Canon knows how to make cameras that can do double-duty such as the SX40 HS. With this one camera you can just take casual photos, closeups or high-def video.
The Canon SX40 HS 12.1MP Digital Camera with 35x Wide Angle looks for all the world like a Digital SLR (dSLR), but on closer inspection you see it has a fixed 24-840mm wide-angle lens that allows you to shoot some nice video.
When you first crack open the box, you have a feeling that you have a professional instrument in your hands and you really do. For example, the SX40 shoots full high-definintion video at 24 frames per second. That works out to 1080p. This means that if you purchased a 32 GB SDHC memory card, you can make some long streaming video clips that will work with your high-def TV or computer. All you need is the right mini-USB/HDMI adapter cable or mini-USB/USB adapter cable and you can upload directly to the high definition device.
This camera, which is very affordable, does everything you need and more. It uses Canon's latest DIGIC5 Image Processor system. This may not seem like much to you but if with a 35X optical zoom system on a wide-angle lens, it doesn't take very long before you have to find a hard surface like a fence or a car to take long shots without any visible lens shake. The DIGIC5 Image Processor is not only responsible for the automatic lighting correction and focus, but it also enables Canon's Autostablizer System which means that if you have to take a long shot, say at a football game, and need to do it handheld, the autostabilization makes the image rock-steady and smooth. It's as if you were using a tripod on a dSLR with a long lens.
The SX40 is the type of camera that can fill any photographer's needs because of the features built into it. For example, one of the nicest features, especially if you have to take video at impossible angles, is the 2.7-inch LCD focusing screen on the back. Because of the way Canon has built the SX40, it allows you to swing it away from the body so you can focus and take images at whatever angle is required.
Here's another real example. If you have to take an image of a car interior, there are many angles at which a fixed focus screen is almost impossible to use, unless you climb into the back seat of the vehicle or hold the camera to shoot straight down. With the variable angle feature, you can just swing the focus display to the angle you need a fire away.
There are just so many hidden features to the SX40 that it's nearly impossible to list them all in a short review. One of the nicer features that I have found is the wide range of light conditions under which you can work. You can work in incredibly wide range of lighting up to ISO3200 (F-3200, if you need to know the F-stop) and when you need fill light, there's a small strobe available that provides the right amount of light. The strobe is great during the daylight, believe it or not, when you also need fill light to eliminate shadows.
Next to a dSLR, a digital camera like the SX40 may be all a photographer needs to take any image. It fills in the gap between the "point-and-shoot" crowd and the dSLR with its many, but expensive, options. It may be a nice way to go.
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