Why 'Stops' for exposure?

aardvark7 wrote:

I have to say yours is the most odd answer of them all. I know exactly what a Windows Manager does, but can't for the life of me understand what it has to do with a continuous linear system rather than discreet stops. If you want to be pedantic, every digital system is, by its very nature, discreet steps of 1, but when the step is small enough I think we can look on it as linear.

Furthermore, you are experiencing manufacturing tolerances of an extraordinary degree every time you pick up your digital camera, which has pixels measured in um and smaller circuitry!

As to people 'not caring', part of my reasoning is based on exactly that. If you have an EVF that shows you exactly what the scene will look like, then the exact numbers related to the exposure are irrelevant other than the basics of making sure it is fast enough to stop motion and to have the required DoF.

It is my suspicion, borne out by most of the responses, that many people are fixed within a mindset for no other reason than familiarity. It is likely the same resistance that saw many argue against digital in the first place and continues to see arguments against EVFs and liveview.

However, if a manufacturer gave me a camera that had a simple interface using a joystick to select the option and a smooth rotary controller to alter settings to my choice of exposure, regardless of numbers, I'd be delighted!