and the menu system is also intuitive. The small LCD screen does make accessing and reading the menus harder than I would like and I would go as far as saying that anyone with poor eyesight should take a look at the menu system in action before buying this camera.
Cost
You can pick up a DSC S40 for around £130. This compares to around £120 for a Nikon Coolpix 4600, £105 for a Fuji Finepix A345 and £110 for an Olympus C-480. The DSC S40 is therefore at least £10 more expensive than other 4 megapixel point and shoot digital cameras.
Style
The DSC S40 is a typical rectangular digital camera. It is a shiny silver model. With dimensions of 99 x 51 x 34mm it is on the large size to slip easily into a pocket, but there is not real problem carrying it around. It weighs 132g.
Batteries and Memory Card
Two AA batteries are required to provide power to the camera. Sony supplies two alkaline batteries and depending on how often you plan to use the camera it could prove to be a wise investment to budget for some rechargeable batteries and a charger.
There are 32mb of memory built into the camera. Sony does not supply a memory card with the DSC S40. I managed to take eighteen photos before the internal memory became full. Therefore it is advisable to pick up a memory card to go with the camera. It is compatible with standard Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro.
Click here to save money on Memory Sticks.
Points I like:
Good overall picture quality
Good indoor shots
Very fast shutter response times
Easy to use
Where it is not so hot:
LCD screen seems very small
Macro shots poor
Summary
If you are on a limited budget and you are looking for a digital camera that can take high quality photos then I can happily recommend the Sony DSC S40. The place that it really beats all of its rivals is indoors where it produces sharply focused images even in poor light. It is also easy to use and is suitable for anyone who is looking for a simple point and shoot digital camera they can rely on.
Sony DSC S40 Front View
Sony DSC S40 Back View
Sony DSC S40 Top View
Sample Menus
| Sony DSC S40 Summary |
| Description: | Four megapixel digital camera with a three times optical zoom lens. |
| Ease of Use: | 8 |
| Features: | 8 |
| Colour: | 8 |
| Macro: | 6 |
| Indoors: | 9 |
| Value for Money: | 9 |
| Style: | 7 |
| Movie Mode: | 9 |
| Image Quality: | 9 |
| Build Quality: | 7 |
| Total: | 80 |
| Verdict: | If you are on a limited budget and you are looking for a digital camera that can take high quality photos then I can happily recommend the Sony DSC S40. The place that it really beats all of its rivals is indoors where it produces sharply focused images even in poor light. |
| Review Date: | July 2005 |
| Click for: | Sample Images |
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