Description

Shy and modest is so yesterday. Get ready for brilliance that's the center of attention once the PowerShot SD1400 IS Digital ELPH camera is in your hands. First glance says it all: nothing moves you like the impact of sleek sculpture, especially when it's drenched in the purest, ripest colors. Inside, Canon engineers defy micro-space with big, brilliant innovation. How do they do it? Who cares!

Customer Reviews

 Great compact Canon camera - Aug 31, 2010

I have always used Canon cameras- loved them all and this one is no exception. I love the color of the camera, image quality, ease of use, and best of all the HD movie function. The cameras image quality is very good and has good low light performance with the added bonus of the Image Stabilization. The startup time is fast, and time from shot to shot is fast as well. The camera is easy to use, but the smaller buttons take some getting used to. In addition, I find myself holding the camera a little awkwardly because of my big hands and the cameras small size- but I chose a small camera! Overall, great!

 Great camera!!! - Aug 29, 2010

This is a great camera, is really small, and have great quality pics and also the HD video works great....

 Love it, love it, love it. - Aug 26, 2010

The SD1400IS is my 3rd Canon power shot, so I am obviously a huge fan. Each time I decide to upgrade, I am instantly impressed with the improvements and wonder why I waited so long. This camera continues Canon's history of excellent performance and ease of use. It would take someone completely unfamiliar with a Canon about ten minutes to figure out how to use all the features. What I especially like are the 14.1 MP's, the size (very small) and the weight (extremely light). Oddly, the viewing area is huge, so the size has not affected the ability to frame pictures clearly and easily. This Canon is perfect to take on trips, to sporting events, anywhere that you want to be ready to take picture but don't want to lug anything heavy or cumbersome. It easily fits in a pocket.

This is also a great camera for the technologically challenged. The camera does all the figuring for you -- unless you want to put the controls on manual and figure things for yourself.

 Great camera, nice pics - Aug 25, 2010

This camera was perfect for taking on vacation, it fit right in my pocket, or when in the case, it was attached to my belt. I was able to take it everywhere, and the pics are very nice, the zoom works well, particularly up to 4X, but gets slightly grainy after that. Very nice camera for the price, would highly recommend.

 Defect - Aug 23, 2010

The camera seem great. It takes good pictures it has a hard time focusing though. It either focuses on the object or the background. Does that great pictures in dark lighting of objects.
The one complain I have is the camera arrived with the plastic slide cover being lose. It so happens that I lost it the first day I used the camera. Unfortunately I did not use it till after 30 days of purchase not I have a new camera that is missing a piece.

 Canon 770 vs. 1400 - Aug 23, 2010

I bought this as an upgrade for the 770 IS, which I bought about 2 years ago. They have improved the auto focus. The LCD now shows you what it's focusing on with little green boxes on the LCD screen. It's more auto than ever. The 770, you had to switch to "close-up" mode for any close-up shots. With this one, it's all auto. Also, it's easier to view the photos you've already taken with the play button. The camera is slightly smaller, and looks more stylish with the rounded corners. And I like the orange! The 770 only came in blah silver. It's a shallow reason to like a camera, I know, but the color options are nice. As far as I can see, the picture quality is not much different than the 10 MP SD770. I've seen the pictures on a 60" LCD screen, and I don't see any difference in quality. But the extra 4 MP is an impressive status symbol none-the-less! Ha ha - my car has more horse-power, and my camera has 4 more mega pixels, so there.
I would recommend this for anyone who wants to get decent quality pictures without the hassle of carrying around a bulky camera. It's the same size or smaller than a cell phone, and we all know cell phones take bad pictures. With this camera you can easily take it with you everywhere.

 Canon Powershot Review - Aug 18, 2010

Great Point & Shoot! Clear pictures, great flash, awesome display screen. Great portable camera as an addition to my Canon DSLR.

 Excellent Point Shoot Camera - Aug 11, 2010

I bought this camera for my grandpa who is over 80 years old.

