Regardless of whether you’re still thinking of buying the Canon SX40HS or you already own the camera, nothing beats reading the owner’s manual cover-to-cover to get a comprehensive understanding of operating the camera, camera settings, features and the available range of functionality.
Canon has officially released two Adobe PDF instruction manuals that you can download to your hard drive by right-clicking the links below:
- Canon PowerShot SX40 HS – Camera User Guide – 12.9 MB, 220 pages.
- Canon PowerShot SX40 HS – Getting Started – 2.3 MB, 36 pages.
If the direct download links didn’t work for you, visit Canon USA’s official Brochures & Manuals page for the SX40 HS and download from there.
The manuals are not password-protected, so you are able to print them.
There is a “Copy” watermark displayed on every page though, and copying text from the PDFs do require a password.
On a personal note, I’m disappointed to find, on page 84 of the Camera User Guide, that the macro mode only works from the end of the lens at maximum wide angle.
At this focal length (zoom point), you can focus on a subject in the 0–50cm (0–1.6ft) range, but close-ups taken at wide-angle generally don’t look great.
The reproduction ratio (how large the subject appears in the final photo) would be pretty poor too, something to consider if you like snapping pictures of bugs or very tiny objects.
Related
Canon SX40HS – Main page