Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The Manual setting on the new SX40 has a new childproof governor on it. The SX30 did not. Try to set the ISO at 400 for a night shot, and then spin the dial towards a 15 second shutter speed. It stops it at 1 second and drops the ISO to 100. Then a message appears on the LCD which says, "ISO speed is limited due to slow shutter speed." I verified it with the Canon Tech Dept. They also verified that the previous Canon cameras DID allow full Manual control in setting both the ISO and shutter speed, but no more. This has halted a large portion of the sunset and night photography I have been doing of the Monterey Bay Harbor for the past 2 years. It is condescending and insulting to adults in general and to long-term Canon users in particular to presume to say to us, "We think you don't know what you are doing, you must be an errant child, and we have put a childproof governor on the SX40 so that you cannot use those manual settings anymore." Obviously if we use a Manual setting it is precisely because we do know what we are doing! Canon needs to UPGRADE its firmware to make the SX40 at least as good as the SX30, not DOWNGRADE its features to make it worse. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& UPDATE: Many of you have asked me for an example of nighttime time-exposure photos* of Monterey Bay Harbor for comparison. Here it is. * [When I first made the video I did not yet understand the subtle distinction between "time-exposure" and "time-lapse" photos. The more precise term is "time-exposure," but the video still shows the less accurate term "time-lapse."] I agree that overall the Canon SX40 is an excellent camera. I still use mine during the daytime. I am not arguing about "overall." That is not my point. For me, personally, the SX40 has a fatal flaw, and a flaw that no one would normally expect in a camera of this caliber and price range. It won't take simple time-exposure night shots. Why not? I had to buy an older SX30 just to "upgrade" my full use of it. If you think that having to pay twice for what should have come in one camera in the first place put me in a good mood, then you would be mistaken. You may watch this short video, if you like, and see the evidence for yourself. If you disagree, then by all means please show me your evidence. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& SECOND UPDATE: There is another limit on the SX40. This one is in plain sight and it effects everyone who wants to use this camera on a tripod. Please see Page 16 of the Comments for more details. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& THIRD UPDATE: Another poster has stated the following, "Certain things in a camera are a given. 1) a true manual mode. 2) have the battery & memory card in a convenient place." This poster is absolutely right. Please see pages 17 and 18 of the Comments for more details. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& FOURTH AND FINAL UPDATE: March 11, 2012; Canon's conduct of imposing this ISO limit on the SX40 in secrecy has now been fully exposed for what it is by its own corporate rival, Fujifilm. After five months of fighting against this, I have now been fully vindicated by the openness and honesty of the Fujifilm corporation. I shall now be taking my leave of you on this post and I will be returning to my former routine of enjoying my own photography. See Page 22 of the Comments section for details. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& AFTERMATH UPDATE: March 31, 2012; I have come to the conclusion that the Canon SX40 is like a thoroughbred race horse penned up in a stable made for a dimwitted donkey. It is a camera with a tremendous potential over a wide range of photographic interests that is being held trapped inside a childproof box. After having tested the camera myself with CHDK - a form of public, hacker software for the camera, available for free download on the internet - I can see that the ISO limit is only a very small part overall of what is actually being limited. When you take those limits off of it by using CHDK, what the SX40 camera really can do is absolutely staggering. I don't like having to resort to a hacker program like CHDK to get the settings I want with the SX40. Unfortunately, it seems that CHDK is simply "the only game in town" if you want to have the freedom to use the Canon SX40 to its fullest potential. Please see page 25 of the Comments for further details. Best Wishes to All, and to All a Goodnight, John