Third,
the front of the camera, including the lens trim and the lens
barrel trim, are finished in extremely fine concentric circles
that are not easily discernible to the naked eye, but which make
the camera catch light, and reflect it. (The image above is
a crop of the macro shot of the SD10 shown at the top.)
The external controls on the SD10
are few. The narrow top of the camera has the ON/Off switch which
is flush mounted to the surface; and the shutter release. The
shutter release is a standard 2-stage type, allowing for auto-exposure
lock (AE-L) and autofocus lock (AF-L) when held at the mid point.
A small speaker is positioned near the right edge of the camera.
The Mode Switch, at the top
of the back, serves to select the Still image mode ,
the Movie mode ,
or the Playback mode .
The SD10 has no optical viewfinder.
Instead, it provides a 1.5 inch LCD monitor with 78,000
pixels.
Three buttons complete the external controls of the SD10. The MENU button
brings up the main menu of the SD10. The main menu is composed of 3 sections,
the first devoted to the mode in use (Still, Movie, or Playback), while
the other two sections are common to all modes.
The other small button, labelled SET,
serves to confirm certain selections, and overlay the Function
menu (FUNC.) on the monitor. The Function menu is
a fast access to the most commonly used camera settings (see
the Characteristics section for a listing of the options of the
Function menu.)
Finally, a large button acts as a 4-way controller to navigate the menus,
and provides alternate functions. The up and down buttons of the controller
act as controls for the digital zoom — the SD10 has no optical zoom — and
as a way to zoom in (up to 10X) and out of an image displayed on the screen
in playback, or delete it. The right and left controls also have additional
functions:
the right arrow controls the Flash modes, Auto,
On, Off, Slow Synchro, Red-eye Reduction.
the left arrow starts the Self-timer which can have
either a 2 or 10 second delay.
Thanks to its metal exterior,
the SD10 seems to be quite rugged. Although the camera is very
compact, the few external controls remain easy to operate as
they are sufficiently spaced apart. Ergonomically, the only drawback
of the SD10 is its reliance on the LCD monitor as a viewfinder,
which under direct sunlight can be difficult to see.
Ergonomics
Third,
the front of the camera, including the lens trim and the lens
barrel trim, are finished in extremely fine concentric circles
that are not easily discernible to the naked eye, but which make
the camera catch light, and reflect it. (The image above is
a crop of the macro shot of the SD10 shown at the top.)
,
the Movie mode 
,
or the Playback mode 
.
