Canon XS

The Canon Rebel XS, a basic 10.1 MP Reflex EOS model with separate body and lens, with a DIGIC III processor, worth 500$ at the time. The lens used is a standard 18-55mm with IS (Image Stabilizer). Release in 2008.

Canon SX40 HS

And the Canon SX40 HS, a one-piece consumer-level 12.1 MP,  with a DIGIC 5 processor, worth 400$. The lens is a built-in 24-840mm 35X with IS (Image Stabilizer) and ultrasonic focus. Released in 2011.

The battle seems interesting and I first presumed that the SX40 would outperform the old Rebel XS since 3 years of development separates them and they are both in the same price range, however as you will see, the SX40 is cheap and gives an overall poorer pictures compared to a basic Rebel.

Noticeable aberrations on sides of image

The first bad point about the SX40 is that noticeable distortion appears outside the center of the image, something that I never noticed on the Rebel XS.

Image Quality

The second thing I noticed on the SX40 is that it does not perform well for closeup shots (macro shots). In both automatic and manual shooting mode, there is no way to get as much resolution as the Reflex XS. On regular shots with the flash, both are comparable and the SX40 performs well. As soon as you turn off the flash (which I often do to have more balanced colors), the Canon Rebel XS wins. See these comparison shots below. The colors are all washed out in the second picture while the skin pattern is still clear on the first one. On average it takes 4 or 5 shots with the SX40 to get one that is crisp - while under the same conditions all shots are good with the older Rebel XS. Note that both pictures where taken with the same settings at the same moment (ISO 800, Large image size, same distance, automatic colors, single-point focus on the chameleon's body) :

Zoom/Crop - Canon XS - ISO 800 - No Flash

Zoom/Crop - Canon SX40 HS - ISO 800 - No Flash

For references these are the original pictures

Original file - Canon XS

Original file - Canon SX40 HS

Other differences

For one thing they have fixed the problem where if the SD card is ejected too quickly after opening the little door, the Canon XS doesn't have time to write the table of content and the SD card appears corrupted. There are other noticeable improvements on the SX40 such as the automatic subject finder (Intelligent Subject Analysis System) which is impressive - artificial intelligence coding was done inside the processor and it works well.  If you buy the SX40 for its zoom, note that the last stretch of the zoom is not satisfying - consider it like a 25X - the last 10X is just useful for Canon's marketing department

Conclusion

My conclusions are that the SX40 HS optics were optimized for long-range shooting and not so for macro shots. I does well on movie recording too. It feels like a 200$ camera equipped with a big lens in a large body, below professional grade. On the other hand the Canon XS feels like a 600$ camera locked down on the megapixels and sold at 500$.

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