Limitations of manual controls (on X-T1 example).
"But, as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. It wasn't long after the first blush of passion had passed that I realized that this oh-so-desirable design had a dark side. The camera has no customization settings for shooting modes. This means that when you want to quickly change from one type of shooting to another, every applicable control has to be individually altered. Let me explain.
You are standing out in the field in the late afternoon light taking a shot of your girlfriend posing demurely by a fence. You've set the camera to either manual focus, or maybe single button AF. The shutter speed is moderate, because you're hand holding, the ISO is low for optimum quality, and you have set the aperture fairly wide for shallow depth of field. You're using average zone metering because she is side lit. Drive mode is set to single frame, and metering for matrix.
All of a sudden, an amazing flock of Canada Geese appears behind her. Their wings are illuminated by the low sun, but they're flying fast in chevron formation. What a shot! What do you do?
With the X-T1 you turn the dial to change the shutter speed to something fast, say 1/1500 sec. You then turn the aperture dial to something on the wide side, because you don't want to have to use too high an ISO. The metering mode needs to be changed from average to spot, and the drive mode from single frame to high speed with focus tracking. Finally, the ISO needs to be boosted, because of the high shutter speed, or maybe reset to Auto.
Sadly, by the time that you've done all this, the geese have gone back to Canada and have begun to raise their families.
Many, if not most cameras these days have grouped custom settings. This allow a wide range of desired settings to be combined into a single setting and this then assigned to a custom function button. That's the way I always work. I have at least two custom settings, one for everyday walk-around shooting and one for a situation such as illustrated above, where I need settings appropriate for fast action. The geese may fly by, there could be a fight across the street, a scaffolding is falling off a construction site – press a single button and you're ready to capture the shot.
So this is the price that one pays with the Fuji X-T1. It is a beautifully designed camera from a user's point of view. The controls are visible, they are manually set, and they are a pleasure to use. For leisurely shooting, I couldn't ask for more. But for some photographers, including me, but maybe not you, this isn't enough. I have become so used to having custom setting groupings on a custom function button, available in a split-second for whatever may happen, that when I realized that the X-T1 didn't offer this ability I was quite crestfallen. It was as if I discovered that the girl of my dreams snores in her sleep".
Taken from:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/fuji_x_t1_further_thoughts.shtml
P.S. This is why I think that all this mania for faked "old" retro design with top dials and what not is only good for certain users who have specific needs (ok I'll be honest it sucks), but for most of us more modern electronic controls and modern design with lot's of customizable buttons (A6000) and dedicated mode dial - is the best way to go.
Bottom line is, I previously thought that A6000 is a much better choice in terms of sheer IQ (better sensor, resolution, dynamic range and so on). And the only thing that Fuji's X-T1 had better was so claimed manual controls supposedly better. However, it turns out even in this regard Fuji failed in terms of functionality. Again, I'm not saying X-T1 is a bad camera, after all it makes sense to buy one if one is heavily invested in Fuji lenses, but still if i was a new user - I would have ordered A6000 in a heartbeat over X-T1 any day, even if A6000 was pricier (which is not). IMHO it's just wrong way of design in the first place, especially now in our modern life of technology. Nikon's Df failure continues with Fuji's X-T1 drawbacks and limitations. I would imagine Nikon learned their mistake and will not repeat it. i wonder if Fuji's next camera will be a more modern design to somehow redeem itself.
