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greg 123
Guest
That's a better solution than whining about the criticism of your threads.--Your continued bashing of Olympus will get a reaction from people. If you don't want a strong response don't go after companies and products, especially under the cover of false pretenses.I've previously asked you to stop this childish behavior. Grow up. Don't reply to my posts any more.Easy words to say, but the proof is in the results and accomplishments.Never knew we had the same or similar professions. I'm an Electrical Engineer, but most of my career has been spent programming test systems. I have had my own business for the past 28 years writing test software. I tell people that my design philosophy is 'Simple Elegance'. To me that means doing everything you need but in the simplest manner possible so a user with no advance knowledge of my software can quickly figure out how to use it.I agree, this is well put and I think that the word that Adrian was looking for was "elegant" to describe an interface that is simple and yet functional.Apple is a prime example of a UI that just works whether you love Apple or hate it. I could give an iPhone to my 80yr old mother and she would figure out how to make a call. God help us if Olympus made a smart phone UI!The only point I wished to raise was that a clean apparently simple interface should not equate to 'novice'. I was trained as a designer and learned quite quickly that a far more effort, thinking and skill goes into making things appear simple than it does to make things seem complex.
The old saying never judge a book by it's cover springs to mind. And one more thing that springs to mind is the pack mentality of many reviewers. I have seen it in many areas and especially in motoring and racing bikes. The end result is usually a device that in general reviewers rave about, yet in practical use no one can handle.
It was just much simpler for me to point to Leica as an example.
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Adrian
http://www.artfotografia.co.uk/
The Olympus interface is a mess and always has been. Its also very powerful and once you get used to it, it does work. I think a lot of the bad comments come from people who don't use Olympus cameras on a regular basis as switching back and forth between, say Canon/Olympus is a PITA. If Olympus is your only camera, then its fine. Now with that being said, I still have trouble finding settings that I don't use often; that's when I curse Olympus!
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http://stringfellow.smugmug.com
As someone who has designed and supervised the coding of computer systems I know that it is relatively easy to make them do something but much harder to make the process easier for the users.
I had a partner who said "we can get used to it". But I insisted that our programs were fluid and natural to use and followed intuitive manual bookkeping practice. The end result was more work for the programmer to get the interface right and a huge saving in the cost of training staff to use the system and a further huge improvement in the speed of data capture and reduction in user frustration.
The programmer was made to work harde to get the interface "right" and the dividends were immense.
The world is divided between those "getting used to it" and those that truly appreciate an interface that is natural and burr free from day one (often called "elegant").
Apple has a good grasp of making systems elegant but I am not a firm believer in their way as it is often so obscure that only an "Apple" true believer can follow it. Apple does tend to be "the Apple way or the highway" even when other ways are more superior. The innards are so deliberately hidden away that it seems that Apple considers their users as a legion of fools. Therefore there interfaces do tend to take a more obscure path once you get beyond the basics. And only those fully steeped in Apple tradition can quickly get under the otherwise slick superficiality. Most users will praise the simplicty because they don't need to drive anything as it whisked away by the system "don't you worry about that ....".
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Tom Caldwell
Those are lofty expectations for someone that doesn't understand the basics of different photography use models as demonstrated in this thread. Please don't. Over confidence and limited understanding often results in a bigger mess. Large software projects today are done by a process oriented teams, not individual code slingers.Maybe we can Get Olympus to hire us and straighten out the UI. I personally would be ashamed of such a mess. I would never put out a product like that.
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Jonathan
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Jonathan
Jonathan
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But you don't need the m4/3 camera to be an E-M5, and you don't need to add any bolt-ons. You can, if you like. The reality is that m4/3 cameras come in different sizes and shapes. That is a strength, not a weakness.