Back in the Iron Age, camera enthusiasts who had no lives -- like me -- spent lots of hours on early internet forums called "usenet newsgroups." There were no graphics (except those we'd independently download & decrypt), but discussions were every bit as cutthroat as those on DPR are today.
I bring this up because those of us with Nikon F2's and Canon F-1's and other mechanical gear used to lurk and listen in the 1980's with huge amusement as newbies would clamor in the never ending pursuit of the latest and greatest in electronic gadgetry: OTF metering, eye-controlled auto-focusing, 16,000/second shutter speeds (with film!), et cetera, et cetera, ad nauseum.
(Not incidentally, these new electronic cameras were invariably typified by another attribute: they were largely made of plastic. But never mind ...)
Of course, now, beautiful cameras like the Nikon F3 or the F4 can be had for peanuts because, e.g., the new-fangled LCD panels they use have a tendency to "bleed" after just a few years ...
Anyway, my point is that manufacturers love adding electronic "features" accessible via a touch screen or through "stacking" upon a single physical control because it costs next to nothing to implement (and very little to reconfigure for a "brand new" model year, for that matter).
And to hell with function.
No, I personally want high grade physical controls -- perhaps not a "plethora" of them (sorry 'bout that) -- in the manner of a Fuji XT-1 or even a late Leica. (But most definetly *not* a Nikon Df.)
And I think that this is quite possible, ergonomically, without ending up with a camera the size of an Olympus EM-1 (which, to be fair, really had to be made large to usefully mount FT lenses).
Everyone I read here says that the two greatest concerns of MFT manufacturers are to keep prices up while at the same time reducing costs. That's fine by me, so long as materials and controls aren't sacrificed along the way.
However, I'm acutely aware that Olympus and Panasonic are most definitely NOT making cameras for the likes of ME ...
Thanks, Marc
