What do you think about the limited "manual" mode?

The SD 990 IS has a so-called manual mode. I selected it precisely for that feature (the other feature I wanted was the optical viewfinder). I had a SD 790, which I loved, but had trouble composing images on the screen and I wanted more control over aperture and shutter speed.

Before I bought the camera, I even downloaded the user manual so I could get as much info as possible about how the camera's features worked.

When I finally had the camera in my hands I was surprised and VERY disappointed to find that the "manual" mode didn't work anything like I expected. I thought I'd be able to select any shutter speed and any aperture. That's NOT how it works. True, you can select any shutter speed. But then the camera gives you the choice of one large aperture and one small one. Nothing in-between. So of course you really can only choose the matching shutter speed to get the correct exposure! I checked with Canon's tech support to be sure the camera wasn't defective and that I wasn't missing something about how to set it.

Now, we could have a long discussion about the practical effect of this (with lenses like these, aperture has much less effect on depth of field, for example). But still, I'm very annoyed.

Don't get me wrong: I loved the SD790's image quality and so far the SD990 appears to be excellent as well. The camera has a bunch of other great features.

What do you other SD990 owners think about this? Other camera owners? Would you find this acceptable in a camera that claims to have a manual exposure mode? Would you buy this camera if manual control was important to you?

Here is a quote from the Canon press release on the 990 (IXUS 980)


Creative shooting options
For those looking to take their photography to the next level, the Digital IXUS 980 IS offers a first for Digital IXUS: a Manual Mode that allows control of shutter speed and aperture. This is ideal for unusual lighting situations or expressive, experimental shots. For split-second photo opportunities, a second new mode – QuickShot – uses the optical viewfinder for framing and focusing, virtually eliminating shutter lag.

It does not appear that you have control of shutter speed AND aperture as you had expected and Canon has misled you to believe. I would have to agree with you that this camera does not have manual control as you have described its operation. If your goal was to be able to advance your photography skills this camera does not appear to allow for that function. I would not buy a camera without true manual control i.e. control which allows me to over or under expose the image at will.

Thank you, Larry. Your answer was helpful. I'm leaving the question open to get input from other folks.

Where I'm coming from is that I already have fairly good photographic skills, having started with a Leica M2 way back in the 60s, and eventually learned to use view cameras and medium format as well. Changes in my life make having an ultra-compact (and light) camera the best option, but I don't want to give up control of how I make my images. So I am, in a sense, a "newbie" when it comes to this type of camera but pretty experienced with photography in general.

I would agree that the manual control in the SD990IS is pretty limited and certainly would have been much nicer to have full manual control over aperture and shutter. Those who are accustomed to full manual control are likely to be disappointed to some degree. What I do like about the 990 is that it does give a person a way to adjust the shutter speed and also have control over the flash through flash compensation. The aperture control is pretty non-existent. Canon could be said to "overstate" the features, but on technical grounds it does give you "manual control" over shutter and aperture (picking one or the other it gives you) and over flash compensation. Would I substitute the 990 for a DSLR? No. But it can be a supplement to a DSLR when size, weight, or circumstance won't allow a DSLR. The Canon G10 would be more in line with full manual controls, but it's getting pretty close in size and price to the entry level DSLR which would offer several advantages for many people. Improvements in most camera lines seem to be more incremental these days than revolutionary. Overall I've been pleased with the quality of picture and also some of the features (face detection self timer for instance), are very good. The size has been helpful in having a camera more often than not when the right moment presents itself.

Thanks, Steve. My use of flash -- in my personal photography -- is very limited but I was favorably impressed with the inclusion of the control of flash output. You hit my reason for owning an ultra-compact camera right on the head: I can have it with me at (almost) all times. I don't want a DSLR camera, it'd just go in the closet with the other camera gear that's too heavy and bulky for me to carry on any but special occasions.

This design puzzles me: it's just a control function written into the firmware, and it shouldn't be a problem to include full manual control in this camera

Kimboi, have you considered the Canon G10 (or 9 if you can find one still). I carry mine in a small fanny pack and have it with me always. this has resulted in several pics that otherwise I would have missed. It also keeps me thinking photographically all the time which I like since I pay more attention to my surroundings. The G10 has a wider angle lens and the G9 has a longer telephoto. Since you are willing to use a P&S camera, the Gseries is top of the line and fits in a jacket pocket or small purse/fanny pack.

Also, I think you may be expecting a bit much of a small Point and Shoot camera. Like Larry said, I would try upgrading slightly to either a Nikon L300 (brand new, pretty nice, and lots of manual controls -- check it out if you haven't), or even the Canon SX10 (though its manual functions are also slightly limited) might have what you're looking for as far as manual control in a point and shoot camera.

