LX100 Controls Part 4 What do reviewers and users say ?

Basically, a lot of positive  words about the user experience.  I will briefly and selectively quote some of these, concentrating on comments about the controls and user interface.

 

I will annotate these comments in italics with my own thoughts and observations.  You will see that in many cases the reviewers are commenting favourably about the LX100 user experience with its “traditional”,  “analogue” rings and dials. What they mostly do not opine is that the “traditional” user interface  works  better than a well  executed modern control layout.

DPReview, Richard Butler:  ……..”easy access to the aperture value”….

My thoughts:   Access to the aperture value or shutter speed value can be just as easy or even easier with a well designed modern interface. Good ones require that only one finger be moved a short distance to adjust either the aperture or shutter speed.

….”ability to quickly dial in exposure compensation”…..

My thoughts:  Some modern cameras including Panasonic’s own FZ1000 make setting exposure compensation even easier, using the zoom lever in front of the shutter button.  This requires a small movement from just the right index finger with no disruption to the grip.  In addition the [+/-] setting can be configured to self  cancel when the camera is switched off.

CameraLabs, Gordon Laing:    …….”the controls raise the experience further, especially the aperture ring with its soft clicks”……..

My thoughts:  The LX100 aperture ring has clicks and on a modern camera the control dial has clicks. So …………..??  How does one of these “raise the experience further”.??

….”it is in short very satisfying to hold and operate and a definite step up not just from the smaller models out there but many of the larger ones too”…..

My thoughts:  Granted plenty of small and large cameras have poor ergonomics, that is why I started and continue this blog. But Mr Laing makes no case that the traditional controls on the LX100 are in any specific, tangible way better than a well  designed set of modern controls.

Trusted Reviews (no author cited):   ……”the level to which the LX100 lets you feel you’re getting your hands dirty with the mechanics of photography is simply fantastic”…….

…..”this manual handling is really the star of the show”……

My thoughts:  These comments appear to reprise some of the Panasonic designers ideas, quoted in part 3 of this little series.  There seems to be something about this idea of “manual handling” which appeals to some reviewers. 

There is of course, no more “manual handling” on the LX100 than any other recent electronic camera.  I can only imagine that there is something about the LX100 controls which reprises the glory days of  film photography when the camera itself was as much a work of craft as it was a tool and the process of using a camera was a craft.  

I am very familiar with this craft, having used manual (really manual that is) SLRs, medium format and large format field cameras over a period of many years. 

But the technology of image capture changes and camera design needs to evolve in an adaptive fashion, not try to turn back the clock. 

I could go on quoting reviews but there are more in the same general vein.  Reviewers just love the aperture ring but avoid saying exactly in what specific way this is an improvement on a well designed Mode Dial+Control Dial system.  

Maybe the profusion of badly designed Mode Dial+Control Dial designs strengthens the case for a traditional layout.  But hey, we now have  several badly designed aperture ring+shutter speed dial designs on the market  (check out the Nikon Df for instance for confusion at the user interface)

What are the reviewers not saying ?   I may have missed it but I do not recall any reviewer saying he or she liked, enjoyed using or had anything positive to say about the shutter speed dial.  

I don’t know of course, but my hypothesis is that most LX100 users are more likely to set set P or A Mode than S or M Modes.

In use that shutter speed dial present some ergonomic issues.  It  requires two fingers to operate which means shifting grip on the camera with the right hand.

It is also unable to indicate and set most of the  shutter speeds which the LX100  can use.

What about the users ?    I have now seen many reports on user forums, sufficient I think to form some impression of the current state of self reported user satisfaction.  

I have been surprised to find very few comments about the user experience or ergonomics.

Most user reports and comments have been about image quality and various technical issues such as DXO Mark scores and auto ISO implementation.

Some users have commented that they like the ability to see the chosen aperture before looking at the viewfinder (and if that is f2.8 or smaller it will be correctly indicated).

Some have said the like the handling, but without specifics.

Several have reported that it is too easy to bump the [+/-] dial off its mark. Some have reported the aperture ring turns a bit too easily.

As with the reviewers I have seen very little comment about the shutter speed dial except some users have pointed out  its fundamental inadequacies as I noted above.