A user interface for image acquisition devices that provides common control of common features of different image acquisition devices while retaining the flexibility needed to provide tailored control that take advantage of unique features of each different image acquisition device. The user interface includes a control area for displaying a property sheet. The property sheet has a plurality of property pages, each of which has an interface for image acquisition device control and each of which has a tab describing the control provided by that property page. At least one property page has an interface for core image acquisition device control, and at least one property page has an interface for device-dependent image acquisition device control. The user interface also provides a property sheet with a property page that attractively provides plural interfaces for control in that property page. The property page includes a control region for providing control and a button region having multiple buttons. An appearance of the control region is changed in response to user manipulation of the multiple buttons, with each different appearance providing a different interface for the control.