So far he loves it and he is able to manage to navigate the screen with minimal instructions. To him, his favorite part is to shoot 720P movies and share with the family through youtube.

I played with the camera for one afternoon. My favorite part is the Fisheye effect. It is the lens you probably won't get with your DSLR. It's truly lots fun with the fisheye effect with different objects, especially to shoot my cat in the fisheye mode. Another great point to mention is the 28mm wide angle. Again, this is something you have to pay extra for on a DSLR camera.

With my limited testing, I can say this is great camera packed with lots fun features. If you have a DSLR, this is a perfect carry around camera to compensate for the extra lenses you don't have to carry around.

 Reasonable price, great little camera - Aug 09, 2010

"Picture and video of top quality. Compact/portable design. No viewfinder, but the LCD screen is fine as I don't use that anyway. Battery charger plugs straight into the wall. 4GB memory card allows approximately 1,058 shots or 21 min 23 sec of video. Would recommend for the amateur photographer

 CRAZY AWESOME CAMERA - Aug 09, 2010

I got this CAMERA from best buy and I fell in love immedietly. I pic quality is amazing and so is the vid. It is easy to use and very light, by the time the battery runs low your finger nails will be an inch long. It's got many cool adtions like a cable that can plug into your TV and you can watch the video in HD on the TV. The only thing is that the video likes to pick up noises in the backround but its not bad at all. This is a great camera and you should buy it right now.

 A Bit Slow - Aug 06, 2010

My teenage son, the expert in these sorts of things in our household, says that this new Canon PowerShot SD1400IS, which we bought about a month ago just before a trip, is actually NOT as good as our previous Canon PowerShot SD800IS Digital ELPH.

His main gripe is the slowness of the camera. The previous PowerShot (our first digital camera) was already quite slow compared to the film SLR cameras we were used to and we missed all sorts of shots because of the delayed reaction time. We're not even taking action shots, just normal subjects, at times in motion. Now my son is saying the new PowerShot is even more sluggish, which is frustrating.

Also, the new PowerShot is even smaller than the previous, and its smooth black finish makes it hard to handle and manipulate the controls. My son has dropped it once or twice as it slipped through his fingers, but fortunately he always puts the wristband on. Unfortunately, as others have mentioned, the wristband is not adjustable, so hangs there as a huge loop.

We hope Canon will address these issues in the future.

 LCD broke right away, now it's worthless! - Aug 04, 2010

The LCD on this camera broke within the first 2 weeks. It was somehow damaged while in my PC bag, which I can't imagine was too traumatic on the camera. I question the product quality. Also, of the few pictures I did manage to take before it broke, some were really blurry. You need to carefully push the button slowly until the camera focuses properly before taking the photo. This isn't practical when you're traveling and asking others to take your picture.
Overall I would not recommend this camera.

 Bad outside shooting results - Jul 29, 2010

When I looked at "The best ultra compacts" list of the SnapSort web site, I found out this camera as #1 within this category.
I was excited that this small size camera is very popular and has a very good characteristics. So I've bought it.
Within 1st week I made about 450 shots and was very disappointed.

Pros:
Small, handy camera, easy to operate, good price.
Not bad low light image quality.
Good videos.
Good quality of construction.
Looks like a good toy.

Cons:
BAD image quality for the following situations:
1. Flat and discolored people faces for outdoor shooting.
2. The glare is very strong in high noon sun.
3. Softness and discoloring on trees and grass images.

So, this is good camera when using indoor, but, on my opinion is not good for outdoor shooting or when using the Portrait mode.
I lost my 5 years old Olympus C7000 2 months ago. It did not have any new functions such as image stabilization, wide-angle lenses, high ISO settings, etc, but had a SUPER image quality and broad range of manual settings. (Unfortunately the Olympus don't have now any new cameras to replace my beloved C7000).
I returned the SD1400 back and bought the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3. It's more expensive but image quality is just INCREADIBLE for both outdoor and indoor shooting.
I don't recommend to buy the SD1400 camera, unless you don't care of REAL image quality for outdoor shooting

 The No-brainer Compact Camera - Jul 26, 2010

If you are looking for an ultra-portable camera that takes great pictures, and doesn't require any knowledge about camera settings, it doesn't get any better than this. I have the black model. It's sleek and stylish.

