Setup Prepare Capture and Review Phases of Use

CAMERA ERGONOMICS

Part 11,  Setup, Prepare, Capture and Review phases of camera operation

Author  AndrewS

Photo 1 Landscape View Hold

In Part 5 of this series I identified the four basic phases of camera operation. These are Setup, Prepare, Capture and Review. 

Setup Phase. Time span: hours or more.

Attention priority: Camera directed. The user's attention is directed to the camera.

Tasks: These are the  tasks which need to be completed on first acquiring the camera and occasionally thereafter.  The user has a multitude of settings to make.     Snapshooters and controllers alike need to wade through the selection process.

Each camera will have a different list of selections to make but items which appear commonly include: time and date, language, file and folder settings, display settings, color space, RAW capture, sounds, button tasking, aspect ratio, image stabiliser, sensor cleaning, screen and VF brightness/contrast/color, AF priority, MF assist, EV steps, AEB settings, noise reduction, AF assist lamp, video AE mode, movie size/type, metering and focussing for movie, etcetera....etcetera....etcetera...... sometimes there are hundreds of decisions to be made, often involving interdependencies.

Photo 2 Portrait View Hold

Control Type:  Access is usually via a menu, activated by pressing a button, then scrolling through items with a control dial, jog type lever, four way controller or touch screen.

Control Location:  The Menu button is best located in a low value location on the camera.

Challenges:  Key words are clarify, simplify and  coordinate.  Some cameras have a labrynthine, convoluted menu system which is extremely difficult to use. It is most desirable to give users the option to allocate relatively frequently used items to a user sub menu and for this submenu to be first in the scrolling queue by default, or accessible by a separate button.

Example:  I recently bought a much advertised camera which had attracted favourable reviews. If I set Medium image size, RAW+JPG  in the setup menu, the camera would allow ISO 100--3200 and Dynamic Range (DR) of 100%--400%. But if I selected just RAW in the setup menu the camera allowed ISO 400--3200 and DR 100%. Then if I set Large image size yet another different set of available options was presented.  I could not fathom the logic of this at all. The same camera had many unexpected  interdependencies between Image Size, Mode Setting, RAW, JPG, ISO, DR and Shutter Speed, the purpose of which I could not grasp.  Worse, I frequently wanted a combination of settings which that camera would not permit.  Some interdependencies are logical. For instance if the user sets one of the fully automatic modes, images will be saved in JPG format, so RAW and  Adobe Color Space will be unavailable. But this camera made me feel like Alice exploring Wonderland, having no idea what  the next surprise might be. I was not amused to find myself an involuntary part of the manufacturer's beta testing programme for that product.



Photo 3 Hold for Setup Prepare Review

Prepare Phase.  Time span: minutes.

Attention priority: Camera directed.

Tasks: In the period just before starting to take photos the user will want to ready the camera for the present environment. It might be landscape, macro, a party, night work, little athletics or whatever,  each requiring different settings.

Snapshooters will set the camera to fully automatic mode or one of the "Scene" modes.

Controllers have more work to do.  Items  usually set at this stage include:   P,A,S or M  shooting mode,  drive mode,  focus  mode and area, metering mode, white balance, flash mode, OIS, video modes and  dynamic range.  Experienced users will set ISO at this stage but may need to adjust it in Capture Phase. 

Control Type: There may be many settings to adjust in a short time so the controls need to provide quick access. Each of several approaches can work efficiently. The only hard and fast rule I would suggest is to keep Prepare Phase settings out of  the main menu. There is considerable benefit to having a physical Shooting Mode dial and Drive Mode selector. These allow the user to see and change current settings quickly, even before the camera is powered up.  With practice, camera work is faster when focus mode, metering mode, white balance and flash mode are allocated to hard buttons. The actual function of each button should be user selectable.   Other settings can be allocated to a "Quick Menu". The items in this mini menu should be user selectable, to accommodate individual styles of operating. Operating the quick menu  could  involve pressing a button then scrolling through options with a four way controller,  joystick or touch screen.

Control location: Hard controls for this phase are best allocated to medium value locations.

Challenges: The main challenge for camera designers is to clearly understand which tasks belong to the Prepare phase and which to the Capture phase. Making this explicit can wonderfully clarify what types of  controls are required and where they are best located.

