The S404 is a large, chunky-looking camera with an unusual shape. A large handgrip on the right-hand side of the camera contains compartments for the battery and CompactFlash card, and a small rubber pad on the front of the grip makes the camera easy to hold despite the slippery silver finish. The thinner left side contains the lens and the LCD screen. Despite the aluminum and plastic shell, the S404 weighs in at a hefty 15.7 ounces.

There are nine buttons, dials, and keypads on the S404. Experienced digital-camera mavens will figure them out without peeking at the manual, but newcomers may be put off by the sheer number of controls. Fortunately, you can put the camera on full-automatic mode, using the top-mounted mode dial, and shoot away with good results. The on-screen menu is complete but complex; the camera smartly displays a streamlined just-the-basics menu when in full-auto mode.

Image quality was generally very good, but we did take a fair number of out-of-focus shots in dim light. In some low-light situations, the S404 would display an "in focus" indicator on the screen, even though the camera had failed to focus on the subject. The big 4X lens makes it easy to zoom in on distant subjects, and the lens is a relatively fast—f-3.6 at the longest zoom setting.

In the end, the S404 is a lot of camera for the money. Users looking for more megapixels for fewer dollars will find the S404 priced $200 to $400 less than comparable feature-rich cameras.