I also have a Canon S5 with lens and filters attachments, and gives me near-DSLR control over camera settings. But it is somewhat bulky, and therefore doesn't come with me most of the time.

The SD1400 is super-tiny. Fits in any pocket. It feels great in the hand. The rounded edges are a big improvement over past models that were somewhat boxy and sharp even thought they were small. The SD1400 is the slimmest Canon ever. The photo quality is impressive. Not as good as bulkier cameras with larger CCD chips, but if you are looking to get 4x6, 5x7, or 8x10 prints, or if you like to look at your photos on your HD TV or computer screen, this camera totally satisfies. I shoot everything at 9 mega-pixels, not at the 14 mega-pixel highest setting.

The Digic IV firmware is excellent. I love the auto-focus, image stabilization and face recognition. It keeps improving over previous Digic generations. There are many other features that can be quite useful, like blink recognition, and some I will rarely use. Fish-eye effect is fun, as is color swap. But you can also do these in post production. You have some control over settings, but Auto mode works so well, why monkey around? Get your shots and get back to enjoying what you are doing. This is the kind of camera you use to quickly document events in your life while barely being noticed. It's not for professional use. If you think of it that way, you will be very satisfied. Wide aperture range, good 4x zoom, and decent low light performance. Compares favorably with any small compact camera you can find today.

The HD video quality is excellent. 720P is perfect for my needs. While 1080P is not supported, my dual-core PC handles 720P much better during editing. And it looks great on an HDTV TV using a mini-HDMI-to-HDMI cable from Amazon. I wish am HDMI cable came with the camera, but cables are inexpensive online. I also wish you could use optical zoom while shooting video.

The SD1400 replaces my outstanding Canon SD870 8 mega-pixel camera, which three times had the dubious "lens error." This happened when it was in my pocket and the on/off button was accidentally pushed. The lens would partially extend and become knocked out of alignment. Two of the repairs were under warranty (Amex extended my warranty an additional year). The last error was 3 years into the camera's life. Fortunately, Canon has addressed the "lens error" problem. In the SD1400, if the lens is prevented from fully extending at startup, it displays a message, automatically retracts the lens, and the camera turns off. This is the much-needed fix to a long-time problem with Canon Powershot compacts. You can try it at a local electronics store. It really works!

Bottom line... Put the SD1400 in Auto mode and snap away. You will not be disappointed. It's the best, tiniest, sleekest, coolest compact camera in the market (until Canon raises the bar in another couple years).

 Improves on everything but image quality... - Jul 22, 2010

I have had many of these Canon ELPH cameras and am a huge fan of them. My most recent was the SD750 that we lost in a move. If you don't believe me on the MP argument and market forces, just search Amazon.com for the SD750 and look what a camera I paid $200 for years ago costs today. The new ones are in the $300 range (yes I undersand demand but that is in effect my point).

The ELPH series has always been a great line of cameras in my opinion. Having lost our SD750 and having a trip to Maui, we needed a new digital camera that would fit in a pocket. I assumed that I could not go wrong with a Canon ELPH so I grabbed the SD1400 IS and took it straight to Maui. We shot about 200 photos of the beach, restaurants, sailing trip, round of golf (including Kapalua Plantation). I have taken older Canon ELPHs on many (many) trips and have always come home and enjoyed the pictures we have taken. I have also enjoyed the Auto mode of those cameras. Let me first say something positive. The build quality of this camera may be the best I have seen from a Canon ELPH or any other point-and-shoot for that matter. Very, very nice build quality. However, early into using this SD1400 IS I saw that something was up with Auto mode as pictures in all sorts of situations just didn't look right... from color to lighting, etc. It got to the point where I would take a picture in Auto mode AND then take in Program mode hoping for a good result from either. It's like the camera was so smart it was trying to pick a "mode" in Auto yet the mode it chose was far from optimal. Far.

