Why
the traditional control layout is not optimal for a modern camera.
I
have been using cameras
for 60 years. In that time I have had the opportunity to work with
almost every kind of camera on the market from 4x5inch large format to 16mm
subminiature and just about everything inbetween.
I have found that some cameras are much more user
friendly than others.
About five years ago I started investigating why this
might be so.
This led me to study the ergonomic aspects of camera
design. I have concentrated on Holding, Viewing and Operating, which are the
three things you do with a camera to make it work.
I examined many actual cameras and also made many
wooden mockups to test my ideas about what works well and what does not.
Through the middle part of the 20th Century
the most popular camera type for the enthusiast or professional was the single
lens reflex (SLR). Many such cameras looked very similar to the Pentax Spotmatic
shown in the photo, 50 years old and still working.
You can see the control layout which is very typical
of the mostly manual (no electronics, no automation) cameras of the era.
In due course electronics, digital capture and much more came to the world of cameras
which gradually changed shape and control layout to become the typical DSLR of
the current era with a full handle, shutter button forward on the top of the
handle, a Mode Dial and one or two Control Dials.
This layout can be seen on the Panasonic FZ1000
featured in this post. This camera is not a DSLR (it is a fixed zoom lens
camera) but looks like one and in
several respects works like one.
Then a strange thing happened. We started to see ‘retro’
cameras with a hybrid control layout which tried to retain elements typical of old
style manual cameras but with modern electronic operation.
These cameras tended to reprise the appearance of a 1960s SLR or a Leica M rangefinder of the
same era. Fujifilm is the main exponent of this trend but Nikon and Panasonic
have tried their hand at the hybrid/retro look. The Panasonic LX100 seen in the
attached photos is one such camera.
The key features are an Aperture ring around the lens
barrel, a Shutter Speed dial on top of the body on the right side and an
exposure compensation dial top right on the body.
Why ? The makers have never given any explanation
which makes sense to me. I have read their promotional blurb which as best I
can tell seems to be an emotional appeal to the supposedly glory days of the mid 20th
Century.
Head
Logic
Some reviewers and some users in forums have expressed
the idea that the traditional control layout is ‘logical’.
They say you don’t need a Mode Dial.
For Program Mode just set the Aperture ring and Shutter
Speed dial each to A.
For Aperture Priority auto exposure simply turn the
Aperture ring on the lens.
For Shutter Priority auto exposure turn the Aperture
ring back to A and turn the Shutter Speed Dial to a marked position.
For Manual exposure turn both the Aperture ring and the Shutter Speed dial.
They say: see, it’s logical. And indeed it is.
The problem is that it’s head logic. That's the wrong kind of logic.
Finger
Logic
But cameras are operated by fingers and the best way
to ensure efficient streamlined operation is to employ finger logic.
This involves conducting a time and motion study of
the actions taken by a user in the process of operating a camera.
That data is used to design a control layout which
allows the operator to complete the tasks of use with the fewest and least complex
movements with the least disruption to the capture flow.
This is a completely different process from the head
logic often used to defend the
traditional control layout and it leads to a completely different and more
ergonomically efficient design.
I have tried to illustrate some examples of the
different approaches with the attached photos.
Consumer
sentiment
Some months ago I posted on this blog a two part
review of the Fujifilm X-T1 camera. This uses a hybrid Traditional/electronic
user interface which I found much less ergonomically efficient than cameras
with a well implemented modern interface
( it has to be well implemented, some are not, the original Sony A7 cameras for
instance) based on the Mode Dial/Control
Dial model.
I had the temerity to post a link to this review on a
Fuji X-Camera user forum. The response was ‘interesting’ and I have to say a sad
reflection on some of the less appealing aspects of human nature.
The fuji
fanboys attacked me like a pack of hyenas defending their pups.
Confirmation
bias
Of course these people were expressing a manifestation
of confirmation
bias in connection with a choice which they had made or in some cases
were considering.
Unfortunately the sometimes vitriolic manner in which
this is expressed makes pursuit of sensible discussion difficult and meaningful
dialogue with that group impossible.
Summary
Some people say that ‘ergonomics is all subjective’ or
words to that effect as if any camera design might be just as good as another if it
can just find someone to ‘like’ it.
That is nonsense, an escape from thinking clearly
about conceptually complex issues.
I use the concept of ‘finger logic’ to help myself and
hopefully others to evaluate a camera’s ergonomic effectiveness.
Nice article
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading
DeleteAndrew
Andrew -
ReplyDeleteI read the wrong-headed and small-minded responses to your X-T1 on that forum, and was properly outraged on your behalf. I considered writing a response pointing out your decades of experience in photography and your special expertise in camera ergonomics, but then decided, as you probably did, that it would not be worth the effort and it would be best to just ignore the thread and let it die.
I'm sure you know that you have thousands of readers who admire your work and look to your blog for advice and wisdom. I, myself, was glad to see validation of my earlier choice of the FZ1000 to replace what I refer to as my "one metric ton" of a Canon DSLR and several L lenses and sundry other equipment that I had dragged on several international trips and all of which I happily sold.
Cheers,
Robert Nichols
Thanks Robert. I got over the outrage phase and moved on.
DeleteCheers, Andrew
I agree with your premise; I bought an LX100 so I could shoot with traditional controls but find I don't use them most of the time.
ReplyDeleteOff topic (but I couldn't find an email for you), I shoot wildlife with an FZ200 at full optical and digital zoom. (1200mm e) Here's an example: http://www.photographerslounge.org/threads/29478/
How do you think the reach and quality would compare with the FZ1000 under similar shooting conditions?
Cheers, Jock Elliott
HI Jock, I don't know about the FZ200 as our family sold ours on before getting the FZ1000. I have tested the FZ1000 against the Nikon Coolpix P900 with the huge zoom range. The FZ1000 cropped RAWs are about equal to the P900 images (JPG only) in the range 600-800mm equivalent. After that the P900 is better. Of course at any focal length equivalent under about 600mm the FZ100 is much better.
DeleteAndrew