Canon PowerShot SD990

The Canon PowerShot SD990 IS is a medium sized and curvy compact point-and-shoot. Available in two colors, black and silver, it's a camera that will fit easily into most pockets but is still large enough that it feels substantial in-hand and the controls are easy to manage.

Front
The front of the Canon PowerShot SD990 IS arranges almost all the features around the smallish 7.7mm - 28.5mm, f/2.8 - f/5.8 lens. Above the lens and slightly offset to the left is the window for the optical viewfinder. Below and to the left of this is the auto focus assist lamp. And next to that is the pinhole microphone for video capture, thankfully out of the way of your fingers. At the top right of the front, also near the lens, is the built-in flash.

Back
The back of the Canon PowerShot SD990 IS is mostly taken up by the 2.5-inch LCD display. Above the display is the viewfinder, which is just a small window in the plastic. To the left of the viewfinder are a couple of indicators. To the right of the LCD are most of your camera controls. As is typical of Canon there is a 4-way controller that assigns functions to each direction: Up for ISO, left for Manual Focus or Macro, down for Burst or Timer and right for Flash. Surrounding the 4-way is a rotating dial that allows you to adjust various settings depending on your mode and menu status. Below the 4-way are the Display and Menu buttons. Above you'll find Print and Playback buttons. Above these is the mode dial with options for Auto, Program/Manual, Quick Shot, Special Scene and Movie modes.

 

The mode dial on the back is something of a departure.

Bottom
On the bottom of the Canon PowerShot SD990 IS you'll find the tripod mount slightly offset from center. Most of the right side of the bottom is taken up by the battery/memory card cover. The iinterestingly shaped small rubber plug shown here is a cover that, when removed, reveals the A/C adapter option built into the proprietary battery.

The battery bay and tripod stand are found on the bottom.