Larry, thank you for the suggestion. (Originally, I misread it to refer to the D 10!) I'll have to take a closer look at the G10; but that extra $120 would be a problem for me right now... in fact the step up from the SD790 to the SD990 was a bit of a stretch. Unless there's some miraculous windfall, I'm afraid it's out of my reach.

Aditya, I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my question. You're right that I should be looking beyond the Canon line... but just about every site I've looked at says that Canon's cameras have the best image quality. I'd been very skeptical about small digital P&S cameras until I got the SD790, which convinced me that they can be real photographic tools -- not just snapshot cameras. (I can't find any info on a "Nikon L300," did I misread your post, too?)

My expectations were based on how Canon described the camera in their published specs and advertising and that's why I bought the camera. A good number of people think that size has something to do with a camera's feature set. Particularly in the case of this issue, it really doesn't. It's just a matter of what they put on the camera's chip. As several people have said, the ultra-compact size and weight is very significant to me because I can (and do) carry it pretty much at all times.

My hope is that Canon will start selling an improved model that actually has the feature they advertise this one to have. Also nice would be to have a "program shift" mode: if you don't like the shutter/aperture combination the camera selects, you can shift to other combos that still give the same exposure; I'd like shutter-priority and aperture-priority modes, too: you pick one of those values and the camera selects the corresponding one based on its exposure analysis.

Sadly, given today's economic realities, I'm not sure how much money any camera company is going to be putting into developing and marketing new gear.

I hope nobody thinks I'm knocking this camera: I like it a great deal! I'm just annoyed that Canon claims it has a feature that it really doesn't. I'm bothering to go on about it because I think the camera is one of the best out there!

Sorry, I misposted, I meant Nikon L100.

Here are the size/weight for the G10 and the SD990:

G10
Dimensions (WxHxD)

4.30 x 3.06 x 1.81 in./109.1 x 77.7 x 45.9mm
Weight
Approx. 12.3 oz./350g (camera body only)



SD990
Dimensions (WxHxD)

3.81 x 2.45 x 1.10 in./96.7 x 62.2 x 27.9mm
Weight
Approx. 5.64 oz./160g (camera body only)

Thanks for the correction. I'll take another look.

I must note, though, that the G10's feature set includes "manual exposure mode" just like the SD990. How is one to know whether it's really manual, or as limited as the SD990? (Obviously, you have to actually get your hands on the camera and check it out.... which is the point here, you shouldn't have to do that in order to make a buying decision.)

If you look at the detailed reviews of the G10, such as on dpreview, Steve's digicams, etc, they list a bunch of manual controls that are present in the G10. I think the G10 has all the manual controls you will ever want.

Steve, thank you again. I think you have some valid points re marketing decisions Canon may have made regarding what features to include to avoid cannibalizing sales from other models. I do feel (strongly) that the features the SD990 does have should have been described accurately to the consumer. I'm not sure that I'd get the G10 (if I could) because it weighs more than twice as much -- even though the dimensions are not a great deal larger (about a half-inch longer and wider and 3/4 of an inch thicker.)

Aside from the misleading description, the implementation of the "manual" mode just plain doesn't make sense to me. Since you can already change the exposure value (over or under) a couple of ways, why would you want to have to manually select the shutter speed corresponding to one of the two available aperture values? I'd just as soon have the camera choose the correct shutter speed automatically if I only have the choice of a large or small aperture. That'd have a certain photographic validity (given the limited effect of aperture on depth of field in this format). But even there the problem is that you don't really have control over blurring or stopping motion. I just don't get it.

Well, you can have some control over blur or stop action in the manual shutter area. I've used it on moving streams/waterfalls to give a more blurred motion to the water. You can set it in scene mode for quick action shots (kids & pets) which will certainly up the shutter speed and pretty much give you what you can tweak out of manual. Yeah, depth of field is very, very limit with its small lens and some have suspected that the SD990 actually doesn't contain an iris that opens or closes on aperture settings, meaning it is all accomplish digitally. If that rumor is true, than depth of field by aperture selection really doesn't exist. Some have concluded that the lack of a mechanical iris is the real reason you cannot select aperture settings randomly or out of sync with what the camera gives you to choose from. I think it is inherent in the small camera format unfortunately. I didn't realize the G10 would come so close in size. When I looked at them side by side in the stores the G10 seemed really big compared to the SD990. It may be because of the squareness of the G10 and the bigger lens that protrudes some. Thanks for the thread and discussion. A valid one for sure.