A couple of comments. First, re Pentax UI - I have very much appreciated the carry-forward of the UI design from the K-5/K-3 to the 645Z. But it is not seamless. When I switched from the K-5 to the K-3, first thing I noticed is that the AF button had moved up and to the right. For me, it felt much more natural and I loved the change; it made my transition to a back-button-focus mode of shooting much easier. However, the 645Z has the AF button in a position that is more comparable to the K-5 than the K-3. That took some getting used to, to say the least. But over time I came to appreciate the location. What didn’t work on the K-5 for me does work on the Z due to the greater heft, larger grip, and hence different right-hand position. Now what irks me is when I switch to the K-3 for a day or two and I can’t find the AF when I need it in a hurry…
Second, re Nikon UI - the several workshops i have participated in have had a range of participants from novice to quite experienced, with mostly Canon and Nikon gear from “beginner model” to “pro.” [Note that the novices were not necessarily the ones with “beginner” gear.] From observing the others, listening to questions-and-answers, handling and studying a few of the others’ cameras, it seemed to me that the Nikon UI was just slightly different in detail from Pentax, but that the general approach was far more similar than the Canon. If for some reason I had to switch from Pentax, I have no doubt that I would find a transition to Nikon to be relatively easy. But I cannot imagine ever wanting to use a Canon, they are just too “weird” compared to what I am used to. stan > On Jan 25, 2016, at 5:39 PM, P.J. Alling <[email protected]> wrote: > > Most reviewers seem to like the Pentax UI on the K-7 through K-3, The reviews > I've read certainly weren't afraid to pan the UI on the K-S1, so I'd say it > probably doesn't suck, and I'd expect that the FF sensor in the Nikon would > be better at high ISO than the Pentax, being FF, a generation or so newer, in > the case of the K-5, and all... > > Nikon is supposed to have world beating flash control as well. > > I wouldn't however discount familiarity with the UI going a long way to > making the controls on a new camera intuitive. Most reviews of the 645D and > Z, make much of how easy it was to transition from a K-7/5/3 because the > controls were so similar. > > I only hope that Ricoh is smart enough to keep enough of the K-3 control > suite on the K-1 to make transition easier. > > Muscle memory from using the K20D for years still has me searching for the > green button where the K-5II has exposure compensation, or trying to change > the ISO by pressing and holding the OK button. > > On 1/25/2016 4:00 PM, Larry Colen wrote: >> Some friends were playing (actually running a pro-jam) at a local BBQ last >> night. One of them asked me to take photos with his camera, a D810. >> >> The first thing that I noticed was that the controls on it are not >> intuitive. That's not to say that they are not logical, but they were very >> difficult to figure out. I was able to muddle through and figure a few >> things out. A couple things (like enabling the RGB histogram) I was able to >> find enough hints on the web to do. And a couple things (like exposure >> compensation on the flash) I asked him how to do when he wasn't on stage. >> >> IIRC, the lenses in his bag that I played with were: >> >> 50/1.8 >> 35/1.8 >> 85/1.8 >> 28-200 (4-6.3?) >> >> Some thoughts on the experience: >> >> Familiarity with the equipment is far more important than actual camera >> performance in any sort of challenging light. At first, I couldn't even >> figure out how to put it in manual mode, change composition, or find the RGB >> histogram so that I could see what channels I was blowing out. It was kind >> of like trying to drive an autocross in a Ferrari after four shots of >> whisky, while wearing snowshoes. >> >> I haven't seen anything except on the back of the camera, but the autofocus >> seems to leave the Pentax in the dust. >> >> Judging by the back of the camera previews, the fullframe sensor high ISO >> performance is significantly better than the K-5 or K-3. >> >> Once I got the flash under control, it may have had better exposure control >> than on the Pentax. It's hard to tell, it was a challenging room, and I was >> using the flash primarily for fill, once I was able to turn it down. >> >> Even once I learned how to use many of the basic controls, many of the basic >> operations seem to be a lot better on the Pentax than the Nikon. I suspect >> that that would hold true even once I was really familiar and comfortable >> with the Nikon UI. Mind you, I'm not saying that Pentax has a good UI, it >> just seems to suck a bit less than Nikon. >> >> One nice thing about using someone else's camera is that I got all of the >> fun of taking the photos, but I don't need to do the work of sorting and >> processing them. >> >> Although, it would be interesting to get the raw files of the ones that did >> turn out to see what I could do with them in Lightroom. >> >> This confirms something that I've been thinking about lately. When the K-1 >> comes out, I will have to take a good hard look comparing its performance >> (including ease of use) with that of equivalent Nikons. Taking full >> advantage of the big sensor will require significant investment in new glass >> over time, and that would be the time to fully understand my options. >> >> >> > > > -- > I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve > immortality through not dying. > -- Woody Allen > > > -- > 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. -- 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.
