Hello,
I posted this on DPReview, I'm copying my two posts from over there. I didn't get any replies on DPR, it might be more interesting reading for CHDK forum members.
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4166466A couple of days ago I got this little gem, secret weapon, for $80 almost unused (like new). I chose it over S95/100/120 for great build quality and pocektability. I did try S120 once in a shop, but I didn't feel comfortable putting it in my jeans pocket due to the control ring and brick shape. On the other hand, SD4000 slips perfectly into ANY pocket due to its amazing shape and size, it's over 5mm thinner than S120 at its widest part which makes huge difference in pockets. The camera was clearly designed for pocketability and portability.
Needless to say, SD4000 is fast, snappy, jog wheel is great so I don't miss control ring, noise is incredibly well controlled for such a tiny sensor (even in RAW). To my knowledge, this is the world's smallest camera with
real aperture/iris - you can even control DoF a little bit! Low resolution 10MP BSI CMOS works great for low light shooting, and IS is great. The lens is sharp at f8, I've never seen such a small camera with real aperture control, least being sharp at f8. All of this explains SD4000 introductory price.
I instantly downloaded CHDK to try it out, and I can tell it's a great addition to my SD4000. It wasn't easy to set up but well worth the effort. I don't use auto-boot, I run CHDK occasionally for extra features. So now I move on to the issues which I cannot resolve on my own:
1) After the lens retracts in ALT/Playback, it's impossible to go back to recording mode and I have to restart CHDK. Since the lens retracts after 1 minute max, the only workaround I came up with is to press playback or shutter button DURING LENS RETRACTION, which aborts retraction and extends the lens. But this calls for incredibly fast reflexes. Is it possible to override lens retraction time? Could this be made?
2) I had some issues with DNG 1.3 so I'm using DNG 1.1 with badpixel.bin and it works great. ISO 3200 looks awesome. However, I discovered that
camera sometimes freezes when shooting DNG at slower shutter speeds and it seems that exposures from 1/15s and longer are affected. While it's still possible to write DNG at, for example, 1s exposure, you never really know what's going to happen. As the exposure time increases, the rate of failure increases as well. To make things worse, a couple of times camera froze while saving JPG at 1/15s and slower. I did try using a very fast card from my DSLR, but that didn't help. I suspect it's a memory/RAM issue, so there is good reason why Canon set limit to 1s exposure in Av, and disabled RAW in SD4000 after all. But again, I might be doing something wrong, or CHDK might be improved to manage DNG writing and RAM usage better. Shooting DNG is useful for high ISOs, but this kind of shooting is usually accompanied with slower shutter speeds. It's very handy to write RAW on such occasions.
3) Subject distance override doesn't work at all on my SD4000. Other overrides are shown in red font, usually in the top left corner, however, enabling S.D.O. does literally nothing. I tried using it with AFL, but still nothing. This feature is very useful for macro and low-light shooting, this is when I really miss manual focusing... Can someone instruct me on using Subject Distance Override on SD4000, or is it simply impossible to use? Can I control the subject distance with jog wheel, or zoom lever?
That's all for now. Zebra and histogram don't work as well but I don't really need that. I even found the lens profile for IXUS 310 HS which works very well for IXUS 300 HS/SD4000, since the lenses are quite similar.
To summarize:
a poor man's mirrorless, or wise-man's mirrorless? Let me tell you, I would be comfortable shooting an event such as classical concert, or theater play, with this amazing little cam and a spare battery in my pocket. Of course, not from the audience, but as an official photographer which is able to approach the stage and use 28mm at f2. In JPEG, it's good up to ISO 800, sometimes even ISO 1600. I came up with my own way of enhancing OOC JPEGs (only around 2MB in size!). For web and small journal/catalogue prints, SD4000 does the job! If you nail the composition, light and exposure, 99% of the people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between DSLR and SD4000. Camera is nearly silent, and you can reduce LCD brightness. You get more than 3 FPS. I did like the IQ and speed coming out of the latest G9 X Mark II, and I would consider paying $500 for such a tool if it came in the shape and size of an SD4000. But it doesn't.
Hey - did I mention my SD4000/ISUX 300 HS slips easily into ANY pocket?
