Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I'll begin with the short review, since I know some of you just want to know the basics:

-Takes excellent pictures in close up, zoom, and at all times of day. The only time the picture is compromised is at full zoom if you are trying to shoot without a tripod. The candlelight setting can also turn out sort of orange if there is enough light in the room, in which case you can simply change to another setting.

-The camera is light and extremely portable. I haven't even bought a case for it yet and am carrying it around in my purse or backpack in the "sock" that it arrived with.

-With a 256MB memory stick you can take up to 10 minutes of video, or a combination of many pictures and a few minutes of video. (I haven't ever filled up the card just taking pictures, though I have filled it once with 8 minutes of video and around 50 pictures.)

-The pictures are very high quality at the default resolution and come out quite large. Every time I wanted to upload to the internet I scaled them down a bit so it didn't take forever to load, but I love that it takes such big pictures. I have set a picture of the sunset that I took several days ago as my desktop picture and it is not at all distorted and is very clear. The video is also higher quality than I expected and the audio is clear.

-The camera is extremely easy to use with a little common sense. I haven't even had to open the manual because everything has been so self-explanatory. I can change settings at will and the camera adjusts instantly. I even figured out how to turn the sound off without looking in the manual.

-Something of huge importance to me, this camera takes pictures quickly. There isn't a huge lag time between pictures as the flash reloads, like with so many digital cameras. You can point and click to your heart's desire without getting the annoying phenomenon of pushing down the button and having nothing happen.

Now for the long-winded version:

I've had my Cybershot for nearly a month and have been extremely pleased with my purchase. For the past four years I have been dealing with my family's 1.3MP digital camera that, while certainly a reasonably mid-ranged camera at the time, is now quite outdated and due for an upgrade.

After reading as many reviews as I could get my hands on and asking the advice of anyone I knew who owned a camera, I decided on the Sony Cybershot because it had the most positive reviews, and a friend of my mother's owned the 5.1MP version and loved it. I had originally intended to buy a cheaper camera that didn't have quite as good of reviews, but now that I have the Cybershot I'm so glad that I didn't.

I got mine for $164 from one of the Amazon Marketplace sellers and it came more quickly than I even hoped it would. The camera was so much lighter than I expected, even with batteries it is scarcely heavier than my cell phone. It is also very compact and fits nicely in the palm of your hand, but isn't so small that you feel like you might drop it. I would recommend keeping the wrist strap on at all times, however, if only for your own peace of mind.

As for picture taking and quality, I have no complaints. The first thing I did was go outside and take some close-ups of my mother's sunflowers and the pictures came out beautifully. The colors were vibrant and the picture was in focus; what more could I want? Some people have complained of fuzzy night time shots, and while I agree that it is difficult to get a perfectly clear picture with the full zoom extended without a tripod, I am still happy with the vitality of the colors in night time pictures.

A huge plus that I hadn't even taken into account was the video ability of this camera. As I was shopping I noticed that you practically couldn't find a 4MP digital camera that didn't have a video feature, I honestly didn't think that I would ever use it. Was I ever wrong. Within the first week of owning the camera I got a perfect opportunity to use the video feature; a situation where the subjects I was trying to capture were too far away to get decent pictures, and were moving to fast to get a clear shot. I decided to try out the video feature in this, the most demanding context I could think of, and it performed wonderfully. The video was of surprisingly good quality considering it was taken by something not intended for capturing high quality video, and the audio was also clear and recognizeable. I consider this to be a major plus.

I still can't get over the portability of this camera, compared to my clunky old 1.3MP which weighed surely twice as much. I would never just cart that thing around wherever I went, but my new camera comes with me everywhere. It is amazing how many more photo opportunities you find when you have a good camera with you.

I also found the menus to be completely self-explanatory (I haven't even cracked the manual yet) and with a 256MB memory stick I can take up to 10 minutes of video or as many pictures as I can stand of the deer in my back yard.

As I mentioned above, I was so happy with how quickly I could take pictures. With the old 1.3MP it took forever for the flash to load and I would often miss shots because I couldn't get the timing to work out. With this camera that problem no longer exists, and I am immensely pleased to be rid of it.

All in all this is an excellent camera and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in an easily used digital camera that takes decent shots.

I had the same problem as a previous reviewer. The camera stopped working pretty much the same day as I got it. It turned off randomly by itself, with the lense cover open. However, since the lense was open, the camera would not turn back on until after very many tries. Then, it would only turn on in review mode, but as soon as you switch it to camera mode, it would shut off again. I thought my camera was defective so Amazon.com sent me a replacement. The replacement camera did the same thing!
I have to note that when it actually did work, it was easy to use, and the pictures were great. I just wish that it worked properly.

There is a workable solution to the white screen of death problem, as offered by A. Jacobe as a comment to Rachel Ellen's Sept 4, 2006 post. This is a good camera when it's working but unfortunately, while within it's Sony warranty period, my S40 suffered 3 episodes of the white-screen-of-death (apparently, based on other reviews, this is not an uncommon problem and is seemingly, a design/software flaw that Sony is not acknowledging). This problem relates to the LCD screen turning white and the camera becoming inoperable. Changing the batteries does not fix this problem. I sent the camera for warranty repair twice. First time back (diagnosed as "Main Power Flex" problem), the repaired S40 lasted less than a month. After the second repair (diagnosed as "battery door problem"), the white-screen death appeared again within one week! By then, I knew that I either had a lemon or that the authorized Enfield, CT, repair facility wasn't good at what they do. I also did not want to spend any more time and money sending it in for a futile 3rd repair. Wish I had read Jacobe's resetting tip earlier - would have saved me all the needless aggravation. Jacobe's solution is to reset by pressing all 3 buttons on the back of the camera(MENU; Display/LCD on/off; Image size/Delete) simultaneously while turning on the camera. This is a workable but short-term solution as the camera, with its integral flaw, will continue to "excite" with the unpredictable white screens of death. Imagine having the paparazzi shot-of-the-century just a click away and your S40 coughs up a white screen and refuses to work. Time for me to get a new digital camera.