With that said, I just reviewed about 200 photos from this camera from our trip to Maui and I would have to say I am highly unimpressed with the results in comparison to my old 3MP and 7MP Canon ELPHs. I am very dissatisfied with what this camera produced. There are even pictures I took that looked amazing on the screen only to be OK-but-nothing-special when looked at on my Mac. How do you make Kapalua look average? If Canon wants to claim I have a defective unit and send me another one I would be more than glad to try again but at this point I just bit the bullet and bought the SD1300 IS hoping that 2 less megapixels will help.

Like I said, I have always loved this line of cameras and I have never had to "work" to take great pictures. Not only did I have to work to do so with this camera but even the results were less satisfying than what I am used to from a Canon ELPH product. Canon needs to take their own advice like they are doing in another line of cameras and exit the MP war and go back to what is important in a point-and-shoot.. easy and thoughtless picture taking with excellent image quality.

 just right - Jul 21, 2010

I was looking for a slim but feature rich quality camera. I have had canon's in the past but wanted to try something different. At first I bought a Samsung but it proved to be a bit too bulky. So far we love the canon my only complaint is that sometimes when shooting video it goes out of focus. no idea why.

 Canon Digital Camera - Jul 20, 2010

Can't expect less from this product. It's awesome! Image quality worthy of a Canon camera. Excellent for carry on. Video quality is awesome for being such a small camera. Excellent for night time pictures.

 Great Light Weight, Point and Shoot Camera - Jul 18, 2010

I purchased this camera after my old Olympus was ready to retire after roughly 10 years. Which is a testiment to the Olympus name years ago, I didnt feel the newer models were made as well. After researching for a camera that met my needs by today's technology standards, I choose the Canon. It is very easy to use, great response in bright and darker lighting while small enough to fit in your pocket. Although I havent had the camera too long, to date Im very happy with my choice and recommend to others..

 AMAZING CAMERA!!! - Jul 10, 2010

I just bought this camera yesterday. It was rated #2 on consumer reports. I looked at the reviews on many sites and decided to buy it. It is an AMAZING camera!!!! I previously had another canon powershot SD camera and I loved it, but it broke after I dropped it for the 8 millionth time ;). I am an amature photographer looking to expand my experience in photography. This camera has EVERYTHING you will ever need and it's crazy how smart it is! The picture and video quality is outstanding. The clarity and detail of pictures you get with this camera is better than ANY camera I have ever used! It is VERY small and light weight...PERFECT! :)

 Great secondary for a pro, or primary for a discerning enthusiast - Jul 07, 2010

I'm a professional photographer, and I got this camera as sort of a back up for hanging out with friends or other situations when I don't want to carry a large DSLR. I've been extremely happy with the performance in every way. It's very compact and light, the features are easy to use, and it's about as good as you'll get from a point-and-shoot in terms of image quality. Of course I'd like even sharper images and to be able to shoot low light without them being grainy, but I'm comparing it to a $5k DSLR in that regard--so for the price it stands up nicely. I would recommend this camera.

 A little disappointed!!! - Jul 05, 2010

I bought this camera on a whim after my old canon SD1100 got wet at the beach and I needed to take pics asap. Was surprised at all the features on this samll camera. The outside also looks great. Small & compact and easy to use. I loved the color accent feature on my old camera so I was happy that this camera also had that feature. Takes nice pictures but I truly feel like this camera cannot live up to SD1100. It is great for taking still pictures but for any action pics...forget it!!! It is too slow and the 14 MP is wayyyyyyyyyyyyy misleading. I tried using the fireworks feature last night since it was 4th of July and my pics are beyond blurry and it took almost 5 seconds after I pressed the button to get the shot for it to take the picture.....Ugh!!!!
I love Canon's cameras but this one is definetly my least favorite....

