P.O.W #8 – Canon SD940 IS
29 May 2010
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About a month ago, I decided to purchase a digital point-and-shoot to replace my old and battered Sony CyberShot. I got the SD940 IS from Canon and I simply love it. Here are a few reasons I think people should consider this tiny marvel, on this week’s POW.
What I’m looking for
Of course, everyone has different reasons for buying a camera, so I want to make clear what I was personally looking for when I bought this one. My primary criteria are size and price. Size is definitely the #1 factor. I’m not looking to buy a DSLR because I wan’t something I can bring along everywhere I go. Much like a cellphone camera (but better quality). With regards to price, well, I’m kinda broke
. Ok, not really broke, but as a graduate student, I barely make a living, so I need something that’s easy on the pocket.
The Camera
I actually bought this exact same camera for a friend back at home last Christmas, so I got to use it for a while without buying it first (woohoo). In the short span of time that I was using it I was really impressed by how great the photos looked (samples below). So when it came time for me to replace my old camera I went straight to this one with barely a thought.
Things I like
- It’s really small - fits-in-your-pocket-small, but not small enough to be difficult to operate. Just my size. But I’d warn people with slightly bigger hands that this might not be the camera for you.
- Relatively cheap - head on over to Amazon to see the price (doesn’t make sense for me to put it in here because of the way technology prices are).
- It takes great photos - samples below
- It takes decent 720p video clips – ok, you probably won’t be making your next movie using this camera but for less serious stuff with good lighting and not that much zooming, it’s good enough. Better than I expected. Unfortunately, I don’t have video samples right now that are for public consumption. Will add one later.
- Not bad in low light – of course it isn’t great as well (not a lot of point-and-shoots are) but with a good stable surface, you can definitely capture great shots (even better if you have some sort of tripod). But then again, there’s a reason why it’s called an ultracompact. You simply can’t have everything.
Samples
For other photos, head over to my blog’s photo gallery. FYI, the gallery is actually just an interface to my Flickr account. So if you’re on Flickr: add me! Also, if you want a Flickr gallery on your wordpress blog: here’s an old post where I talk about it.
Will try and add a video made using this camera in the future.






