Example 1:  Touch screen controls are all the rage at the moment. They might  be useful in the Setup, Prepare and Review Phases of camera use. In these phases the user is looking at the camera, not the subject and is usually holding the camera away from the eye. Having said that I have used several cameras with touch screen controls and have found the idea more appealing than the experience. In the Capture Phase they are just a nuisance, completely inaccessible when using an eye level viewfinder and a distraction from the capture process when viewing on a monitor, as one's fingers are all over the image preview.

Capture Phase

The Capture Phase of camera operation provides the most critical test of a camera's ergonomic design and the user's ability to operate the device effectively.

The time span is in seconds.

Snapshooters will want to hold the camera steady, frame up the subject with an effective preview system then press the shutter button to capture the image.

Controllers have a more complex task, with three components: Holding, Viewing and Operating.

Holding  The user should be able to hold the device steady with both hands, and operate the camera without changing grip with either hand.  This is discussed in Parts 4, 6 and 7.

Viewing  Please refer to Part 9.  The best ergonomic arrangement is provided by a camera having both a rear monitor and a built in eye level viewfinder. Electronic viewfinders have real and potential ergonomic advantages over optical types.

The tasks of viewing are quite demanding as there is a great deal of visually transmitted information to be assimilated.

The subject must be identified and framed,  zooming as required.  The best moment for capture must be decided.

Camera status data must be noted.   Primary capture data must be easily visible at all times on a status bar below the image preview. This includes ISO, Shutter Speed and  Aperture. Other data preferably located on this status bar includes Shooting Mode, Exposure Compensation, Flash Exposure Compensation, Battery status, Shots remaining on memory card.

Frequently viewed data superimposed on the image preview includes Electronic Level indicator, Camera shake warning, Composition grid lines, Active autofocus area position and size, Drive Mode .

Attention priority is split between the subject and the camera. The best ergonomic result will be given by a camera which with practice can be driven like a motor vehicle. The controls can be operated by touch while looking at the subject in the viewfinder.

Control  type  Optimum user control is provided by hard interface modules as discussed in Part 10.

Control location  As discussed in Part 8, interface modules must be located in high value areas of the camera.

Operating   The tasks of operating a camera in the Capture phase are:

Focussing 

* Decide AF or MF

* Set size and position of active AF/MF  area.

* Start/Lock AF/MF

Metering

*Activate metering

* Check and modify  the firing solution (Aperture/Shutter Speed/ISO)

* Check and adjust exposure compensation.

Capture 

* Fully depress the shutter button (or other assigned interface module) to capture the image.

Challenges

Camera designers need to listen to the voice of ergonomics, often drowned by the clamour of styling, marketing, engineering and the latest crop of electronic functions. They need to make cameras which provide an excellent user experience not just a passing enthusiasm. 

The critical test

If a camera can pass the following critical triple function test in the Capture Phase of use it is well on the way to a high rating for ergonomic performance.

(Holding):  The user should be able to hold the camera steady with both hands and while doing so, without changing grip with either hand,

(Viewing):  Clearly frame the subject through the viewfinder and see status indicators for primary capture parameters in a panel beneath the image preview, and secondary capture parameters beneath or on (Active AF area)  the image preview and  while doing so,

(Operating):  Adjust primary and secondary exposure and focus controls, start and lock autofocus or manual focus, activate and lock exposure, then capture the image.

In my very long experience of using many types, makes and models of camera I have found very few which actually pass this test. The really disappointing thing is that in the era of electronic operating systems it is quite easy for any  manufacturer capable of producing a camera to make one which does pass the test. It is no more expensive or difficult to make a camera with excellent ergonomics than one with poor ergonomics.

Review Phase

Some photographers like to review every shot they make, others are content to load images to an editing programme and view them in that setting.

The camera should cater for all tastes

Operating requirements are much less time and information pressured than is the case with Capture Phase.

Time span is seconds to minutes.

Attention priority is camera directed.

Control type  is one or more hard interface modules.

Control location  is in a low medium priority location on the camera.

Tasks 

* Call up captured images singly or in groups.

* Enlarge and scroll around selected image(s).

* Check for focus, composition, exposure, subject attributes.

* Delete, tag or modify images singly or in groups.

Challenges  These are similar to those of the setup phase, clarify, simplify, coordinate. Review Phase functions need to respond to user's diverse requirements. To achieve this all review functions should be user selectable.

Example  A new camera model  released in 2011 did not provide any user selectable option to disable quick review on the monitor after each exposure. This markedly slowed shot to shot times on an otherwise responsive camera producing a chorus of well deserved complaints on user forums. A firmware update some months after release failed to rectify the problem.