mfunnell
Shaken, so blurred
Yep - but they're APS-C, not full-frame. (I've just dusted off my X-Pro1, so they're near the top of my queue at the moment.)
...Mike
Hilmersen
Established
I love retro controls on retro cameras, but my experience with the xh-1 is that they just get confusing when combined with modern controls. I think what I actually love is minimalism. Haven't tried the zf, and I like the front, but all the buttons on the back make me think that it really isn't a minimalist design. 2 or 3 custom dials and maybe a confirm button should be enough to cover most needs. If the lenses have aperture rings one of the dials can be removed.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
Godfrey
somewhat colored
I prefer electronic manuals in PDF format. I keep the manual for every camera I own on my iPhone and iPad Pro so I have access to it whenever/wherever I need it, and in PDF format they're searchable.
G
Godfrey
somewhat colored
Indeed. Good design is the key, not minimalism or 'looking like a nice old camera'. Too many things tarted up with "classic styling" are poorly designed for actual use.
IMO, Leica has done an excellent job of design on the digital M, expanding the functionality while keeping the controls simple to use and the functions learnable and memorable. The last Nikon I used was quite difficult to figure out; the Olympus E-M1 et al are very daunting to learn with up to 200 functions and interactions (although at least with the Olympus, I can grok the engineering design after a couple of days where I couldn't get my head around the Nikon Dwhatever I last used).
G
KoNickon
Nick Merritt
Yes, and so much of the complexity relates to basically the "infotainment" system, and how that seems to dictate how the controls for actually using the car are set up (as opposed to its apparent new use as a mobile smart phone/home theater). Buttons, knobs and levers don't require taking my eyes off the road.
Benjamin Marks
Veteran
Ugh. My new-to-me Subaru has a touch screen for all internal controls. Awful bloody thing. You could set the A/C in my old car by "feel" without taking your eyes off the road. Some executive and/or engineer needs to be spanked over this . . . it is just god-awwful design. I hate it anytime I am in the car for more than a 15 minute drive. Feh.
agentlossing
Well-known
Touch screens are dangerous in a car. And flat out awful replacements for physical controls.
KoNickon
Nick Merritt
I think it's just way easier and cheaper for the manufacturers to throw everything into a computer interface rather than have physical controls. And yes, having to take your eyes off the road to adjust the climate control, or change the radio station (OK, is even that an outdated concept??) is dangerous. Not dangerous in the photography context, but extremely frustrating nonetheless to deal with menus and submenus on a camera.
Retro-Grouch
Veteran
That makes complete sense, IF one has a smart phone. I'm one of the last three people on Earth who doesn't, and I'll hold out until it becomes impossible to function in the world without one. I think I've got about three years left...
Disappointed_Horse
Well-known
You're luck. I passed that point about 15 years ago. Only consolation for me is that my iPhone is a pretty handy and fun to use digicam, and I enjoy listening to podcasts.
As bad as touchscreens in cars are, I think new home appliances and electronics are even worse. All that technology is completely useless and counterproductive. For example, I now need an app to fully control my washer and dryer, which I can do from anywhere in the world. Why the h!@# would I want to do that? I have to be in the laundry room to put the clothes in or take them out, so using an app is just an annoyance.
The most irritating thing about it is that I don't think anyone actually wants this crap, but manufacturers are ramming it down consumers' throats, probably so that they can engineer shorter life spans and more planned obsolescence into these products.
Coldkennels
Barnack-toting Brit.
I think there's probably a darker reason for this: Like privacy? Then smart devices are a dumb idea
Anything that interacts with your phone is sold as a convenience. In reality - especially if you use an Android device - it's collecting data to be sold.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
I passed the point of no return on needing a smartphone to function smoothly in the modern world about a decade ago. But I resist buying things that require I use a smartphone when it is a ridiculous way to operate the things. I don't own anything like that... refuse to.
A smartphone or tablet is a perfect information retrieval/management device, which is why it is superb for operating manuals.
G
Out to Lunch
Ventor
Did you buy it?
Cascadilla
Well-known
I'm the second of those three...
Out to Lunch
Ventor
I suppose that Americans may not realize that the iPhone isn't all that popular worldwide. This said I don't like my Android phone to take photos.
Last edited:
KoNickon
Nick Merritt
It seems like a fair number of people selling photo equipment on Craigslist around here don't have smartphones (or maybe even email), so you have to call and leave a message. We only recently got rid of our home phone -- I have to admit that bothered me, since it had for me a sense of permanence that a cellphone doesn't.
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
Uh huh ... that's one of the point of appeal in my 2006 SLK280, for me.
I prefer the analog cockpit over the digital cockpit. I don't want my fighter jet's cockpit to look like an iphone.
mfunnell
Shaken, so blurred
My Dad was a fighter pilot (and strike pilot). When he converted on to F-111Cs they were "classical analog cockpit" kinds of aircraft (albeit with a quite sophisticated HUD as well). Over time (and avionics upgrades) they acquired more and more "glass cockpit" kinds of instrumentation. When he converted on to F/A-18A "classic" Hornets (not Super-Hornets, which he never flew) they were all "glass cockpit" from day 1.
From a functional perspective (including the important one of "not being shot down") the newer instrumentation was better. But old-fashioned instruments were also provided as backups and he trained with those too.
Just for visual interest, here's Dad (long after retirement) by a static display of A8-142, the aircraft he flew to circumnavigate Australia on the 50th anniversary of the 1st circumnavigation (the aircraft is on static display at RAAF Base Wagga Wagga, which we visited).
[M typ 240; ZM Distagon 18mm/f4]
...Mike
