X-E4 command dial

Don Davis wrote:

I know there are many threads bashing Fuji for various design decisions on the X-E4. This isn't one of them, but I am a little confused. The rear command dial was implemented on the X100 and X100S models, and then the front dial was added later. I use the rear dial quite a bit, and the front dial almost never. So, it seems strange to me to keep only the front dial. Is the idea to move everything the rear dial used to do to the front, or do most people already use the front dial more?

From an aesthetic standpoint, I would have thought that simplifying and cleaning up the look would have meant eliminating the dial on the front, not the back.

Either way, I can live with one dial, just as I did with the X100S. Just curious if you all see some logic I don't in this decision.

I am more interested in ergonomics than aesthetics. I use the XE3 with many different lenses, most having an aperture ring, such as the Fujicrons f2s.  But one lens I use a lot when out with the family is the excellent XC 16-50, which like all XC lenses, it has no aperture ring. On the XE3, I adjust aperture using the rear dial, which is intuitive, quick and effective.

I use the front dial principally for exposure compensation (by setting the EC dial to 'c'). With this set up my thumb can set aperture on a XC lens (I tend to use aperture priority) and my forefinger can set exposure compensation concurrently. It is intuitive, fast and effective,

The front dial can adjust EC, ISO and Shutter Speed, but one has to toggle through each to get to the desired one in order to set it. If aperture on XC lenses is also to be set using the front dial, and I do not know yet as the XE4 manual is not available, then that is four toggles, which is a backwards step. Therefore, if one has the set both aperture and EC on the one dial, one has to go round the four bazars constantly to get to the two settings on wants, which is far slower than on a camera that has a rear command dial.

Could I live with it? if  I do get the XE4, which before launch I was keen to do, but which I am now on the fence, yes, but it is a backward step to being an intuitive, fast and effective way to adjust primary settings for which Fuji is renowned.