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Fuzzy Logic (2)
More features? Less is more!
I don’t expect to have to put specs on to see what the camera's controls are set at - well, not with a manual, mechanical, meter-less cameras such as my Nikon F2 or Leica M3, nor with a metered Leica M6 (below). But with any other piece of photographic equipment which relies on an LCD readout to provide the basic and arguably necessary information... then I'm reaching into my pocket for those glasses again.
Admittedly, the Nikon D200 I bought in May 2006 was a noticeable improvement on the D70, but I still have difficulty with the information readout on the LCD... so I tend to set the camera’s basic parameters before I go out to take any shots, which is not a very satisfactory method of working when the light is changing shortly after dawn... my favorite time of day for photography.
I also frequently get caught out by the thumb-wheel dial on the rear of the D200 body. After a year of digital camera usage I still have the tendency to sweep my thumb along the back of the top plate of the camera as if winding-on and cocking the shutter. In doing so I inadvertently change the ”+/-” EV compensation setting for all the subsequent exposures... until I notice the hard-to-see blips on the bar-line working their way away from the null-point, and a “+/-” symbol winking at me... by which time it is usually too late. And anyway, I can always salvage the images from the RAW files. It is possible to change the function of the thumb wheel, but the way I have my camera set up is for the front wheel to change lens apertures (the lens is at the front of the body so I use the front wheel for that), and the rear wheel for shutter speeds (because the shutter is at the rear of the camera)... simple really, but it regularly catches me out!
It’s a pity the recently announced Leica M8 was not the answer to my eyesight problem with it's typically bright rangefinder-viewfinder, just a few basic controls, a lever-wind, superlative lenses and a decent screen on the back. But I canceled my order because the body had grown slightly, and what I wanted was a smaller one... like a Leica IIIf. Strangely, compactness on modern cameras makes them more difficult for me to use... whereas compactness on old cameras - like that Leica IIIf - feels just right in the hand and raised to the eye... and it slipped into my trouser’s pocket with the 5cm f/3.5 Elmar neatly collapsed. But I don’t know where the logic is in my findings... maybe they’re all a bit too personal and Luddite’ish... it’s all a bit fuzzy.
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