General Features
Recording Images
Displaying and Editing Images
Supplied Software

General Features

Recording Media: The Canon PowerShot S400 Digital ELPH camera records on a Type 1 Compact Flash card. A 32MB Compact Flash card is supplied with the camera.

Image Recording Format: The camera records still images in JPEG format, and records moving images at 15 frames per second in Motion JPEG with monaural audio in WAVE format.

Camera Body: The camera offers a stainless steel body with a super-hard Cerabrite finish to guard against scratching.

Viewfinder and LCD Monitor: This camera features an real-image optical viewfinder and a 1.5" low-temperature, polycrystalline silicon TFT color LCD monitor (approx. 118,000 pixels). The LCD monitor allows you to view images being taken as well as review stored images. You can display detailed information on camera settings, shooting modes and replay modes through the LCD monitor.

Lens: The lens has a focal length of 7.4mm to 22.2mm, which is equivalent to 36mm-108mm in 35mm photography.

CCD Imager: The camera uses a 1/1.8" pixel CCD imager with approximately 4.1 million gross pixels and 4 million effective pixels.

Compression: The PowerShot S400 allows you to choose from three compression ratios for image quality: Superfine, Fine and Normal. 

Resolution: Still images can be recorded at one of four resolutions: Large--2272 x 1704 pixels, Medium 1--1600 x 1200 pixels, Medium 2--1024 x 768 pixels, or Small--640 x 480 pixels. Moving images can be recorded at 320 x 240 pixels or 160 x 120 pixels.

Artificial Intelligence AutoFocusing (AiAF): This camera employs wide-area, 9-point AiAF technology which uses a broad metering field to calculate the focal distance with precision. This works well for photographic subjects that are off-center. The AiAF function can be switched off so that the autofocus is metered from a fixed AF frame at the center of the field.

DIGIC Imaging Processor and iSAPS Technology: The camera features a DIGIC (Digital Imaging Integrated Circuit) chip, a dedicated image processor developed by Canon, designed to be very fast, produce improved image quality, faster autofocus, faster JPEG compression, better battery life and faster continuous shooting. The camera also features Canon's iSAPS (Intelligent Scene Analysis based on Photographic Space) technology, which uses a database of thousands of different photos to achieve precise exposure and true color rendition.

Zoom: In addition to the 3x optical zoom, the camera has a 3.6x digital zoom which, in combination, results in a seamless 11x zoom. Since the viewfinder will only show the optical zoom, the LCD Monitor must be on to use the digital zoom feature. The monitor will display the zoom values beyond 3x, indicating 4.3x, 5.3x, 6.7x, 8.2x and 11x as you advance through the settings.

My Camera: The PowerShot S400 has a My Camera Menu which allows you to customize your camera with your choice of camera theme, start-up image, start-up sound, operation sound, self-timer sound, and shutter sound. Each menu item has three choices. You can also transfer images and sounds recorded to the Compact Flash card to use as your start-up image and sound. The supplied software can assist you with the custom settings.

Auto Power Down: If you do not operate the camera for approximately 3 minutes while in the shooting mode (or 5 minutes in the replay mode), it will turn itself off automatically. When directly connected to a printer, it will power down approximately 5 minutes after the last control is accessed on the camera or something is printed on the connected printer. The Auto Power Down function will not activate while the camera is in slide show mode or while connected to a computer.

Self-Timer: When you use the self-timer function, the camera will take a picture either 10 seconds or 2 seconds (selectable in the menu) after you press the shutter button.

Lithium Ion Battery: The PowerShot S400 comes with an NB-1LH Lithium Ion rechargeable battery pack and a CB-2LS battery charger. Since Lithium Ion batteries do not develop a "memory effect", it is not necessary to completely discharge the battery before recharging it. It takes approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes to fully charge the supplied battery pack. To protect and prolong the life of the battery pack, it should not be charged for longer than 24 hours at a time.

Battery Performance:

Optional AC Power: The camera is compatible with the optional ACK500 Power Adapter kit (item #280ACK500). This allows you to use the camera for extended periods without worrying about running the battery down. 

