Just my two cents:
It's amazing how many useless "features" the camera makers are
adding to jack up their marketing feature list at the expense of
usability.
ACK
Things I wish manufacturers did:
1. Store all data ONLY in RAW format. (Thanks to Sigma for pushing
this.) This get rids of the useless "low/medium/high quality"
switch on the camera.
NO! I'm certainly doing a lot of imagery in raw format, BUT from time to time there are events where I don't carry my own laptop computer but instead have to rely on other peoples computers to display my pictures, send them via email, or copy them to my homepage very fast. This is only possible with the Jpeg format. This way I can simply hook up a card reader to nearly any computer and get my images in a format widely understood without the need for proprietary (and copyrighted) software!
2. Store all data at the highest resolution. Get rid of the
"small/medium/large" switch.
I more or less agree. But here also, sometimes the task at hand requires a large number of low-res, small in size Jpegs, e.g. for web presentations. (I'm not talking of artful pictures but more of documentations). Why waste card space for information that is not needed afterwards?
3. Get rid of in-camera white-balance setting, and do this on the
computer or laptop or even palmtop to simplify the camera and force
the complexity outside.
WB on the location is necessary. For pro work it might be ok simply to measure WB on location and do the correction in software afterwards. I certainly would complain if I had to do a manual WB on each and every picture (if I got started now I could be finished before I get 99).
4. Get rid of the Priority knob- Aperture, Shutter, Etc.. Instead,
let there be an "Auto" option for shutter and for aperture on their
own dials...
At least I'm perfectly happy width the command dials of my D70. Why stick to an old-style control which was justified by mechanical needs and not by usability? Simply because you want a complex DSLRs be as simple as an old-fashioned mechanical SLR? Should we skip exposure metering also? Maybe autofocus comes out of hell, throw it out of your camera! Bulls*
t!!!
Digital photography is different from old-fashioned film work. Get used to it!
5. Get rid of Program metering modes.
The scene modes are perfect if you know what they are doing. I'm certainly using portrait mode from time to time since it is doing exactly what I would be doing manually. BUT I agree, Nikon should document these modes in technical terms and not only by "can be used for...".
6. Use more traditional "obvious" lens controls instead to make
manual control easier:
You have focus, zoom and aperture control on different rings on your optics. With high-end SLRs/DSLRs you can use it that way. "low-end" DSLRs don't allow you to use the aperture ring. With the D70 I'm perfectly happy with the manual control (MF on focus ring, zoom on zoom ring, shutter on back dial, aperture on front dial).
7. Get rid of on-camera flashes settings
I don't care of these settings since I rarely use a flash. But I can't complain that I find the settings confusing.
8. Get rid of on-camera image processing.
See above what I said about the Jpegs. It is not always possible to do image processing on the host computer since you don't always have the possibility to install proprietary software (which a raw processing feature would be!). With the in-camera image processing I get perfect looking Jpegs for "normal" situation which I can transfer to nearly every computer with an USB interface/card reader without the need for any additional software!
Another "feature" I hate: modal buttons.
I certainly agree, BUT again, for X functions you have the choice of putting X buttons/dials/whatevers around your camera or you use less then X modal buttons. I more or less like the way the D70 handles this with TWO (not four or five) different modes for the commands: playback and record.
Also, if you want image-processing, sell a seperate palmtop
AGAIN, you tend to repeat yourself. There are enogh situations which need in-camera image processing and the output of widely readable formats. AND: I'm already carrying a large backpack with accessories. I certainly don't want to carry even more!
Some people may want all these useless features.. for them the
camera vendors can have their own special overfeatured model. I
would rather have one that's simple and obvious... Let's enable
people to take more pictures, rather than confuse them with a
complicated camera.
I agree with you that maybe there is no user which uses all options on a DSLR. Camera manufacturers, such as other manufacturers, want to make money with their productes. So they either make one model for a small number of custumers satisfying all their needs and charging outragous amaounts of money because only few units will be sold. Or they make a "mass-market" approach, building a product which satisfies the needs of a large and heterogeneous amount uf custumer with the drawback that not everything is perfect for everyone and that each user only uses a certain set of the features.
Look at cars: Who needs more than one seat? Throw away the others. If you need to carry some people buy a large bus. Some people just tend not to use their flashlights. Why not build a car without them? Why do I have to have a control for frequency on my car stereo? I usually listen to only one station. And why the hell do they to sound processing in the stereo. With the help of a little inset in my ear I should be able to listen to the raw FM.... This is a little bit like what you ask!
steffen
