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Ergonomics - what's important to you?

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MattKing said:
Some cameras make left handed users suffer. My Koni Omega was like that, unfortunately.
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Some left-handed people are also left-eye dominant and camera manufacturers don't take that into account. Like Leicas with the viewfinder on the far left side of the camera, leaving left-eyed photographers to mash their noses into the camera back for horizontal shots.
 
My Baby Bessa 66 is perfect for me:
500
 
George Mann said:
I the Great Genius am ambidextrous!
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Most naturally left handed people can use their right hand much more effectively than right handed ones can use their left because they have to in their life.
My mother was born left handed but was made at school as they used to do in early century, to write , sew and do everything with her right hand, and was completely ambitious,as an adult, they don't do it nowadays because it can cause brain damage in children.
 
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Not to derail my own thread, but "sinister" means "of the left hand," and in many cultures where hand washing is not promoted, the left hand usually gets the unsanitary work.
 
benjiboy said:
Most naturally left handed people can use their right hand much more effectively than right handed ones can use their left because they have to in their life.
My mother was born left handed but was made at school as they used to do in early last century, to write , sew and do everything with her right hand, and was completely ambitious,as an adult, they don't do it nowadays because it can cause brain damage in children.
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The lens aperture and focus rings are of paramount importance. Next is the size and brightness of the viewfinder (including the exposure details displayed inside the finder). The Leica M6 viewfinder meets my needs spectacularly. However, the Zeiss and TTArtisan lens are sub-par in this category because of the aperture rings. My Nikon F3 and F5 are the best view finders with the F2 DP-12 coming in a close third. As far as lens usability, the Nikon lenses win hands down.
 
After using of Graflex Anniversary and Smena-8M everything is ergonomic to me.
My M4-2 and Summarit-M 35 2.5 are paramount of ergonomics. And as any paramount it is ain't cheap as typical SLR and lenses.
On related to this sub-forum cameras I like Nikon F2 and old Nikkor lenses. With waist finder. They have ergonomics of hammer. Which is simplicity and confidence.
 
Ergonomics is a cargo cult.
In the case of cameras it’s role is blown vastly out of proportion.
Very few users, even press people, use cameras so much that anything but masochistic layout would ever even challenge, or slow you down.

As with any interface, what you are used to is what is mostly what is ergonomic or “correct”.

When ergonomics really matter is when complex and/or complicated tasks has to be done repeatedly hundreds or thousands of times a day. And done with precision at the peril of life and large sums of money.

Ford assembly lines and cockpit designers where famously some of the first to do extensive research in ergonomics or human factors.

Any layout that isn’t completely stupid and counter productive, and lets you form a mental model, will become “ergonomic” over roughly the same period.
 
Cholentpot said:
Argus C3 would be perfect if it only had strap lugs.
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Haha, yeah that is definitely one thing I wish it had. The back half of the never-ready case enables strap carry, but isn't helpful for changing film. The cocking lever hitting the finger occasionally is annoying, but that can be dealt with on some variants by loosening the jamb nut behind the lever and setting it to point toward the lens.

I like the handling of my Canon A-1, but in general, I find I'm pretty adaptable. Of course I'm not shooting weddings or sports for pay either!

Left handers might like the Ercona (or presumably some of the Zeiss) folders which have the shutter release on the left side. On my Ercona II I've occasionally pressed down on what turns out to be the film winding knob to note that nothing has clicked. :unsure:
 
If I am using a camera hand held, I prefer it not be too light. I need some weight to help me stabilize it.

I like the shutter release to be done by the right index finger.

I prefer eye level viewing for MF SLRs, as I have trouble focusing WLFs precisely, though composing is no problem; and I want a split image spot in the viewfinder in any SLR.

For my Minox, I can hold it horizontally without problem because my thumb opposes the shutter release; for vertical, it is hard to release the shutter without movement because I can't use my thumb opposite the shutter release because of ergonomics.
 
I don't have huge issues with any of my cameras, however certain designs are truely better than others. My Nikon F5 fits like a glove and it is immediately obvious that Giugiaro created a masterpiece. My Olympus OM1n feels good, but add a Winder 2 and it is a whole other level of comfort.
 
My OM-G has the easiest to use implementation of a self timer function of any of the 35mm cameras I own. Why couldn't all of them be like that?
The Mamiya 645 Pro is also good.
This matters to me, because I frequently use self timers instead of cable releases.
 
John Bragg said:
I don't have huge issues with any of my cameras, however certain designs are truely better than others. My Nikon F5 fits like a glove and it is immediately obvious that Giugiaro created a masterpiece. My Olympus OM1n feels good, but add a Winder 2 and it is a whole other level of comfort.
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I’m pretty certain, and have good reason to believe, that he didn’t have any personal hand in the designs from F4.
The rest is just his design firm, with various interns and apprentices doing a camera between working on cars.
His only personal “pieces” are the EM, F3 and L35AF.
 
John Bragg said:
I don't have huge issues with any of my cameras, however certain designs are truely better than others. My Nikon F5 fits like a glove and it is immediately obvious that Giugiaro created a masterpiece. My Olympus OM1n feels good, but add a Winder 2 and it is a whole other level of comfort.
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Funny, the F5 is the only professional Nikon ItalDesign did not work on since the F3. The F5 is based on the D4, which was designed by Giugiaro's firm.
 
Pieter12 said:
Dunno. A side note in aB&H Photo interview with Nicola Guelfo, Head of Industrial Design Styling at Italdesign states [Note: Italdesign did not design the D5, but that camera's design is clearly based on the D4 platform.] Not sure who wrote the note and what it is based on.
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Ah! You are referring to the D5. I was talking about F5.
 
SchwinnParamount said:
No, you dolt. Because their focus and aperture rings are easy to find and turn for someone with significant arthritis.
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Ah, thanks for the insult. Well, I may be stupid but I can tell the front from the middle from the back on a lens and all I see is a wide ring in the middle and an aperture ring at the back on Nikon and Canon FD and M42 and Pentax K but not those crazy OM lenses that have it at the front, I mean what do they think they're some kind of Leica lens or something. Bye.
 
One of the reasons I stuck with Nikon was the logic behind the menus and controls and their placement were already familiar to me since I went from the F4s (still have) to the D100 to D200 then D3 and D4. When every pro I knew was switching (at great expense) to Canon digital, I did not want to have to learn a new system and the performance difference wasn't enough of a factor. Oh, yeah, by that time I had all the lenses I needed and did not have to make further outlays.
 
film_man said:
Ah, thanks for the insult. Well, I may be stupid but I can tell the front from the middle from the back on a lens and all I see is a wide ring in the middle and an aperture ring at the back on Nikon and Canon FD and M42 and Pentax K but not those crazy OM lenses that have it at the front, I mean what do they think they're some kind of Leica lens or something. Bye.
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I am insulting you because you dare to question my opinion of my own equipment. Every person has a right to their own opinion, especially when it specifically relates to their own experience with their own equipment. If you don't comprehend that then perhaps your mother should not let you have access to the internet anymore.
 
SchwinnParamount said:
I am insulting you because you dare to question my opinion of my own equipment. Every person has a right to their own opinion, especially when it specifically relates to their own experience with their own equipment. If you don't comprehend that then perhaps your mother should not let you have access to the internet anymore.
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I'm not sure if this is your attempt at being funny or you just forgot to take your pills. In any case I'll just hit the ignore button and never see your cranky posts again. Bye.
 
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