why so picky?

At the end of the day, a camera either goes in your bag or stays home - and that decision is determined by a gradual accretion of small details that some people may not even consciously notice. I regret to say that I have a lot of the gadgeteer in me, I buy and sell a lot of equipment but mostly that's to see what things really "clicks". But I shoot 90% with one particular type of camera. And I use that one type because I've bought, sold, experimented, and discarded so much stuff. Eventually that Darwinian type of process led me to where I'm at now. Cameras come and go but the M's rule over them all...
(this is a personal choice - anti-Leica folks can put back your flamethrowers).
 
I find aperture rings in modern digital cameras unnecessary. Once I've decided on a particular aperture for a scene it almost never changes. 1/8000 shutter, 12,800 ISO and all that makes almost any scene suitable to any f-stop.

Sometimes the camera gets the metering wrong. I just change the exposure compensation to correct.

This is especially true when I'm using one of the DR expansion modes.

back alley said:
i went for a walk this morning and took the xe1 with the 16-50 lens…such a nice quiet, sharp lens…i took a few shots and used the rear command dial to change the aperture a few times…it was so easy to do and actually quicker than having to look at an aperture ring to do it. i don't mind doing it either way btw…
then i remembered so many comments basically saying that the lack of an aperture ring was a deal breaker for some folks and that they would never buy a fuji lens that didn't have one…
this is one example of people on the net complaining about something they hate on a camera or lens. there are so many…
it got me to thinking…why are we so picky about some of these small things?
Click to expand...
 
I've often wondered why so many people hate what tomorrow brings, and why they get up in the morning. That said, focus by wire has a ways to go in the Fuji world.
 
I don't mind command dial lenses. Hell, Nikon have had them for years now.

What I DO like, it that from one lens to another and one body to another that almost everything is done in the same place/way. As I get more addled with age, the muscle memory is more and more important for quick use of each. Try going back and forth between two different types and you will see what I mean...so if you take the 16-50 out for a spin, leave your primes at home :)

Tom
 
I'm picky about some things, not others. When I first got into range finders, a little vertical misalignment would have send a camera to the shop for repair. If fact I did for a little horizontal alignment problem at infinity, pretty sure it did not affect real world use.

I've used cameras which are really nice in many respects, like the M6, but because I didn't like it qute as much as my ZI, it wasn't good enough.

These days I care far less, but I still don't think I'd get on too well with fly-by-wire controls. It's not about gadgeteer vs. photographer, it's just what I prefer. Yes, I'd get used to it, no problem, but while there are cameras which offer me what I want, I'll take what I want rather than adapt to something else.

Same for Voigtlander Prominent, the focus system on that is all well and good, but I'd rather the standard on-lens way. Contrarilly, I prefer the focusing on a Rolleiflex to a Hasselblad. On a camera that big I want the control when my hand naturally lies.

Anyway, I'm far less picky than I was, but still draw the line in some places.
 
I'm kind of picky in slow motion. I try out new gear, work a long while to know it and love it, and maybe after a year or so, sell it off if we haven't "bonded" by that point.

Fastest item I ever bought and sold was the Fuji X10 (two months!), but it was a doomed love affair to begin with. I had sold my beloved LX3 to buy the X10 (so it had BIG shoes to fill) and I also own and love the X100 (so again, the X10 failed in comparison). That wasn't "picky" I don't think. (Or should that be "That wasn't 'picky', I think." ?? )
 
Like some of the others have said, one reason is because cameras are expensive, for many of us we make a decision to buy a camera and we're tied to that investment for a significant period of time. Second reason is that for me personally I shoot all day every day so small things matter. You can comfortably wear a shoe that is a little too small for a while, you either get used to it or over time that irritation compounds, same with cameras too I think.
 
In the grand scheme of things, next to, say, climate change or world hunger, fussing over the placement of an aperture ring is silly. But when it comes to photography, along with iso and shutter speed, aperture is everything. Proper exposure cannot be had without it, therefore how one adjusts aperture is hugely important. It also, at least for me, plays a big role in how I interact with my camera in hand and whether I am comfortable shooting.
 
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