Canon PowerShot SD4000 IS

Handling (6.50)

The SD4000 IS is a small, thin camera, and this can often pose a number of challenges. In particular, we found that the lack of a finger grip on the front of the camera meant that it sometimes slipped from our fingers. The large screen on the back also meant that the thumb usually ended up over the top right corner of the screen, possibly blocking part of the image. If you move the thumb off the screen, you can end up inadvertently hitting the play button.

Apart from these issues, we found the SD4000 to be easy and comfortable to hold and use, but we would recommend the use of the wrist strap, as it can slip out of the hand a little too easily, especially with a combination of the metal body and sweaty hands.

Buttons & Dials (7.00)

In use, the index finger naturally falls onto the combination of shutter and zoom controls, and these can be used without loosening the grip too much. The other controls (including the mode switch on the top of the camera body) require two hands: the left to hold the camera body steady, and the thumb of the right to use the control. The small set of controls on the back of the camera body are well placed for this, though, so it comes naturally.

Menus (6.50)

There are two menus on the SD4000 IS: the traditional full-screen one and quick menu that holds the more commonly used settings. The quick menu appears on the left side of the screen when you hit the set button, and you scroll up and down with the control dial. When you reach the option you want, a left button press brings up the next level, which contains the option for the selected control. It sounds complicated, but it is intuitive and works well.

The main menu is a more standard full-screen affair, where the options are separated into tabs. Again, it works well and the combination of quick access to the shooting controls and a simple menu structure works well.

The quick menu	The main menu

Manual & Learning (6.50)

No printed manual is supplied with the camera, but there is a full manual on the CD as a PDF file. This is well written and explains the features of the camera clearly enough, with the first section dedicated to basic shooting features, and the more complex controls and features covered later on.