On Mon, Oct 28, 2013 at 09:57:43AM -0400, P.J. Alling wrote: > It's not the simplicity itself that's at issue. It's the original > UNIX creed, programs that do one thing well.
With the ability to combine an arbitrary number of those small programs, each with their own menus of arguments, together, in as large and unmanagebly complex system as the user wants. > > I want a still camera that does still photography well, that's > ergonomically suited to it. Something that takes good quality > photographs printable up to a certain size. I don't care if the > camera makes movies, really good movies require seeing in ways that > I just don't see. Really good movies, unless they're good due to > compelling subject matter, require planning that even Ansel Adams > didn't need to do. As a still photographer, using what used to be > called a minicam, > > I want a Camera that doesn't get in my way, but has all the > necessary controls readily available to take still pictures. That > should be control over the three parts parts of exposure, ISO, > Aperture, Shutter Speed. Control over the meter with selectable > spot averaging and the program. The ability to turn the anti shake > system on or off quickly, as conditions warrant. In auto focus modes > the ability to choose focus points quickly. I also want the camera to report to me what is happening at the raw file level, not the processed jpeg. I want to know just how close I am to clipping my whites and blacks. > > I shoot raw so it's not quite so important that I change color > balance quickly though it does help get good exposures. So that > shouldn't be buried to deeply in a menu either. > > For tripod work getting into a true mirror lockup would be nice too. > > On the K20D Pentax got almost all of those things right. All the > shooting controls are right there. Shutter and Aperture are > controlled by two wheels, ISO press the OK button and turn the front > wheel. Metering pattern is right there under the mode dial. SR a > switch on the back of the camera. White balance on the quick menu. > Change a focus point, in shooting mode right there on the four way > controller. > > The only thing you need to take your cameras from your eye for is > white balance. And that is only as a convenience since you adjust that in post processing anyways. The problem is not complexity in function, but complexity in interface. As he said, the iPhone does a lot of things, but for many people the user interface is incredibly simple. One place that Pentax completely blew the UI was the FX button. It is a single button press to change to some particular mode, but pressing the button again doesn't bring you back to where you were. To get back to what you were doing, you have to navigate complicted menues. Even if you accidentally pressed the button and didn't really want to change modes. > > Tho only real deficiency is mirror lockup for tripod work. > > We can discuss the cameras deficiencies as a photographic tool at > length, it has many and can be extremely frustrating, but it's > control layout for the still photographer is better than almost any > other camera I've had a chance to play with, (I say almost because I > only got to handle a Nikon D3 for a very short period of time so > that might be better), though I still liked the quick white balance > setup on the *ist-D. > > > > > On 10/27/2013 9:25 PM, David Parsons wrote: > > >He should just use a film camera if he's that worried about simplicity > >and video creep. > > > >I can say that I've never accidentally turned on video on any camera I own. > > > >On Sun, Oct 27, 2013 at 8:39 PM, P.J. Alling <[email protected]> > >wrote: > >>Ruminating on the K-3 and the various reviews of the K-5 family of cameras > >>where the reviewer took off points for clunky ways to get into video mode, > >>(this was especially true of DPReview IIRC), I found myself wanting to > >>scream in the guy's face. "What is it about it being primarily a "Still" > >>camera that you don't get?" This little article from Luminous Landscape > >>makes covers most of my arguments, without the Pending assault charges, > >>though I think his plea for simplicity of control might go a bit too far in > >>the other direction, and having a third dial dedicated entirely to ISO... > >>Pushing a button and turning one of the e-dials isn't all that onerous as > >>long as the button is in a convenient location. > >> > >>NO Pentax content in the essay but hell half of us don't use Pentax as our > >>primary camera system anymore anyway. > >> > >>http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/an_appeal_for_divergence_and_simplicity.shtml > >> > >>-- > >>A newspaper is a device for making the ignorant more ignorant, and the > >>crazy, crazier. > >> > >> - H.L.Mencken > >> > >> > >>-- > >>PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > >>[email protected] > >>http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > >>to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > >>follow the directions. > > > > > > > -- > A newspaper is a device for making the ignorant more ignorant, and the crazy, > crazier. > > - H.L.Mencken > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- Larry Colen [email protected] http://red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
