5 Responses for "Canon PowerShot SD940IS 12.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-inch LCD"

1. Chuck Martin March 16th, 2010 at 3:13 pm 1

   I needed a replacement for my Casio card camera (I broke the LCD). One of the best things about it is its cradle, connected to both computer and power; just drop it in the cradle and it charges, push a button and it transfers images. But the new version do not come with a cradle; you have to take out the battery each time you want to charge it. This is so bad for so many reasons. So I went searching for a replacement.

   And I found this camera. I played with it extensively in a couple of stores and was tremendously impressed. First, it’s almost as thin as the Casio card cameras. Second, it feels solid, not plasticky. It’s responsive. The main controls are easy to use, and the screen is big enough and bright. The auxiliary controls (menus and stuff) are a bit challenging because they are flush to the camera body. And I was not able to find the scene modes that make the Casio cameras so incredibly useful (for example, the whiteboard mode or the eBay mode, both of which just work). Interestingly, there;s a cover in the upper right that has both a USB and an HDMI connection. Wow.

   But this camera suffers fro the same fatal flaw as the new Casio cameras: you have to remove the battery to charge it. Here are the issues with that design decision:

   First, opening and closing the cover. The cover was not designed to be opened and closed so much. Over time, the hinge will likely loosen, or worse, deform.

   Second, it’s so much ore work to open the cover, take out the battery, find the charger, put the battery in the charger, wait for the charge, put the battery back in the camera. Some might say “well, it’s not that big a deal. ” But usability isn’t just about big deals, about fixing big frustrations. It’s about the little deals, fixing the little frustrations, the little things that, by themselves uses don’t often notice, but that add up over time. This is one of those. And it doesn’t have to be: It’d be so easyto simply either provide a cradle or be able to just plug a cable into the camera.

   Which brings me to, third, the battery doesn’t charge when you plug the USB cable in. Huh?? This is so mind-boggling stupid it defies description.

   Let’s not that this Canon camera is not cheap. It’s not competing on price, but on quality (as Canon rightfully should). So to leave out this capability on such an otherwise high quality device completely undermines the trust in Canon engineering.

   To be fair, having worked in high tech for so many years, I’d wager that this really was less of an engineering decision than a management decision. They didn’t want to add the small cost it would take, or they wanted to push the model to market before the engineering for it could be completed, something like that.

   This camera is so new that the major camera review sites ([. . . ]) haven’t given it a real run-through, but I’m guessing that the photo quality will be to the usual Canon high standards. And if it wasn’t for this incredibly annoying flaw, it’d have been in my cart and in my hands by now. But this is a real deal killer. My search will continue, with the very real hope that Canon engineering (or management) will pull their heads out of their. . . you know. . . and fix this in this camera’s successor, turning it from a 1-star product into very likely a 5-star product.
   Rating: 1 / 5

2. A. Mejia March 16th, 2010 at 3:42 pm 2

   The camera deserves every good review and comment given in other reviews. I am most disappointed in the lack of a printed manual, especially since there are not private manuals in the market. To me it indicates contempt for the needs of the customer on the part of Canon.
   Is Canon giving up its traditional care and concern for its customers?
   Rating: 1 / 5

3. Cleveland D. Hayes March 16th, 2010 at 6:21 pm 3

   Well I picked this up because I heard Canon made good products and I wanted a camera that took good pictures and recorded HD video so this seemed like the best option at the time in my price range. Boy was I wrong. Menus are easy to navigate and the camera looks great but that’s where the compliments end for me. Pictures can either come out good or just plain terrible. This camera can take some very blurry pictures. Alot of the pictures I took came out as if I took them during an earthquake when I was holding the camera as steady as possible. No matter how much adjusting I did it was either a good picture or a bad one. I took far to many bad pictures for my liking.

   I also dabbed a little with the HD video, it was okay inside for a point and shoot but I took it outside and the screen went completely white. I couldn’t see a thing on the screen. Well that was the last straw for me and this camera went right back to Amazon. I played a little with the Sony Cybershot WX1 and then the Panasonic Lumix ZS3 and found the ZS3 to be the better camera out of the three in EVERY way. I am happy with my purchase of the ZS3.

   If you don’t think what I said here is true get the cameras and test them for yourself.
   Rating: 1 / 5

4. Don Phan March 16th, 2010 at 8:58 pm 4

   there is no picture quality setting, so 12. 1 mega px. just a fake, review it carefully before you buy.
   Rating: 3 / 5

5. Jennifer Ledbetter March 16th, 2010 at 9:59 pm 5

   I bought this as a Christmas present for my husband, so he has not yet used it. It looked good and it small and compact which is what he wanted.
   Rating: 4 / 5