LX100 Controls Part 1 Origins of the Traditional Layout

LX100 at f1.7 Hand held above my head

This is the Camera Ergonomics blog  where I have a lot to say about the operation and user experience of many cameras. Now it is time for my analysis of the LX100.

I will present this in the form of a series of 6 (or maybe more, we shall see) posts each dealing with one aspect of the matter.

Many reviewers and users have expressed positive statements about the LX100 ergonomics. 

I am not one of them and I will explain why in this series.  Much of the discussion and analysis will deal with the differences between the “traditional” (or more correctly with modern cameras, hybrid traditional) and “modern” control systems and their relative efficiency on modern electronic cameras.

LX100 at E24mm focal length. The lens protrudes even further at E75mm

In their promotional  material for the LX100 [http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/lx100_interview/] Panasonic designers reference the LC1, an advanced fixed zoom lens digital camera.  To quote the same material ….”We began developing the new model (the LX100) by inheriting the DNA of the LC1”.

The table shows that the LX100 is much smaller than the LC1 even though it has a  larger sensor. Just for fun I included the Sony RX100(3) which is even smaller, albeit with  a smaller sensor and some ergonomic compromises.

Camera	Width mm	Height  mm	Depth  mm	Box Volume cc	Mass grams With batt	Sensor Diagonal mm
Panasonic LC1	135	82	103	1140	705	11
Panasonic LX100	115	66	64	486	393	19.4 effective
Sony RX100(3)	102	58	41	243	290	15.9

Lumix LC1 of 2004

Matsushita/Panasonic entered the digital still camera market in 2001 with the “Lumix” brand. The LC1 was released in 2004.  With reference to the photos you can see similarities between the control layout of the LX100 and the LC1 but there are plenty of differences as well.

The “Traditional”  control layout reprised in hybrid fashion in the LC1, LX100 and several Fuji X cameras has its origins in the mid part of the 20^th Century.

Pentax Spotmatic

Look at the photo  of my Asahi Pentax Spotmatic, 50 years old and still working.  This is a single lens reflex camera but its controls are essentially the same as the rangefinder leica M3 of 1959.

The lens has a fixed focal length and is manually focussed  with a ring on the lens. 

Aperture is set with a second ring on the lens using marked f Stop indicators. There are marked distance indicators allowing depth of focus to be displayed right on the lens.

Shutter speed is set with the marked dial on top of the body. Film speed (ASA/DIN/ISO)  is set by lifting and turning  the shutter speed dial.

And that’s all there is for exposure and focussing controls.   

The user interface is very basic and simple. It also has many ergonomic limitations which I will discuss in subsequent posts in this little series.

This control layout is appropriate to a mechanical camera from the mid 20^thCentury. The focus ring drives the focussing helical drive by direct mechanical connection.  The aperture ring actuates the aperture diaphragm by direct mechanical connection.  The shutter speed dial has a direct mechanical link with the control mechanism for the focal plane shutter.

I make four observations  about this control system as used on the Spotmatic:

1. The User Interface Modules [UIM]  in other words the dials, rings etc are locatedwhere they must be in order to make their direct mechanical connections.  Contrast this with a modern electronic camera which can locate UIMs anywhere on or even off the camera as all linkages are electronic.

2. They are “Set and See” type UIMs.  This name is self explanatory.  The user sees the f stop, shutter speed or distance marked directly on the UIM and changes the setting right there.

Although the Spotmatic uses Set and See  controls for Capture Phase actions they are actually more suitable for  Prepare Phase actions (in the minute or so just before image capture) because the user can see the settings while looking at the outside of the camera. But those same set and see modules are invisible when looking through the viewfinder in Capture Phase of use.

3. There is no auto exposure facility, no auto exposure modes, no menus, no drive mode, no focus mode, no auto focus mode,  no other modes, no “functions” in the modern electronic sense and no function buttons. Electronics are elementary consisting of a swing needle exposure indication powered by a small button battery.

4. Adjusting exposure on the Pentax Spotmatic is quite slow. The fingers of the left hand can rotate the aperture ring easily enough (before  or after the same fingers have been used to turn the focus ring)  while the right hand supports the camera.  But the shutter speed dial is a more difficult proposition.  The dial requires both the index finger and thumb of the right hand which has to release grip on the camera in order to turn the dial. To make matters worse access to the dial is impeded by both the film wind lever and the shutter button.  Ergonomically the procedure is clumsy as the camera has to be supported first by one hand and then the other.

A better ergonomic design  can  allow the user to adjust all the primary and secondary exposure and focussing parameters while looking continuously through the viewfinder and without having to change grip with either hand.

Next: The modern control system