Sony Cybershot DSCS40 4.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

by Sony

Product Details

Product Manual [1.80mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 6.2 x 3.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0007VTUB2
• Item model number: DSCS40
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (101 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,295 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 1, 2005

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Sony's Cybershot DSCS40 provides 4.1-megapixel resolution and 3x optical zoom in a compact body. From its Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens to its Real Imaging Processor, its AF (Autofocus) Illuminator to its Slow Shutter Noise Reduction, the camera is engineered to be sleek, fast, and versatile, getting you the photo you want right when you want it.

1/2.7-Inch 4.1 Megapixel Super HAD CCD
Super HAD (Hole Accumulation Diode) CCDs provide excellent image quality by allowing more light to pass to each pixel, increasing sensitivity and reducing noise.

3x Optical/2x Digital/6x Total Zoom
3x Optical Zoom helps you frame your shots for better digital pictures. And Sony's Precision Digital Zoom provides an additional 2x magnification without the jagged edges of other designs, resulting in smoother images.

0 to 10x Smart Zoom Feature (at VGA Resolution)
The Smart Zoom feature intelligently uses the full CCD to let you zoom into the portion of interest by cropping the image size, thus avoiding the image degradation of Digital Zooms.

Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens
The Vario-Tessar lens is specially produced for very compact cameras. This specialized design allows quick auto-focus, appealing zoom range while still maintaining a compact design.

Real Imaging Processor Technology
The innovative Real Imaging Processor in the DSC-S40 not only improves picture quality and clarity but also improves camera response time, decreases shutter lag and improves battery stamina.

Optical Viewfinder
Provides accurate framing at eye level, great for added stability and following fast moving subjects.

1.5-Inch LCD Monitor
The 1.5-inch 77K LCD Monitor makes framing shots and reviewing pictures easy.

14-Bit DXP A/D Conversion
Sony's 14-bit Digital EXtended Processor captures the range between highlight and shadow with up to 16,384 values, for extended dynamic contrast and detail.

Auto Bright Monitoring
To help framing in low- or no-light situations, CCD gain is briefly increased to provide an extra bright display on the LCD viewfinder just before exposure.

5 Area Multi-Point Autofocus
By evaluating 5 separate focus areas of the frame, Sony's Multi-Point AF system can intelligently focus on the subject and avoid mistakenly focusing on the background.

AF (Autofocus) Illuminator
An amber light briefly illuminates the subject, in low- or no-light conditions, helping to establish a positive focus lock.

Selectable Focus Mode
Monitoring AF (Auto Focus) helps you anticipate the action by focusing even before you press the shutter release.

Multi-Pattern Measuring
Independently light-metering 49 points of the frame, Multi-Pattern Measuring establishes the optimum exposure, even when highlight and shadow isn't centered in the frame.

Auto Daylight Synchro Fill Flash
If the Multi-Pattern Measuring system determines the subject is backlit or in shadow, fill flash automatically fires to provide optimum exposure.

Pre-Flash Metering
With a momentary pre-flash, the camera illuminates the subject and sets exposure through the lens for accurate flash metering. Adjustable flash level and red-eye reduction ensure great flash shots.

Slow-Shutter Noise Reduction
During long exposures, Slow Shutter NR captures the scene, and then the CCD noise pattern with a dark frame exposure. By subtracting the two, even long exposures can be clear.

Memory Stick Media and Memory Stick PRO Media
Digital. Powerful. Transportable. Memory Stick media is compact, portable, and rugged, connecting a variety of hardware and software applications.

32MB Internal Memory Included
Shoot without a flash memory card with 32 MB internal memory; slot for optional Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO media. Full 32MB of internal memory can be copied to optional Memory Stick media.

4 Shot Burst Mode
Capture up to 4 shots (fine) at 0.7 frames per second even at 4 MP resolution. Capture up to 30 shots VGA (standard). Perfect for high speed subjects or fast moving action such as sports or small children.

MPEG Movie VX Standard/Fine Mode with Audio
Captures VGA (640 x 480) high frame rate (up to 30 frames per second) audio-video clips with length limited only by the capacity of the media. Video mail mode captures smaller file sizes suitable for e-mail.

Playback Zoom, Trim, and Resize
During playback, magnify any portion of the image up to 5x and trim to the area of your interest. Then, save the new image as a new file in any of the image sizes available from the menu.

PictBridge Compatibility
Connect to any PictBridge compatible printer with the supplied USB cable and print directly from the camera. Images can be viewed and selected for printing right on the camera's LCD, with menus for print quantity, date, and index print.

