New to the Digital ELPH (AKA Digital IXUS) line-up is the all-new Canon PowerShot SD4000 Digital ELPH (also known as the Canon Digital IXUS 300 HS). Unlike your average compact camera, this one’s pretty unique - it combines the “wide and fast” 3.8X zoom lens with a starting aperture of f2.0 (first seen in Canon’s own PowerShot S90) along with manual exposure controls (a rarity in Canon’s IXUS/ELPH line) and a new back-illuminated CMOS image sensor (which has found its way into at least one model in every camera maker’s current lineup).
The new 10 megapixel backlit CMOS image sensor allows the camera to take better quality images (ie less noise) than conventional CCD sensors traditionally used in compact cameras. That means, in theory, that you could use higher ISO settings (which are especially useful shooting in low-light) with lower noise levels… but we’ll put that to the test once we review the PowerShot SD4000 Digital ELPH in the near future.
Canon PowerShot SD4000 IS Digital ELPH
AKA Digital IXUS 300 HS
(Stylish compact camera)
- 10 effective megapixels (Backlit CMOS sensor)
- 28 – 105 mm (f2.0 – f5.3) 3.8X optical zoom lens
- Optical image stabilization
- 3.0 inch widescreen LCD (230,000 pixels)
- Full manual exposure controls
- Face, smile, wink and blink detection [Facepalm]
- 720p (1280 x 720) 30 FPS movie mode with stereo sound
“High speed” QVGA (320 x 240) movies also available at 240 FPS - Takes SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards
- Uses a lithium-ion battery
- Available in June for $350
- Comes in your choice of silver, black, red or white