Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/04/03

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Subject: [Leica] Re: DSLR complexity
From: lrzeitlin at optonline.net (lrzeitlin@optonline.net)
Date: Mon Apr 3 15:18:05 2006
References: <200604031906.k33J5jwo066003@server1.waverley.reid.org>

As a DSLR neophyte I was astonished by the number of decisions I had to make 
using my new Olympus E-500 once I ventured out of the AUTO mode. 

In more than 50 years of Leica RF camera use all I had to attend to was 
focus, lens opening, and shutter speed. And these were pretty well 
determined by the nature of the picture and the light level. The only real 
degrees of freedom in using the camera were film and lens selection. Once 
you mastered the basics and learned to thread the film into that narrow 
loading slot, you could devote the rest of your attention to scene selection 
and composition - that, and which single malt scotch you were going to order 
at the pub. As I recall, my Leica M manual had 48 pages, and  six of those 
were devoted to loading and unloading the camera. The CL manual (which I 
still have) had 32 pages, mostly pictures.

The Olympus "easy to use" DSLR has five selectable modes of automatic 
shooting and 15 different scene modes for a full range of pictorial s
ituations. In addition there are four different "advanced" modes offering 
various degrees of automation down to full manual control. There are three 
focus modes, fixed, continuous, and manual. When using automatic focus there 
is the possibility of selecting several focus sensor modes. Exposure 
metering can be by spot or scene averaging. The built in flash can be 
selected as a fill in, full illumination with varying intensity, or turned 
off altogether. And, of course, picking ISO speed can be left to the 
camera's massive electronic brain, or set manually. Noise control can be in 
or out by user choice. The scene can be imaged in vivid color, natural 
color, muted color, grayscale, or sepia. I can set the form of image capture 
from RAW through various degrees of JPEG compression, or both at the same 
time. Naturally I can change the pixilation from super high quality to Web 
quality in a dozen different steps. And that's only on the picture taking 
side. There are many different way
s I can display the image that I can't yet comprehend. The Olympus manual is 
215 pages, dense with print too small for my aging eyes to read. All in all, 
the camera offers over 1000 possibilities for picture taking.

Now I realize that I performed many of these functions unconsciously with my 
film cameras but I was never aware of making so many of the decisions up 
front. Except for scene selection and composition very little of my prior 
experience transfers to the DSLR. My God, the thing has 15 buttons on the 
back and menus three levels deep displayed on the LCD.

I suppose that in time it will all be clear to me, but with the loss of 
300,000 brain cells a day, I hope that it will happen before I'm reduced to 
a gibbering idiot. If the long awaited digital Leica ever comes out with no 
more controls than an M3, I'll buy it in a minute.

Failing that, I might buy an ergonomics textbook for the engineers at 
Olympus.

Larry Z

Replies: Reply from bdcolen at comcast.net (B. D. Colen) ([Leica] Re: DSLR complexity)
Reply from ericm at pobox.com (Eric) ([Leica] Re: DSLR complexity)
Reply from nathan at nathanfoto.com (Nathan Wajsman) ([Leica] Re: DSLR complexity)