 A wonderful little camera for any occasion - Jul 04, 2010

Living in a household with a several of these Canon point-and-shoot cameras (among them the SD1100IS, SD1200IS, and the SD780IS), I purchased this camera as a convenient upgrade to a 3.2 megapixel behemoth I owned from earlier in the decade. So far, I am incredibly impressed at the feature set this camera has to offer.

In lieu of verbosity, I tend to like outlining the high and low points in a list:

PROS:
+Ultra-sleek and lightweight (this camera is so handy to slip into a pocket, you'll find yourself taking more photos straight away).
+Large, crisp LCD screen (of all the cameras I tried, this one seemed to have one of the better displays, and they finally removed the cheesy little viewfinder in place of the larger screen).
+Good photo quality (about on par with other digital cameras of this class)
+Very easy to use (in addition to the many shooting modes for every occasion [fireworks, kids & pets, portrait etc...], this camera provides little on-screen hints and helpful descriptions of all the features as you go through them)

CONS:
-A bit slow (the lag between shots and during focusing is sometimes a bit long)
-Tiny buttons (people like me who don't have such nimble fingers will quite likely hit multiple buttons at a time)
-A bit unstable (this camera, being so thin, does not stand on a table very well; it'll fall right over)


Now just in general about a couple of the characteristics people would like to know about:

BATTERY LIFE: I always recommend carrying a spare battery along with you for long trips and such, but the included 760 mAh Li-Ion battery is pretty decent. For most casual shooting, expect the battery to last comfortably for a day trip or to a few family gatherings before needing a recharge. Charging the battery is really snappy with the included wall charger (I would guess about an hour).

IMAGE QUALITY: For the kind of camera this is (ultracompact point and shoot), I found the image quality to be very good, pretty much on par with most of these kinds of cameras. As always, with a tiny camera like this, you'll see a bit of distortion with the wide-angle lens, and color fringing can be noticed in some cases. Nonetheless, for printing, e-mailing, and general sharing, this camera more than meets the grade with sharp, saturated images.

No camera is perfect (and so if I could, I'd probably give this one 4.5 stars), but this one is sure to not disappoint with its wealth of easy-to-use features, and clean, vibrant imagery. If there is anything to consider before purchasing this camera, it is whether or not its small form factor would be more burdening than helpful. Otherwise, I make no reservations when I say that this digital camera deserves your consideration.

 Very nice camera - Jun 24, 2010

Great on image stabilization and the picture quality is great too. Taking snaps of my kid while he was seated in a car ride in an amusement park was amazing with this camera - thats when we realized the image stabilization is too good with this camera. The fiber casing of camera body is just ok and i wish it were stainless steel or some metal. Other than that camera is compact, easy to use and carry.

 Very slow to take pictures - Jun 23, 2010

Have had the camera only a couple months and just recently used it for candid wedding shots. I've discovered it's almost impossible to get good candids because there is an extreme delay from the time the button is pushed to take the picture and when it actually takes. The "candidness" of any shot is gone before the flash goes off. Good for scenery and still shots but not worth much for what I want a camera to do. Would return it if I could.

 So far it's great - Jun 22, 2010

I lost my SD1100 in Vegas and needed a replacement. The main problem with the SD1100, which I basically loved, was that some pictures were grainy when I cropped them -- a MP problem. The 14 MP of the SD1400 virtually eliminates this issue for my purposes. The camera is also quite small and lite making it a go anywhere, any pocket, camera. It focuses well in good light but takes just a little coaxing in lower light. Not unlike the SD1100. Good screen size. I also like the push-button toggle from view to shoot. I'm still learning all the features but am quite happy so far. Some might not like the lack of a view-finder but I never used it on my SD1100 (used the screen) so I don't miss it.