First of all, let me say that I am NOT a camera bug or a photographic expert (neither digital nor film) so this is a new learning experience for me. I am very impressed with this product.
It delivers professional results and is easy to use. Newbees like me can get great results with the AUTO mode, then when you have the time to do so, you can experiment with the manual settings for custom results. The nice thing about digital (with a computer) is that you're not throwing away expensive materials (ie film) in order to learn. You can just delete your failures and try again. When you get a pic that looks printworthy you can either print it using your PC or you can connect the USB cord (supplied) directly to a photoprinter (if said printer has a standard called PICTBRIDGE). There are many settings that you can control (ISO sensitivity, EV, White Balance and other settings that shutterbugs are familiar with) or you can set it to AUTO and let the camera set it up for you. It uses JPEG format and you can get much detail setting it to 4 megapixels but these pics turn out BIG (almost 2 megs). If you don't want your pics that big you can set them down to 3.2, 3,1, or VGA and they still look very good, but they are smaller and easier to store. The camera is about the size of a bar of soap and fits very easily into a pocket. You can also take "webcam" type movies. The documentation comes in print and on the CD and is excellent, going into much detail on how to use the manual settings for best results. My only disappointment is with the Photo Editing program that comes on the CD. This program dosen't offer much for editing your pics on a PC (no problem for me though. I have PhotoDeluxe). If you have a good editing program that came with your printer (or scanner) you might want to use it instead. I think the software included with this camera is more suited for HandyCams (video cameras).
The camera has 32 megs of onboard memory which allows you to shoot 16 pics at 4 MPs, 20 at 3MPs, 50 at 1 MPs and 196 at VGA.
It has a slot for a memory stick if you choose to buy one. If you do decide to buy one of these cameras, do yourself a favor and buy some rechargable NIMH batteries, because I'll tell you ( and anybody with digicam experience knows this) alkaline batteries do not cut it with this camera. It comes with 2 alkalines and I think I took all of about 12 pictures before they were WIPED OUT! I then tried some regular Everready alkalines I had just bought and they wouldn't even power it up. The NIMH's that I bought work excellent and last long in between recharges. So, all in all, would I recommend this camera? Absolutely!!

I've had this camera for a couple years and it takes excellent pix. Better color than all my friends' digital cameras (more true-to-life). Would have given it 4 stars for price/quality, but I got the dreaded white-screen last week. Couldn't find a fix in the trouble-shooting pages in the manual. Thought I'd have to throw it away, but I went online and found a solution (not from Sony). Just tap lightly with your knuckles on the "Cybershot" logo on the front. The screen comes back! You might try this before sending back in. Others have said Sony charges about $100 to fix this problem.

What a great little camera. Perfect for my needs. I take photos of jeans for my A1Jeans.com store. Also used it for some "before" photos of my daughter's new (and not so clean) apartment, in case we need them come time to get back her deposit.

The menu lettering is very tiny & my eyesight is not so great, so my only complaint is having a hard time reading menu options. But, I did figure out how to take super high-definition photos, and also great small-file photos that are great for emails or my internet photos. Still great definition for such small files.

Definitely does eat up the batteries. Even though I knew it did, because of the reviews here, I was still amazed at just how quickly they were used up.

Also, the camera's memory really is SUPER limited. If you don't get the memory stick, which I plan to do, you can expect to have it filled up only half-way through a kid's birthday party, if you even get that far, and if you're not close to a computer to download the photos, you're done. In taking photos of my daughter's apartment, I took them in high-definition & had to stop to download them to the computer probably 5 times. I'll definitely be buying a few memory sticks for any type of outing & buy batteries at Costco in bulk! But, with just about 1/2 hour of learning the basics of this camera, I can just click & shoot & get great photos. Gotta love Sony for a great product.

Oh, and the software that came with the camera is incredibly easy to use. I'm so impressed. Didn't need any time for "learning curve" with the software. Just flip a switch on the camera, attach the USB cable from the camera to a USB port on your computer, open up the software & click on the big button that says "automatically copy photos," and voilla! Then, the photos show up as a gallery & at the top of the screen there are a few simple icons....rotate right, left... The easiest photo software I've ever seen. Great for an amateur or someone who just doesn't want to deal with anything other than a quick download, rotate the photo & that's it. I'm used to just a quick touch-up job with Microsoft Paint, so just opened the photos up into the program I already knew for any touch-up.

Love it. Love it. Love it.

An excellent no hassle, worry free camera that fits in your pocket and delivers excellent pictures. The Zeiss lens makes this camera awesome. I have had my doubts about digital cameras but this little gem delivers crisp, clean sharp images that exceeds the quality of my Canon A1 SLR camera. Very easy to use and download.