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SONY CYBER-SHOT DSC-S40

AA battery, 3x zoom compact digital camera

A review and photo example of the SONY Cyber-shot DSC-S40.

Table of contents

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Review

  1. Overview
  2. Usability
  3. Add info

1．Overview

The DSC-S40 is a compact digital camera released by Sony in April 2005.

Its main specifications include a 4 megapixel CCD sensor, a 3x zoom lens equivalent to 32mm-96mm in 35mm format, a real image optical viewfinder, and a 1.5-inch, 77,000-pixel LCD on the rear.

The sensor size is 1/2.7 inches, and the actual focal length at the wide-angle end is 5.1mm, which can be confirmed by converting it to a focal length of 32mm in 35mm format (conversion magnification 6.15).

The camera uses two AA batteries. The following batteries can be used:

  • Alkaline batteries
  • Nickel-metal hydride batteries
  • Lithium batteries

2．Usability

The camera responds well after pressing the power button, and you can take a picture almost instantly. However, the autofocus and autoexposure (brightness adjustment) tracking speeds are slow, so if you release the shutter in a hurry, you will end up with a blurred photo with inappropriate brightness. In terms of camera accuracy, it is not suitable for quick shots, but for taking pictures calmly.

The zoom-linked real-image optical viewfinder does not allow you to check the focus position, but only the shooting range.
The actual focus can be confirmed by the sound of focusing and the rear LCD, but the sound of focusing does not indicate where the focus is set (the camera only makes a sound when it determines that the focus is set), and the rear LCD specs are 1.5 inches and 77,000 dots, which is the specs from the early 2000s, so the quality of the displayed image is low and not very reliable.

Regarding the brightness of the captured image, since the exposure lock works, you do not need to adjust the exposure in the settings, so if you fix the exposure in a dark place and then point the camera at a bright place, you can take a bright photo with overexposure, and if you fix the exposure in a bright place, you can take a dark photo. Some compact digital cameras automatically recalculate the exposure depending on where the lens is pointed even when the shutter is half-pressed, so I like this camera that can fix the exposure.

The lens distortion in the JPG images is large, and depending on the subject, the distortion is noticeable. Affinity Photo 2 has lens distortion correction, but the DSC-S40 does not. However, if you select “Filter” > “Distortion” > “Lens Correction” > “DSC-S60” > “Carl Zeiss DSC-S60 & Compatible (standard)”, it will be corrected to a certain extent.

Many image processing software programs have a lens distortion correction function, so if you can’t find the exact model, you should be able to get a reasonable result by trying a similar model.

When executing, it is recommended to edit and save the copied image and keep the original image as it is, as future technological advances may allow for more accurate correction. If you are only interested in the results, you can edit the original.

Uncorrected
After correction

The auto white balance works well under sunny skies, but it becomes yellowish under LED lighting.

Also, the ISO sensitivity can only be set to auto in auto mode, and can be set from 80 to 400 in program and scene selection modes. ISO 200 or higher brings out noise, so I recommend using 80 or 100.

There is no shooting mode that allows you to set the exposure and shutter speed, and the only function that controls exposure, exposure compensation, is in the menu, so it is a bit of a hassle to change it depending on the scene. I think it would be better if it was assigned to a button, but the buttons are assigned to flash, quick view, metering method, and self-timer, so it’s a shame that there is no exposure compensation.

The flash also has a short reach, so I use it with it always off.

There are two types of images to shoot, fine and normal, and a 4-megapixel fine image is just under 2MB, so if you use a 2GB memory card, you can take more than 1,000 images. However, the image size of Olympus SHQ images is about 3MB, which is about 2/3 of the capacity, so the images are recorded more compressed than Olympus.

The compatible memory cards are Memory Sticks, and since it is also compatible with Pro, if you use the Memory Stick Duo Adapter MSAC-M2, you can use high-capacity cards of 2GB or more.

The advantage of this camera is that the battery compartment and memory card compartment are separate. In cameras that use round AA or AAA batteries and have a combined battery compartment and memory card compartment, when you open the cover to remove the memory card, the battery may pop out and reset internal information such as the clock and shooting settings. Especially in older cameras with worn-out internal batteries or capacitors, the moment the battery pops out, the settings are reset, so it is a hassle to set them up again, so it is a welcome design to have the battery compartment and memory card compartment separate like this camera.

As for battery life, I haven’t used it too hard, but I took about 100 pictures with two nickel-metal hydride batteries and there seems to be still some charge left.

3．Add Info.

The DCS-S40 uses the same basic system as the DSC-L1 released in October 2004, and the lens, rear LCD screen, sensor size, and pixel count are the same, making them like sibling cameras.

The differences between the two are threefold: battery, memory card, and viewfinder.

CameraDSC-S40DSC-L1
Battery2 x AA batteriesNP-FT1
NP-FD1(Infolithium)
Recorded mediaMemory stick /ProMemory stick Duo /Pro
FinderReal image opticsnone

Before I looked into the history of the DCS-S40, I thought that the DSC-S40 was released first and that the DSC-L1 was a smaller version of that, but I learned that the DSC-S40 was released later.

When I looked up the DSC-S series model number for this DSC-S40, I found that in addition to the S40, the DSC-S series also includes five other models: the S30, S50, S70, S75, and S85.
The S70 was released in March 2000, the S30 and S50 in April 2000, the S75 in April 2001, and the S85 in June 2001.
Looking at the commonality of the body casing, the S70 is a single body, the S30 and S50 have a common body, and the S75 and S85 also have a common body, so there are three body types, each with a similar design taste, and there is no doubt that these five models form the S series.
Among them, the DSC-S40 was released in 2004, at a time separate from the other S series cameras, and the body has no common features. In fact, it would have been fine to give it the same model number as the DCS-L1, which has almost the same camera functions. The reason this was not done is that the DSC-S40 is larger and cheaper than the DSC-L1, so it would not be desirable from a marketing perspective to sell it as an improved version of the DSC-L1, and so the name DCS-L2 was not given to it.

Specification

ItemsS30S50S70S75S85S40
Zoom x3←←←←←
Focal length39-117←34-102←←32-96
Lens BrandSony←Carl Zeiss←←←
Lens ConstructionUnknown←11elements in 7groups←←7elements in 6groups
Lens BrightF2.8-2.9←F2-2.5←←F2.8-5.1
Number of Pixels1.25 million2.02 million3.24 million←3.98 million4.1 million
Image sensor1/2.7←1/1.8←←1/2.7
FinderReal image optics←←←←←
LCD size
Number of pixels		1.8インチ
12万		←←←←1.5インチ
7.7万
BatteryNP-FM50←←←←2 x AA batteries
Recorded mediaMemory stick←←←←Memory stick / Pro
Weight(g)
Only body		316←310352←132
Size(mm)113×68×69←117×71×64←←99× 52× 34
Release date2000.42000.42000.32001.42001.62005.4
Body ColorSilver←←GrayBlackSilver

Options

  • Accessory kit ACC-CN3TR Suggested retail price 3,850 yen (tax included)
  • Accessory kit ACC-CN3 Suggested retail price 4,950 yen (tax included)
  • Memory Stick / Memory Stick Pro

Reference links

Update history

  • 2025.2.10
  • 2024.07.18

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