Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS – tiny body, spacious controls
Thumbs Up:
Well priced; attractive design; tiny
Thumbs Down:
No marked upgrades over its predecessor except high resolution
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
The Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS is a 14.1-megapixel point-and-shot-camera. It has CCD optical sensor of 14,500,000 pixels resolution. It features DIGIC 4 image processor, frame movie shooting mode, face detection, Image Sensor Shift Optical image stabilization and 4x digital zoom. The maximum shutter speed is 1/1500sec and minimum is 15sec. The memory card slot supports SD Memory Card and MultiMediaCard for external storage.
The digital camera has inbuilt 2.7-inch color display of 230,000 format and built-in mono microphone. The built-in flash features 1-13 ft. and AF illuminator. The flash modes are Red-eye reduction, Flash OFF mode, Slow synchro, Fill-in mode, and Auto mode.
The UA lens has 5-20mm focal length and F/2.8-5.9 aperture that features 4x optical zoom. The Canon SD1400 IS has inbuilt lens shield, TTL contrast detection auto-focus and nine zones. The minimum focus range is 1.2 inches and macro is 3-50cm.
The exposure compensation is ±2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps and exposure modes are: Program and Automatic. The SD1400 IS has three types of exposure metering: Spot, Center-weighted, and Evaluative. The white-balance is of three types: Automatic, Presets, and Custom. Its presets are Tungsten Light, Fluorescent, Daylight, and Cloudy.
The light sensitivity levels are ISO Auto, ISO 1600, ISO 800, ISO 400, ISO 200, ISO 100, and ISO 80. The shooting programs are Night snapshot, Stitch assist, Portrait mode, Slow shutter, Kids & Pets, Underwater, Low light, Fireworks, Foliage, Indoor, and Beach. The special effects include Custom Effect, Positive, Black & White, Sepia, Neutral, and Vivid.
The PowerShot SD1400 IS supports JPEG still image format and H.264 video format. The video capture resolution options are: H.264 640×480, H.264 320×240, and H.264 1280×720. The still image storage resolution options are: Normal, Fine JPEG 4320×3240, JPEG 3456×2592, JPEG 2592×1944, JPEG 1600×1200, JPEG 640×480, and JPEG 4320×2432.
The connector set includes 1×USB, 1×Composite video/audio output, and 1×HDMI output. The SD1400 IS has self-timer delay of 2 and 10 seconds. The additional highlights are Safety Zoom, Direct Print, DPOF support, Wink Self-Timer, AF/AE Tracking, Contrast Control, Sharpness control, Exif Print Support, Histogram Display, Smart Flash Exposure, Saturation Control, PictBridge Support, In-camera red-eye fix, Digital tele-converter, YouTube capture mode, USB 2.0 compatibility, Digital noise reduction, Face Detection Self timer, 720p HD movie recording, RGB primary color filter, Display brightness control, Scene Detection Technology, Blink Detection Technology, Face Detection WB/AF/FE/AE, Motion Detection Technology, I-contrast (Intelligent Contrast Correction System, Smile Detection Technology, and Camera Orientation Detection.
Accessories supplied inside the box are a USB cable, one A/V cable, drivers & software disc, battery, power charger, wrist strap, and reference material.
Razzle Dazzle:
The Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS has similar design like its predecessor the SD490 IS. It is 3.6 inches wide, 2.2 inches long and 0.7 inch deep and weighs 4.7 ounces. The digital camera is compact enough to fit easily in your pocket. It is available in pink, black, orange, and silver colors. The color of lens barrel matches the body color for giving an uniform look.
Inside Dope:
$249.99 priced the Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS is a lightweight, attractive and ultra-compact digital camera. It looks quite similar to the previous SD940 IS and shares most of the same features including 28mm equivalent wide-angle lens, digital and optical image stabilization, 2.7 inches LCD display and 4x digital zoom. The PowerShot SD1400 IS has 14.1-megapixel resolution, which is an upgrade over previous 12-megapixel of the SD940 IS. You will find some creative shooting and shutter-release timer options in the SD1400 IS, but there is no other improvement as compared its predecessor. The shooting performance, battery life, and picture quality are average. The SD1400 IS remains one of the best ultra-compact point-and-shot cameras in sub-$250 range. It easily retains the first choice for the casual users looking for a basic camera.
We like that the Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS is very easy to use even with large hands. The controls are flat and flash within the surface, which gives a smooth appearance to the digital camera. On the downside, it is a bit difficult to use the four-way directional pad with center Set/Func button. You can use this pad to adjusting pick timer settings, flash and focus modes, and exposure. The zoom rocker, shooting mode switch and other buttons are small in size, but still remain easy to use. The menu interface is straightforward and simple. You have to use the Set/Function button for mode specific shooting options and Menu button for standard menus. We like that you can also turn on the onscreen explanation for shooting options.
The mini-HDMI output and mini-USB/AV ports are located behind a small road on top right corner at the back. The memory card slot and battery is also located behind another door.
The shooting mode switch located on the back has three options: one for Auto, second for Movie mode to capture up to 720p HD, and third for camera mode. The camera mode gives access to Program Auto Mode and the scene modes such as Stitch Assist, Long Shutter, Fireworks, Snow, Foliage, Underwater, Beach, Low Light, Indoor, Kids & Pets, and Night Snapshot. There is also a Smart Shutter option that has smile-activated shutter release. You will also find Face and Wink Detection self-timer, Color Swap, and Color Accent. The Miniature effect blurs the frame’s top and bottom and boosts the color saturation and contrast, which gives a painted model look to the subjects. The Fish-eye Effect produces the picture as seen by a fish eye lens.
For the Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS, the time from power on to first shot is 1.5 second. The average shot-to-shot time is 2.7 second and 4.9 second with flash. The shutter lag is 0.5 second in bright lighting and 0.7 second in dim light. The continuous shooting speed is 0.8fps. The shooting performance of the SD1400 IS is good for still objects, but not good for moving subjects.
The time from power on to first shot is 1.7 second for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP8, 1 second for Nikon Coolpix S640, and 1.5 second for Samsung DualView TL225. The shot-to-shot time with flash is 2.4sec for the Panasonic mode, 2.7sec for the Nikon and the Samsung model.
The picture quality for the Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS remains the best below ISO 200. The captured images exhibited good details and perfect colors in bright light. We liked that the noise and its reduction was balanced while testing. The color consistency remained good up to ISO 800 and there was yellow blotching and a bit shifting above that. The details looked softer, but barely visible up to ISO 1600. The Low Light mode captured pictures at 3.5-megapixel resolution from ISO 400 to 6400. Its resulting pictures looked grainy and the yellow blotching was visible in some darker areas. Overall, the pictures looked digital and soft while viewing at full screen (100%) regardless of any editing, setting and conditions. If you want to do a lot of cropping and editing to the images, then the SD1400 IS is not for you.
The SD1400 IS provides the accurate color performance and pictures look bright in natural lighting. The auto white balance appears warm in indoor shoots, so you can select the preset as per your requirement. The overall exposure is average, but the highlights appear blown out.
The mild barrel distortion is visible at the widest lens position, especially more at left side. The lens exhibits good sharpness at center, but looks soft on the left side. The pincushion distortion is not visible even at fully extended lens position. The natural amount of purple fringe is noticeable in the high-contrast objects, especially while viewing the pictures at 100%. However, it is normal for a basic point-and-shot camera.
The Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS provides the better video quality as compared to a pocket HD video camera. However, you cannot use the optical zoom while recording.
The PowerShot SD1400 IS runs on the Canon NB-4L lithium ion rechargeable battery that has a life of 230 shots.
Nitty Gritty:
Except higher 14.1-megapixel resolution, there is no improvement in the SD1400 IS as compared to the SD780 IS and the SD940 IS. However, if you need an ultra-compact digital camera with good quality then the Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS remains a better choice.