Recording Images

Shooting Modes: The camera features the following shooting modes: 

• Auto: Most settings are automatically selected by the camera.
• Manual: The exposure compensation, white balance and other settings can be manually selected.
• Stitch Assist: Images are shot in an overlapping series to create a single panoramic image. Separate images are stored in memory and later "stitched" together using the supplied software.
• Movie: Shoots movie clips.

Movie Mode: The movie mode can be used to shoot movie clips in Motion JPEG format. The movie resolution may be set to 320 x 240 pixels or 160 x 120 pixels. Each movie clip can be up to 3 minutes long. Recording times will vary with the subject and shooting conditions, and recording will automatically stop when the maximum clip time is reached or when the CF card runs out of memory space.

Estimated Image Capacity of Compact Flash Cards:

Flash Modes: The flash can be set to the following modes:

• Auto: Flash automatically fires when the surroundings are dark.
• Red-Eye Reduction: A separate lamp located next to the flash glows brightly prior to the flash to reduce pupil size and therefore the red eye effect.
• Slow-Synchro: The flash timing is adjusted to slow shutter speeds. This reduces the chance that the background will be dark when shots are taken at night or in rooms with artificial lighting.
• Flash On: The flash strobes with every shot.
• Flash Off: The flash will not fire.

Flash Exposure Lock (FE Lock): You can lock the flash exposure so that the exposure settings are correctly set for a particular portion of your subject.

Exposure Lock (AE Lock): When the contrast between the subject and background are too strong, or when a subject is backlit, the automatic exposure (AE) setting may sometimes not be desirable. In those cases, you can set the exposure on the subject, lock it by pressing the shutter button down halfway, then shoot the picture after you have recomposed the shot. 

Continuous Shooting: There are two continuous shooting modes: Standard and High Speed. The interval between shots is shorter at the High Speed setting. The actual interval depends upon shooting conditions and settings. (Example: Shooting interval is approximately 1.5 frames per second at Standard Speed and 2.5 frames per second at High Speed with camera resolution and compression set at Large/Fine and the LCD Monitor off.)

Macro Mode: When the camera is in Macro mode and the lens is set to wide angle, you can record subjects 2" to 1.5' from the tip of the lens. When the camera is in Macro mode and the lens is set to telephoto, you can record subjects 11.8" to 1.5' from the tip of the lens. 

Infinity Mode: The Infinity mode should be used when photographing landscapes and distant objects. This mode can also be used for compositions combining both near and distant objects.

Sensitivity (ISO Speed): You can set the camera's sensitivity to Auto to let the camera select the optimal ISO speed. If you wish to reduce camera shake, turn the flash off in a low-light area, or use a fast shutter speed, you can raise the ISO speed manually. The manual settings include 50, 100, 200, 400 equivalents to 35mm photography. Note: Higher ISO speeds increase image noise. To take clean images, use as low an ISO speed as possible. 

White Balance: When the White Balance mode is set to match the light source, the camera reproduces colors more accurately. You can select from the following white balance settings:

• Auto: The camera sets the white balance automatically according to shooting conditions.
• Daylight: Use this setting for recording outdoors on a bright day.
• Cloudy: Use this setting for overcast, shady, twilight, or evening skies.
• Tungsten: Use this setting for recording under tungsten lighting.
• Fluorescent: Use this setting for recording under warm-white, cool-white, warm-white (3-wavelength) fluorescent lighting.
• Fluorescent H: Use this setting for recording under daylight or daylight type-3 wavelength fluorescent lighting.
• Custom: Use this for setting a custom value with a white sheet of paper to obtain the optimal white balance for the conditions.

