SoulNibbler
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 p.3 #13 · Which manufacturer has the most intuitive UI? | |
Meh, I'm really in the whatever you have used longest camp. With some exceptions.
Best setup interface: Sigma SD14
Current Favorite: Sony A7R
Current Least Favorite: Samsung NX-1 (WTF finding the custom mapping always takes me a few tries and they always reset the custimizations every bloody update)
Current Runner Up: Sony A99
So the SD14 just worked if it was something you could do, it had a quick button and each of the 4 controllers would increment a setting. Switching ISO, and WB were easy and this was a raw camera so really thats pretty much all that needed to happen. It was super quick too!
I had an Olympus e420 at the same time, it had I think three competing menu types and none was well organized.
The Pentax ist* I also had at the same time was great even if it's capabilities were limited. Menu was used to chance ISO and format the card.
Then came the Sony a900, its menu's were pretty good, but it had a direct iso and wb buttons so really I only used the last two pages of the menu once I had things set up, to turn off the beep and to format the card. The menu wasn't needed and that was good. I never used the manual, the camera was bought in China and I think I discovered all the features.
The Sony nex-3 came next, to be perfectly honest I never understood what the fuss was about. As a RAW camera the machine worked perfectly after the first big firmware update that added peaking and remapping the A,B,C controls.
Then a Leica m8, actually a decent menu, there weren't a ton of features but that was fine, this was my first Raw+Jpeg camera since the B&W jpegs were so pretty.
Nex-7 was cool, it was really my favorite until the A7R came out because it had 3 wheels! ISO, Shutter, Aperture, heaven. Another set-up and be happy camera.
A99 came next and sent the nex-7s packing, I moved to m645 lenses and wanted less crop factor. It's fine, not great though, the option to turn off SSS is on the 3rd page or something. Completely useless. As with all Sony cameras you have to set the NR-off setting while in jpeg mode then switch back to RAW. At least the zoom is in a decent place though.
A7R, bought one because I had a pile of m-mount lenses sitting around. Its pretty good for the menus, then again its a RAW camera with MF lenses. I forget the hotkey for white balance, but everything pretty much works without thinking. The NFC-wifi to phone thing is completely transparent and clear and works great in the field.
Samsung NX-1, bought one for shits and giggles, the menus are ok, I still don't find the separation between video and stills to be very well thought out. I always feel lost on them because of I guess a lack of strict pagination. There are 3 different menus on the camera with little overlap, so finding out how to... switch to MF with a lens that has no switch is frustrating. I'm also pissed, though not with the menus, that there is so much that has to be adjusted with the left hand.
I've played with the 5D,ii,iii, I can never find anything until I spend 5 minutes searching. (Like canon-sony folks). Both brands of camera are set up and forget, which is nice.
My votes are of course odd, because I only want limited features. I've played with the AF options on the big Nikon's they seem to be nice but that's not menus.
Most of the niggles that I see from people are about, convoluted customization, or limited customization (I mean WTF sony, why can't I move the zoom in playback to the MF/AF button where I put my zoom in shooting mode!! ), which is why the cameras with more buttons seem to do better unless someone really screws the pooch (Olympus and Panasonic). Touch screens can be bad and good, panasonic GM5 and samsung NX1, but they really don't seem to help with the menus. Of course I'm more and more convinced that it isn't the menus at all!, its the system design that hasn't properly explored what states people want to use. Its not the UI, its the underlying concept.
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