Canon SD990 IS

Canon SD990 IS is Canon's Ultracompact camera first announced on September of 2008. It comes with a 15 MegaPixel, CCD 1/1.7" size sensor with a full resolution of 4416 x 3312. The camera is referred to as "Digital IXUS 980 IS" in some markets.

The SD990 IS comes in at #77 out of 151 in Ultracompact cameras and over all #1056 out of 1465 for digital cameras in our collection. Please check our Advanced camera filter to get camera results based on your customized criteria.

The following is a graph of various factors used in the rating system.

You can look at the SD990 IS from different angles in the gallery below.

Here is a list of advantages and disadvantages of the Canon SD990 IS based on things which are usually regarded as important in a camera.

The specification of the sensor in the Canon SD990 IS is 7.44mm x 5.58mm (1/1.7"). The 42 mm² sensor is able to capture 4416 x 3312 pixels using aspect ratios of 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9. The camera has got Image Stabilization (Optical). Sensor stabilization is superior than digital stabilization as the latter can easily produce cropping.

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The CCD sensor boasts 15 megapixels and gives a native ISO range of 80 - 1600. Unfortunately, RAW files are not supported so the user has less room to maneuver in post.

The graphic underneath illustrates the SD990 IS's sensor size compared to other common sizes. The SD990 IS sensor comes with a crop factor of 4.8 and is outlined in green.

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To get a sense of different aspect ratios, you should refer to the visual below.

Canon SD990 IS is 0.45 lb (205 gr or 7.23 oz) and the physical size of the camera is 98mm x 62mm x 28mm (3.9" x 2.4" x 1.1"). The weight of average Ultracompact camera is 121 gr so the Canon SD990 IS is weightier as compared with other rivals.

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Down below is a picture of the Canon SD990 IS alongside a softdrink so you can have a sense of its size.

The top view underneath will show you the button design on the SD990 IS.

The SD990 IS has got a built-in lens having a focal range of 36-133mm making it a 3.7 x zoom which won't be very good nevertheless it is likely to be handy in some conditions.

At it's widest 36mm, the lens provides an aperture of f2.8 which is somewhat sluggish and not great in low light circumstances and you might find it hard to capture good bokeh. You could also need to boost your ISO which causes noisy files. With the long end, 133mm comes with f5.8 which is very slow and you may have to use slow shutter speeds.

The SD990 IS has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes

Digital cameras that come with NFC and / or Bluetooth compatibility can be used wirelessly with smartphones. You will be able to transfer photos and oftentimes adjust settings with no need to connect physically with the camera.

A few apps also enable a Liveview and release the shutter in case you are not near the camera. If the camera boasts a HDMI out, it can be connected to an external screen. Many cameras enable you to recharge the battery pack with the USB socket.

The highest possible video resolution in the Canon SD990 IS is 640 x 480 and it can record in Motion JPEG format. 480p is terrible by today's standards. You should really strive for a minimum 1080p resolution for video recording. The body does not offer a mic and / or headphone jack so you get absolutely no control over your audio. It is perhaps best to shop for another model in case you need better audio in your video clips.

Canon SD990 IS does not have environment sealing so rainy conditions could affect the camera.

The Canon SD990 IS comes with a 2.5" fixed display having a resolution of 230k dots.

Please note that the display screen offers no touch support.

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The View Finder specifications regarding Canon SD990 IS are as follows:

• ViewFinder Optical (tunnel)

Viewfinders are very useful in sunny outdoor situations which can easily make the camera display washed out and hard to view.

Canon SD990 IS is able to shoot continuously at 1.0 frames per second. The maximum shutter speed is 1/1600 sec.

Canon SD990 IS has got just inbuilt flash with no external flash support. The max flash sync is 1/500 sec.

Canon SD990 IS has got only Contrast Detect Autofocus and is missing Phase Detect Autofocus. Phase Detection focusing is a lot more quicker and precise as compared with Contrast Detect focusing. The camera comes with Face detect which is helpful for portrait photography.

Canon SD990 IS lacks manual focus. Manual focus is good in low light occasions or you want to have more exact focus control.

The average Ultracompact camera battery life is 214. Nikon L32 has the best (320) battery life in this category of cameras.

Listed below is a list of Ultracompact cameras which have the best battery life:

The following graph gives a summary of the Canon SD990 IS for various categories of photography. To view more, go to the specific paragraph underneath.

The Canon SD990 IS has a rating of 37 which is lousy, meaning that it is not really very good to use for portrait photography. Shooting portrait images favors heavily to sensor dimension, support for RAW files plus the potential to utilize external lighting.

Having a modest points total of 54, the Canon SD990 IS is relatively acceptable to buy for street photography. A very good street photography camera provides a fine balance of image quality and portability.

A lousy sports photography score of 35 means the Canon SD990 IS is not really very good for shooting sports. A camera needs to have great tracking plus fast shutter speeds for sports photography.

Portability is super critical in buying a travel camera. Over-all, the Canon SD990 IS gets a modest 57 for a travel camera which makes it relatively suited for your travels.

For anyone who is looking to purchase a camera for landscape photography, the most essential aspect will be image quality. The Canon SD990 IS with it's lousy rating of 34 for a landscape camera is not really very good amongst it's rivals.

A vlogging camera really should offer a moving display screen, mic input and ideally IBIS. Considering everything, the Canon SD990 IS is not really very good as a vlog camera as it gets a lousy rating of 27.

If you are looking for replacements to the SD990 IS, below is a number of the top ranked cameras that fall in to the class of Ultracompact.

The graph below shows you a summary of the SD990 IS versus it's highest scoring rivals suggested previously.

These are various other cameras you may view as alternatives. To look at a thorough comparison, click the "compare" link.