Photo Effects: You can shoot images with different photo effects:

• Vivid: Emphasizes contrast and color saturation to record bold colors
• Neutral: Tones down contrast and color saturation to record neutral hues
• Low Sharpening: Records subjects with softened outlines
• Black and White: Records in black and white
• Sepia: Records in sepia tones
• Photo Effect Off: Records with no effects

Exposure Compensation: You can adjust the exposure compensation setting to avoid making the subject too dark when it is backlit or shot against a bright background, or to avoid making lights appear too bright in night shots. The setting can be adjusted in 1/3 steps from +2 to -2.

Long Shutter Mode: You can set the shutter speed to slow settings to make dark subjects appear brighter. You can select 1, 1.3, 1.6, 2, 2.5, 3.2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13 or 15 seconds. Special processing is applied to images shot at shutter speeds slower than 1.3 seconds to eliminate noise, thereby producing high-quality images.

Instant Review: After an image is recorded, it will appear in the LCD monitor for a preset number of seconds for reviewing. You can select the review time from 2-10 seconds in 1-second intervals. You can also turn off the review function. 

Displaying and Editing Images

Viewing Images: Still images can be played back on the camera's color LCD monitor, or the images may be transferred to a computer, where they can be displayed or manipulated with the use of compatible software. In addition, the images can be played back on a television, if the TV has an RCA composite video input.

Auto Rotate: The PowerShot S400 has an Intelligent Orientation Sensor that makes sure that your shots appear on the monitor correctly, whether they've been shot horizontally or vertically. The Auto Rotate function can be switched on/off in the menu. Still images taken with Auto Rotate off can be rotated through a menu function either 90 or 270 degrees clockwise in the display.

Playback Zoom: An image can be magnified approximately 10 times in the single image replay mode.

Index Replay : This feature lets you to display nine images at a time, allowing you to easily find the image you want.

Sound Memo: Using the built in microphone, you can attach a sound memo of up to 60 seconds to each image. The data is saved in a WAVE format file. The playback volume of the sound memos can be adjusted in the set up menu.

Slide Shows: All the stored images on a Compact Flash card can automatically be displayed one-by-one using the slide show  function. Each image can be displayed in the order in which it is stored on the CF card or up to 998 images may be selected and played in any sequence you wish. The amount of time between each displayed image in the slide show can be adjusted between 3 - 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds or manual. A repeat mode can be used to play the slide show continuously until you stop it. You can also arrange slide shows using the supplied software.

Editing Movies: You can delete unwanted portions from the beginning or end of a movie clip. Once edited, you can save the edited file as a new file (provided you have enough available memory) or overwrite the original clip and save the edited clip under the same file name.

Erasing/Protecting Images: Images can be erased one at a time or all images can be erased at once. Important images can be protected from accidental erasure. Note: Protected images can be erased if the card is reformatted.

Direct Print Function: Using the supplied USB cable, you can connect this camera directly to a CP-series printer that supports the Direct Print function. You can also connect the camera directly to certain Canon Bubble Jet printers. In this way, you can make prints directly from the camera without ever having to hook it up to a computer.

Exif Print (Exif 2.2): The Canon PowerShot S400 conforms to "Exif Print", a worldwide standard. Vital camera settings (such as: exposure mode, white balance, exposure time) and scene data are recorded to the image file when it is captured. Printers compatible with "Exif Print" are able to use this information to produce high quality photographs, exactly the way they were intended at the time of capture. This intelligent communication process also allows the printer to correct for poor lighting or mistakes, resulting in photos that can be even better than the originals.

Print Settings: Images on a CompactFlash card can be individually selected for printing by adding a print mark. For each image, you can select the number of copies and the print type. In addition, you can choose to have the date and file number appear on the print. These settings are compatible with Digital Print Order Format (DPOF) standards, so images can be printed conveniently on DPOF compliant digital printers or at participating photo labs.

Image Transfer: You can use the camera to specify settings for images that you wish to send by e-mail. The settings used on the camera comply with the Digital Print Order Format (DPOF) standards. Once images are selected for transfer, you can use the supplied software to actually transfer the images to an e-mail program. A maximum of 998 images can be selected per CF card, and are transferred in order from oldest to newest by shooting date.

Supplied Software

Minimum System Requirements: