The Camera Rules – Part 1
I have one main rule about the cameras I use, which is that they should not get in the way of the picture making process. Essentially I want to concentrate on the creative aspect without having to be overly concerned about what the camera is doing. Of course, with automation for both focus and exposure, a modern camera in some respects exceeds my base requirement by taking responsibility for two critical mechanical factors. My way of shooting is instinctive and more often than not I am reacting to what I am seeing around me and might need to act quickly. The easier it is to use the camera and make adjustments if need be, the better.
My Canon 7D fares well by this ease of use benchmark. Focus is quick, exposure accurate and the Quick Menu combined with the joystick makes it easy to change the most commonly used settings. The optical viewfinder means that it is not possible to preview focus and exposure, so reliability of these is an essential part of successful image making. I have been using with Canon for many years and it is the most complete system I own. There is virtually no subject matter in which I have an interest which I could not shoot with it.
The perfect camera then? Yes and no. Like a lot of people, I prefer something more compact and lighter when carrying my gear for any length of time. My Olympus E-M10 fulfils that requirement very well. At bit too well, in fact, as I found it slightly too small for my hands and I ended buying the optional grip. It is certainly a well made and improves handling, but is expensive for what it is, especially when it has no function other than give the camera a bit more bulk.
With one inexplicable exception, the E-M10 is eminently customisable. I only got around 20 shots out of the first charge of the battery as I spent some two to three hours going through all the options setting up the camera up the way I wanted it. The anomaly? I swapped the functions of the two top dials so that the front one controls the aperture and rear one exposure compensation. I can change the direction of the front dial, but not the rear one which means that I am constantly moving it the wrong way. After seeking advice from some Olympus reps at a trade show, I returned it to Olympus which simply confirmed it was working as specified and sent it straight back.
Other than that one peculiarity, the camera works well. I can have a live histogram in the electronic viewfinder or a level indicator, albeit not simultaneously which would have been useful. The quick menu works well, particularly when combined with the tilting touch screen which comes into its own in street photography. It is possible to focus and fire the shutter by pressing on the screen at the required focus point, a useful feature for candid photography. It is not perfect, but the Olympus is close to being an ideal camera for much of the photography I do.
The next camera on my list is one which for a long time I never considered owning. It is the Fuji X-Pro1. With its hybrid viewfinder, it was intriguing at launch in 2012 but in many ways it left a lot to be desired. Over the period of its life there have been no less than 17 different versions of the firmware, which must be something of a record. Admittedly the two most recent updates were more in the way of tweaks than functional improvements, but Fuji’s efforts have paid off and the camera is transformed from its early days.
Fuji deserves some kudos for keeping faith with its customers, but arguably it had no other option. Its first interchangeable lens digital cameras were based on Nikon bodies with bespoke sensors and the X-Pro1 was one of the first models it developed on its own. Had it left early adopters with what was effectively a half finished design, it ran the risk of reputational damage from which its fledgling business could have taken years to recover. The electronic viewfinder could be brighter and while autofocus is not especially quick, it is much improved from the leisurely response it showed at launch. It’s fast enough for most purposes. A clever design allows me to see the live histogram, before displaying the level indicator on a half press of the shutter. A neat soloution. Overall it feels as though Fuji has now exploited the full potential of the hardware.
I bought into the system last year when an insane closeout deal of an X-Pro1 body, two lenses and a case for less than the combined cost of the package was on offer. I reckoned that I could recover my money selling the items individually if it did not work out, so took a chance. A couple of months later I acquired the 18-55 kit lens at a good price and it is now on the camera most of the time. I have already written in my The Haunted Camera post about the tendency of some of the controls to move, but I am loving the image quality which more than makes up for any inconvenience. Together with the E-M10 fitted with the 25 f/1.4 “Leica” Summilux lens, I have a combination of cameras which meets many of my day to day photographic needs.
In the second part of this post, I will look at a pair of cameras which push my usability criterion to the limit.
UPDATE: Part 2 of this article is here.