Stamina Battery Life
Incredible battery life compared to previous cameras. Capture approximately 110 shots with supplied alkalines; approximately 550 shots with optional NiMH rechargeables

Product Description

Cybershot DSCS40 4.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

202 of 208 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BIG value for the price, June 14, 2005

By 

Calvin (SF) (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sony Cybershot DSCS40 4.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I got this camera for one hundred and seventy seven dollars here at Amazon. It packs alot of power for a small camera at a very low price. Here's what I like about it:

* Small compact size. I wouldn't exactly say this camera is meant for you pockets (although it would fit) as it's thicker than the slim design cameras that you may have seen. However, the thicker frame is what I like about it. It's very comfortable to hold with two hands - very good ergonomic design...fingers to not get in the way of the flash, lens, or viewfinder. I've tried taking pictures with the Canon Elph, and the thinness of that camera is very awkward (not good if you grew up with traditional point and shoot cameras).
* Excellent, excellent battery life. Say goodbye to proprietary batteries. This puppy uses two AA batteries. If you invest $20 for rechargeable Energizer Ni-Mh batteries (4 batteries and a charger), you'll find yourself taking picutres non-stop. My prior digital camera was a Sony P-50 that also used two AAs. That camera killed off my Ni-Mh batteries after only about 20-40 pictures depending upon flash usage and how long I left it on. The S-40 didn't drain my battery until I took about 200 pictures (the vast majority with the flash on - and I didn't try to conserve the battery). I think it can take a even greater amount, because the 200 was when I 1st got the camera and started playing with all the features wasting battery life.
* Relatively fast shutter. Press half-way to focus, then press all the way - practically no lag to take the picture unlike the older digital cameras.
* When using a Memory Stick Pro, the S-40 can take video with sound at 640 x 480 fine quality - good enough to burn onto a DVD and watch on your TV.
* Intuitive menu buttons on the camera...also has limited programmable camera features (i.e. ISO settings, EV, white balance, flash strength, center vs multi focus, etc.).
* 32 MB of internal memory - probably won't ever need with my 512MB memory stick, but nice to have just in case.
* 3X optical zoom on a Carl Zeiss quality lens.
* The 35mm equivalent is 32 to 96 millimeters. What this translates to is that the camera has a wider angle (so you can capture more in the frame without backing up) than a typical 35mm camera lens. Check out the 35mm equivalent on the other "micro" digital cameras and you will find that they are something like 38mm to 102mm, which means you have to backup to capture the same amount of detail. The higher mm rating is good for zooming, but worse for group photos. It's alot easier to move forward to your subject (for a manual zoom) than to move backwards (for a manual wider angle) in crowded areas.
* Takes good pictures...much better than my old Sony P-50 (which I got in 2001).

If I had to list one complaint about the camera, it's that in low lighting any picture taken with the subject greater than about 10 feet away (which is about the flash strength area) will show up "dingy" and the background will be in dark faded colors. HOWEVER, I surmise that ALL point-and-shoot digital (and conventional) cameras have this problem as well. Unless you can attach a larger flash to the camera, which isn't an option on point and shoots, this problem will always exist. Only SLR digital cameras will good pictures in low light with subjects greater than 10 feet away. The S-40 does have a night scene mode where it makes the shutter very slow so more light is captured - in this mode, the camera will take good low light pictures, but you have to use a tripod for this mode.

Overall, for under $200, I highly recommend this camera. You don't need to spend anything greater as this camera will do the trick. 4.1MB is more good enough for photos as large as 8x10.

100 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as small as I thought, April 9, 2005

By 

C. MCKINLAY (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony Cybershot DSCS40 4.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

Well, just got this camera 2 days ago. Used it quite a bit for my daughters swimming lesson this morning.
My old Sony DSC-S50 was just too big to be convienient and finally we upgraded to this newer model.

Photos - excellent. I used a 2.1 MP for so long, a 4.1 really is a lot crisper. Cropping in photoshop leaves a much better image now.
Video - excellent. Memory Stick Pro on FINE mode makes for excellent video with sound. Sure does chew through the space though. 512 MB stick holds just 6 minutes of video.

I dropped a single star because I was thinking this camera would be about the same size as the L1, but it really is quite a bit thicker. It still fits in your jeans pocket, just not as slim as I was planning.
We'll keep it - maybe upgrade in another couple of years.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Buy, October 30, 2005

By 

Ahmad A. Mumtaz "amumtaz" (Palo Alto, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sony Cybershot DSCS40 4.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

If you are seeking a decent camera around US$150 or less with 4 Mega Pixel or better than this is an ideal buy. Like most of sony products, it is easy to use and is of great quality. You can snap photographs in seconds. There is also a great movie mode. So you can make some good movies at 30 fps. This means the movies are full motion and do not seem jerky .... However, if you do not have the camera mounted on a stand your hands motions may create dizzying pictures. So be careful :-)

90% of the time, you would want to take pictures at 1Mega Pixel setting. That means, each picture size would be less than 500k. So essentially, the internal memory can take upto 64 images if not more. However, if you get a Memory stick card of atleast 256Mega bytes, you can store over 500 images in the camera.

One point of caution. I did not see a direct interface to connect to TV. Nor was any cable provided except USB for PC communications. So if you wanna hook it upto a TV, look for some other camera.


I also bought the Sony recharger with batteries. And usually the batteries last me atleast two weeks if not more on one charge. I highly recommend getting rechargables. They may be expensive inititally, but are cheaper in the long haul.