Discovering Camera Ergonomics Part 10 Controls for Setup, Prepare and Review Phases

Panasonic Lumix G7 control panel. See the ridge on the right side of the control panel area. This prevents the user from accidentally pressing the Disp or WB buttons while handling the camera, yet allows those buttons to be easily pressed when required. Unfortunately the cursor buttons (4 Way controller) are poorly designed. As you can see they are flat, have a bevelled outer edge and sit atop a little platform the edge of which is also bevelled. It is not obvious from the photo but certainly is as soon as you start using the camera that the cursor buttons are difficult to find and operate by feel. The most annoying thing about this is that Panasonic uses a better design on other current models like the GX8 below and the FZ1000 featured elsewhere in this series. Why the difference ?

Capture Phase   tasks have the highest ergonomic priority. They must be carried out while the user is looking through the viewfinder. Therefore the controls for Capture Phase must be easily located and operated by feel, using the right index finger and thumb and the fingers of the left hand. There is no point in allocating user interface modules (UIM) with icons, numbers or other visual information to Capture Phase tasks as the module is invisible during capture.

Next down the ergonomic priority list are Prepare Phase tasks. These are completed in the minutes prior to capture. The camera can be lowered from the eye so UIMs can be located and adjusted by sight.  Modern cameras have lots of modes and Prepare Phase is the time to change these as required by new photographic circumstances. We have main capture (exposure) mode, drive mode, focus mode, autofocus mode, shutter type, stabiliser mode…………and many more.

There are three main types of UIM suitable for Prepare Phase tasks:

* set-and-see dials, as my made-up name suggests have inscribed settings or positions which are visible. Typically the main mode dial, drive mode and focus mode UIMs are of set-and-see type.

My motion analysis shows that this type is not optimal for Capture Phase tasks. Despite this,  some camera makers persist in putting  shutter speed dials and exposure compensation dials on the top plate and aperture rings on lenses. The opportunity cost of this is that set-and-see modules for Prepare Phase are excluded from those locations.

* Some type of quick access mini menu, Q Menu or similar, with user selectable items. The UIM which accesses this Q Menu needs to be reached reasonably easily by either hand but should not be so high on the camera real estate hierarchy that it displaces a Capture Phase control.

* Programmable buttons with user selectable function, often called ‘function buttons’. These also need to be reasonably easy to access but again not placed so as to displace a UIM required for Capture Phase.

These UIMs  need to be designed so they:

1. Are not pressed accidentally while operating the camera

2. Are easy to locate and operate when desired.

I have lost count of the number of buttons and other UIMs on cameras owned by me over the years which fail both these criteria. Camera designers are just not learning.

This is the control panel of the Panasonic Lumix GX8. See that Disp button ?  I hit that accidentally almost every time I pick up the camera. But this is totally preventable. If this camera had a little ridge on the right side like the G7 those accidental actuations would be no more.  Now look at the rear dial. You can just see it peeking out from behind the thumb support.  The rear dial is set too high and forward for ready access by the thumb. The thumb support although  barely adequate is just large enough to further impede access to the rear dial.
However the cursor buttons (4 way controller) are better done and better than those on the G7 above. You can see that on the GX8 the outer edges of the cursor buttons are raised and sharpish making them easily located and operated by feel.
The handle on this camera is a non anatomical shape with no indent and in fact no shaping to conform to any human hand. Some people say they 'like' it. But I used the GX8 and G7 back to back and apart from the unsatisfactory cursor buttons the G7 provides a more streamlined user experience.
And see that strap lug ? That damm thing digs into my hand every time I use the camera. So I stick a foam pad on there which also reduces the number of accidental Disp presses.
Wouldn't it be nice if the manufacturers got everything right in one camera ?

The priority level of Review Phase  tasks depends to some extent on the user. I often see photographers  chimping on the monitor so for some people quick access to image review is a priority. Presumably aware of this,  camera designers often locate a Playback button right up in a high value real estate position on the camera.

The problem is that a module for Capture Phase action is displaced down the access hierarchy.  One solution to this is to set Auto Review ON in the menu and allow Playback button function to be reassigned by the user.

Last in the action hierarchy come Setup tasks which usually involve entering the main menu system and making selections which should not need to be revisited while out and about with the camera.

The UIM which initiates access to the menu system can be in a relatively out of the way place on the camera. However the method for scrolling around menus and for making selections needs to be easily accessible and quite streamlined.  The 4 Way controller or equivalent is often used for scrolling around and the button in the center of the 4Way module is often the one used to enter the menu system or some part thereof.  This is probably reasonable in cameras lacking a JOG lever (a.k.a. joystick). However a well  designed JOG lever will probably do the job more efficiently.

User selected UIM function  The function of most UIMs is determined by the camera’s firmware which is a type of software.  Therefore UIM function can be assigned in accordance with user preference. Modern cameras have so many features, functions and modes that it is impossible for any manufacturer to predict what preferences any individual user will have.

Unfortunately many camera manufacturers persist in telling users what function should be controlled by each button, dial, lever, switch etc. In some cases this is probably reasonable, for instance an IS On/Off switch on the side of a lens. But often this is just a case of the maker shutting of user options which could easily be provided.

Optimally users will be able to select the function of each button from an extensive list of options.

Beginners and snapshooters can leave all settings at default, experts can select camera functions to suit personal preferences.