The Hunt for the Best Ultra-Compact Camera

Final Words

The Canon PowerShot S410, Casio Exilim Ex-Z40, and Pentax Optio S40 are cameras with similar dimensions and features. All three cameras offer a 3x optical zoom and 4 megapixel output. In addition, all three cameras have similar exposure controls allowing for the adjustment of white balance, ISO setting, exposure compensation, and AF points. In our tests, however, we discovered some major performance differences.

Starting with speed, the Casio Z40 has the fastest startup and shutter lag times. Also, it matches the Canon S410 with a very fast shot-to-shot time. The Pentax S40 proved to be the slowest camera with its 3.75 sec. shot-to-shot time and its super-slow 12.2 shot - to-shot w/flash time. We were also annoyed by the startup delay of the S40 while the flash charges during startup. Fortunately, we were able to disable the flash to avoid this startup wait. The Canon camera performed well in respect to shot-to-shot time with and w/out flash and also pre-focused shutter lag.

We were very impressed with the Casio Z40's auto WB performance under tungsten light. Unfortunately, with all other settings, the Z40 was either overexposed or had a slightly cool cast. The Pentax S40 showed decent color reproduction other than the occasional cool cast and underexposure. Overall, the Canon S410 showed the most accurate color reproduction capability. In addition, the S410 consistently produced vibrant, well-saturated, and balanced exposures.

We not only found the Canon to have the best color reproduction, but also the best resolution. In our resolution chart, the Canon S410 and Pentax S40 showed similar performances. They both proved to capture great detail. However, the S410 produced the clearest chart with a bit more resolving power than the S40. The Casio Z40 showed decent resolution. However, we noticed some moiré at its limits. When it comes to noise performance, the Canon takes the lead again. At ISO 400, the S410 retains an incredible amount of detail. The Pentax S40 came in a close second with a fair amount of detail, while the Casio Z40 was the worst with a large loss of detail.

In the end, we had to choose the Canon PowerShot S410 as the best camera of the bunch. It produces bright, colorful, well-exposed, and sharp pictures very consistently. The Pentax Optio S40 would be our second choice because of its impressive image quality and long battery life. The Casio Exilim Ex-Z40 had a lot of potential to be a great camera. For example, it has the smallest build, largest LCD monitor, fastest startup time, extraordinary battery life, and wonderful auto white balance in tungsten lighting. However, it simply does not deliver images that are of the same quality as the S410. It produces images with jaggies visible along straight lines and a high level of noise. Also, there is no option to select metering and it does not offer TV-out capability. To top things off, it is the most expensive of these three cameras. The choice always comes down to the user. If speed is more important than image quality, perhaps the Casio Z40 is the perfect camera. We chose a more well-balanced camera with excellent image quality: the Canon PowerShot S410.

Canon S410
Pros	Cons
Great resolution Excellent noise performance Produces very sharp images Great long exposure performance (low noise) AE and FE lock AF-assist lamp Very fast pre-focused shutter lag Very fast shot-to-shot time Decent shot - to-shot w/flash time Fast 2.8 fps continuous shooting Decent battery life	Poor AWB in tungsten light Some visible chromatic aberrations No live histogram

Casio Ex-Z40
Pros	Cons
Impressive AWB in tungsten light Very fast Shot to Shot time Very fast startup time No significant chromatic aberrations Very small shutter lag (with and w/out pre-focus) Outstanding battery life Internal memory Live histogram	Average resolution Poor noise performance at higher ISO levels Jaggies along lines and edges Moiré visible at resolution limit Slow shot-to-shot w/flash time No metering options No TV-out

Pentax S40
Pros	Cons
Great resolution Decent noise performance No significant chromatic aberrations Live histogram Internal memory 30 fps movie mode Very good battery life	Slow startup w/flash enabled Long shutter lag Slow shot-to-shot time Very slow shot-to-shot w/flash time "Stuck" pixels with long exposures Slight learning curve with menus

Thanks again to Newegg.com for loaning us the Canon PowerShot S410, Casio Exilim Ex-Z40, and Pentax Optio S40 for review.