Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon IXUS 400 Digital Camera [4MP 3xOptical]

I love this camera. It's small, compact, looks great and takes fantastic quality pictures. I did a fair amount of research before buying this camera and have been pleased that it lived up to my expectations.

Pros: It is small but substantial enough for you to know you are carrying it around. It looks and feels like a precision piece of engineering. The picture quality is fantastic and the facilities for reviewing stored images is very good. It is quick to start, you are ready to take a picture in a second or so. It has some good features, most of which I will rarely use, but the stitch assist for panoramic photos is good, as is the macro lens setting.

Cons: It is very diffucult to see the LCD screen in very bright sunlight, although is probably true of other cameras as well - I don't know (in all other lighting conditions the display is crystal clear and very bright) - this makes use of the viewfinder necessary. Occaisonally in dim conditions, the autofocus focuses on the the wrong object or doesn't focus at all.

Overall, I am very pleased with this camera. If you want a compact which you can simply "point and shoot" and get excellent results ( but at the same time have a number of manual options to dabble with) this camera is ideal.

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This is my third digital camera, and I think the first that finally lives up to my desire for something that’s not only small and stylish, but takes really good images too. The Ixus 400 is living up to this pretty well so far.
A good thing is that although it’s small, all the buttons are fairly big and easy to press, and it feels natural to hold since there are not that many controls on the back where your thumb falls. The shutter release is full-size too, which is good, though I don’t find the action of it very satisfying. Still, it’s easy to do a half press without accidentally taking the photo.
It seems extremely easy to use. There are just a few essential buttons on the back, and a nice, clear menu system that puts my old Nikon to shame. The manual mode is easy too. With previous cameras I’ve avoided using the manual controls because getting to them through the menu systems was so painful. The Ixus just needs a flick of the mode wheel and a press of the ‘Func.’ button. Dead easy. You don’t have full manual control, but you can adjust enough of the settings to give you a decent photo in most situations.
You can also customize the camera’s various settings to suit you, and even choose from three ‘sound themes’ for things like button presses and self-timer warnings. Annoying perhaps, but it’s fun having a cock crowing just before it takes the shot in self-timer mode!
The monitor seems every bit as bright and sharp as you’d want.
I’ve been impressed with the images I’ve taken so far. Macro shots, inevitably, look particularly impressive, and close-ups of flowers and leaves printed A4 size on glossy paper look like illustrations from a coffee-table nature book. Do this and you’ll hear your friends say, ‘You took that with THAT?’ Otherwise, it seems to have a knack for getting the exposure right, and the AiAF focussing does a great job. I particularly like the way it shows you on the screen which of the nine autofocus ‘zones’ it’s using, so you can tell beforehand if it’s going to get it right. Usually it does, but you can override the AiAF quite easily.
And as long as you pre-focus, response is quick. It’s pretty quick to come to life too, and shot-to-shot times are not bad, although they seem a bit slow when you’re playing back (it zooms in and out of the images with alacrity though, using the zoom lever).
One thing I really like is the orientation sensor that keeps your photos the right way up on screen. Great for slide shows through your TV.
What don’t I like? Well, not much. As usual you don’t get a case, and Canon’s own Ixus case is a horrible thing that pointlessly makes the camera twice the size.
Battery life is hardly spectacular too. It’s adequate, or pretty good if you just use the optical viewfinder (which is very clear and zooms) and keep your use of the TFT screen to a minimum. My biggest gripe with this camera is that there’s no indicator to show you your battery’s getting low. All of a sudden you get a message to change the battery, and the camera shuts itself down, which means that you really need to have a spare battery with you. I can’t help wondering how long the rubber cover for the USB port will last too. Everything else on the camera seems built to last though. The nice chrome ring around the lens attracts the worst fingerprints…

Overall, it’s a very small, very stylish, beautifully made camera that’s a doddle to use and takes excellent, very high-resolution images that look impressive printed on A4 paper. I love it.

Amazon delivered my IXUS 400 on the expected date. I opened up the box and saw it for the first time. The thing is tiny! (87x57x28mm)I had the camera up and running as soon as the supplied lithium-ion rechargeable battery was charged up. The camera started up with an image and sound which was something I hadnt seen on a camera before. You can also upload your own images and sounds to the camera to make your own custom theme using the Zoom Ex browser software. The camera itself feels well made and the finish on the metal body gives it a nice shine as well as not showing up any marks or dust. The 3x optical zoom lens makes the pictures clear and sharp, even in low light conditions using the flash. The camera has auto mode but also manual shooting where you can adjust your own exposure/iso/white balancing settings as well as applying digital effects to your pics. The movie mode is good for short clips with sound but not to be used as a replacement to a video camera (only 15fps)I used the camera with a 256mb Viking Compact and have had no problems. I can store 123 pics at maximum quality on this card and approx 2074 at lowest quality. The lcd can be seen in bright sunlight because of the anti-reflective coating on it. The controls are easy to follow and well placed. I cant find anything I don't like about this camera yet. If you want to see an in depth review as well as some sample shots I recommend a visit to http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_s400.asp all the info you will need to choose this camera is here. The quality of the pictures are stunning at all the 4mp compression settings (normal, fine + superfine) with low noise levels and no visible purple fringing. The flash lights up the entire room its so bright. It seems to flash twice within the space of a normal 1 flash time but this isn't the red eye reduction because that is on a seperate orange lamp so canon must have included a preflash to get the actual flash settings right. This can sometimes dazzle people if you are close up. The replay mode can playback pictures and movies with full sound including picture "narration" on slide shows. The TV output allows you to view your images on a tv (no 16:9 widescreen ratio option available)instead of having to download to a pc when using the included A/V cable. So this is the best compact camera you will ever buy which In my opinion has image quality to rival the canon g3 camera.

I wanted a digital camera with an excellent quality and price. Canon have achieved both. I am not a professional user or fanatic, a family man who wanted to have digital photos, a compact camera and something the whole family could use . Had the Camera a month now, I have found it has coped well in all conditions and delivered fantastic pictures first time without intervention.I have bought a 128 card, thinking I might need to buy another, though I can't see why I would as long as I could down load them regularly. The battery does perform well, I bought a spare but have yet to use it based on daily and week end use. A spare is good, as the warning you get when the battery is low is poor. The only critism I would make.
I wanted a compact camera, I was having a debate on 3Mor5M pixels based on quality and price. I debated the sony P10 but Cannon won, 4M is more than enough for my use and the compromise I was looking for and the cannon colour balance was fantastic. If you are having the same debate go for Canon.

If you are a person of my profile, family use, holiday shots, and want a camera small enough to go any where buy this one.

Firstly, the build quality of this tiny camera is fantastic- full metal jacket!, the lens is incredible (3x optical zoom), and the colour realism is the best I've ever seen on a digital camera. Canon have produced yet another great ixus, but this time with a massive 4 mega pixels. The anti red eye is greatly improved (I've currently taken about 400 pictures and not seen one red eye yet!), and the detail is stunning - especially on Macro mode, (with large settings @ super-fine), I took a photo of a small house spider, and on my monitor it looks like it was the size of a bath tub! and you can see every hair on every leg.

The Automatic intelligent focus (9 point) seems flawless too

Another improvement is that the Ixus battery now lasts longer because the camera is less power hungry, also night-shots on manual settings are crystal clear if you've got a tripod (or a seriously steady hand!)
fantastic camera!, deserves to be the market leader.