The essence of camera ergonomics October 2017

Introduction

Ergonomics  is defined by Wikipedia as “ The study of designing equipment and devices that fit the human body, its movements and cognitive capabilities”.

The term ergonomics can also refer to a description of characteristics of a device which maximise productivity.

I began studying camera ergonomics eight years ago when I discovered that some cameras can be controlled efficiently while others place barriers in the way of making photos.

We have meaningful ways to describe image quality and performance. These allow comparison between one camera and another.

However while many camera users and reviewers use the term ergonomics there is no agreement about what the word means with reference to cameras and no agreement about how to  describe or measure ergonomics.

The result is a plethora of personal preferences with no organising theme.

I have studied these matters using applied functional anatomy of the hands and fingers, experience with many actual cameras and work with many mockups of cameras and handles.

This has produced a body of work published on this blog over several years.

I have often been challenged about this. One respondent called my work  “gobbledegook”.

Another suggested I summarise everything in two paragraphs.

In the spirit of responding to these challenges, here we go:

Core concept: in one sentence

The essence of camera ergonomics is the number and complexity of actions required to control the device.

Notes:

1. An  enthusiast, expert or professional user and camera are envisaged. Snapshooter users and cameras or advanced cameras on fully auto setting are not the main object of this work.

2. Control means being easily able to adjust all primary and secondary exposure focus and viewing parameters in Capture phase of use (see below) plus efficient control in the other phases.

The four Phases of use

1. Setup: This is conducted at leisure with the owners manual to hand. Menu items are selected and adjusted. Dial and button functions are set.

2. Prepare: This is the few minutes before confronting a new photographic situation requiring a change in camera settings. This will usually involve setting third order parameters like drive mode, shooting mode, focus mode, autofocus mode and others.

3. Capture:  This is the process of making pictures.

In this phase the user will want to be able to quickly adjust first order (primary exposure, viewing and focus) and second order (secondary exposure, viewing and focus) parameters.

There are three elements of Capture Phase: Holding, Viewing and Operating.

4. Review: This is the process of reviewing captured photos.

For each phase of use one can

1. Draw up a specification set of desirable characteristics which can be noted as present or absent.

2. Observe the number and complexity of actions needed to carry out the tasks required to control the device.

Evaluation and scoring

There are three elements of the scoring process:

1. The specification schedule for each phase of use.

2. An explanatory  narrative.

3. Subscores and final score.

Notes: 

1.Scoring involves assessment of both subjective and objective elements.

2. All cameras are scored using the same criteria.

Ergonomics is not about……

1. Personal likes and preferences. These are a separate aspect of the user experience but are not helpful for evaluating ergonomics as they are idiosyncratic (that is, specific to an individual) transient (people’s likes and preferences change with time and experience) and often inchoate (imperfectly formulated  e.g. “I know what I like but I can’t tell you why”)

2. Speed of operation.  The concept as presented here is more about smooth efficient operation with economy of action.

Links: on this blog

Measuring ergonomics

Scoring schedule

Discovering ergonomics

Summary

That is a bit more than two paragraphs and by the time you read all the material at the links it will be a great deal more.

But I got the core concept into one sentence.  That is the bedrock on which the rest is based.

A vlogger named Hugh Brownstone of Three Blind Men and an Elephant has expressed the essence of ergonomics in a slightly different but nicely pithy fashion as "The shortest distance between intent and implementation".