Basic Design Decisions

 

Since the advent of the smartphone camera sales have fallen heavily. Compacts have been affected most but DSLR's and MILC's are also down, at least to the end of 2013. It seems to me that if the camera as a separate device is to survive and flourish it needs to present a very different user experience from the smart phone.

The smart phone is

* largely automatic in operation. It does not engage the user much in the process of making pictures.

* Held out in front of the operator who previews the picture on the monitor.

* Not fitted with a real optical zoom lens.

* Uses touch screen controls not a comprehensive set of hard user controls.

The Proper Camera needs to provide a far more engaging experience for the user. It needs

* An anatomical handle and thumb support

* A built in EVF

* Fully articulating monitor

* Long range zoom lens (or the capacity to mount one)

* Fast, responsive performance

* Comprehensive set of hard (dials, levers. buttons) control modules suitable for the expert or enthusiast user.

* Ability to shoot RAW files

It should also have good enough picture quality although many cameras and some smart phones already have this. What I am driving at here is that the key difference between the proper camera and the smartphone lies in the level of engagement of the user. Picture quality differences are secondary in my view.

Touch screens, Wi -Fi Many cameras these days seem to be trying to offer the user features which are characteristic of smart phones. One of these is touch screens which I have found to be useless on a hand held camera with eye level viewing. I posted a detailed piece about this in June 2013. Another is Wi-Fi connection to a smart phone which could be useful as a means of remote control for the camera but less useful as a conduit for uploading files due to the large size and proprietary characteristic of many RAW files.

Fixed lens or interchangeable (ILC) My ergonomic analysis is equally applicable to cameras with fixed or interchangeable lenses. With improvements in the imaging capability of small sensors I would not be surprised if one day superzoom types supplant interchangeable lens types.

DSLR or MILC DSLR's have been undisputed rulers of the serious camera realm for many years but I believe that MILC's will become dominant in due course. I got fed up with the inaccurate focussing, overweight, oversize lenses and clunky user interface of DSLR's years ago. So my ILC's are now mirrorless and most of my ergonomic work now concentrates on MILC's.