Digital Camera complexity / capability

[Wil Ferch]

Just need to ask the collective wisdom here....

Background....I'm an older guy compared to most on this board, so the question that follows may simply be old-fartism setting in [ ]. However, in my younger days I enjoyed 35 mm photography and had a very nice SLR camera and a bag full of lenses. I also took the time to learn the technical fundamentals, etc, etc....focal length, field of view, aperture affect on depth-of-field, etc, etc...so I'm not exactly clue-less on these things. I am also trained as an engineer and most technical things don't scare me off.

Well.....fast forward to "today". My daughter has a nice digital camera ( Olympus SP 560-UZ)....and I bought it from her as she wants to "upgrade" to something new. I didn't get paper documents or an owner's manual, it but felt I needed an owner's manual to fully appreciate all the features it has.

Holy Smokes !.... look at this from a download from the internet, as to the size and complexity of this owner's manual !!!!! --->

http://www.olympusamerica.com/files/oima_cckb/SP-560UZ_Instruction_Manual_with_Supplement_EN.pdf

Are you freakin kiddin' me?.

Who in their right mind is going to read, let alone understand the 101 pages of very detailed and specific features and capabilties of this super camera? Read my intro.....I think now I have truly met my match. Is this normal in today's market?

Kinda reminds me of the backfire that occurred with Ragu spaghetti sauce flavor options....instead of catering to every taste whim so as not to lose market share...all it did was alienate customers because the 15 flavors offered just made it all the more likely to pick up the WRONG one ( as has happened a number of times for me while quickly picking this up at the market for wifey ! ).

Old fartism?..... or does this level of complication actually help the consumer?

[RWebb]

people who are really really into it

others will read in detail the sections that apply to the type of photog. they do - action, or landscapes, or macro, etc.

One big plus on the Nikon system - control layout is kept very similar over the decades - you don't need to change too many habits you've developed + 1950s lenses will work on the newest pro or adv. amateur bodies

if you are thinking of a DSLR, you can always just it set it to the most automated setting and concentrate on framing - the new computers are very very smart

[TimT]

I read the 328 page manual for my Pentax K-7 on my flight to China two weeks ago. Turned out to be really helpful in getting the most out of the camera...

Read the instructions..

[flatbutt]

point and shoot is my friend

[GH85Carrera]

Relax, most of the pages have no real information and are just the BS that the legal system makes necessary.

I would bet there is a "quick start" users manual. It will have the real meat of the user's manual. Even then 90% of the stuff you will never need to know.

I have been making a living in the photo industry since 1972. My first few cameras were 100% manual and did not even have a light meter. Just put the digital camera in automatic mode for 98% of every picture you will take.

My current digital camera is 6 or 7 years old. I can put it manual mode. I do that only when the picture could be great. I shoot several in automatic, and then some in RAW.

Relax, use auto and take lots of pictures. Delete the bad ones

.

I shot this in auto and RAW. This is from the RAW but there is very little difference.

[Zeke]

Wil, my wife has a Canon 5D which is a starter camera for pros. It has icons for sports, portraits, landscapes and about 4 others. It also has all the override functions and individual functions so you can do what you used to do, control your composition with aperture, speed, film speed and so on.

There is also now control for color so you can have "filters" of all sorts w/o having to attach filters to the lens. Black and white and sepia are all in the camera, no need to buy B&W film.

This was my wife's epiphany: I said you know that clothes washer we have that has all the pre set settings like "sports," "heavy soil," etc. I said you know how all the LED lights move around to hot, warm, extra rinse, and all that jazz?

Then I said you know how you can override the default setting of the water temp for a particular pre set? Well, that's how your camera works. "Sports" is fast ASA, fast shutter speed a relatively small aperture. You want to change the depth of field? Override the aperture and the camera will compensate.

What's not to like there?

[slakjaw]

I got the nikon d5k and started in the preset modes sunset, beach et al

As I get more comfy using it and as I learn I feel ok using A and S. Just read a few chapters of the manual then go shoot some photos then read more of the manual... That's what I did.

[Zeke]

Sorry, that was a 50D, not a 5D. She wishes.

[willtel]

I have a 50D manual application on my iPhone that works very well since I'm not likely to carry the manual with the camera. I shoot everything in manual mode but I really should explore the program modes as I'm sure they would help with action shots.

[grendiers]

Old fartism?..... or does this level of complication actually help the consumer?

It's the vernacular of the medium, whether it's the CIS system in my 924 turbo, or, understanding the features and benefits of a digital camera system. I think it's what a person is used to will help them understand similar items. I shot weddings for 20 years, starting with Hasselblad cameras and lenses. Then, segued to digital cameras after 15 years of film. Since I knew how to pose, figure out lighting, and then press the buttom, the transfer to digital wasn't all that difficult. The film cameras were all manual, so, that's what I did with my Nikon D2Xs for 5 years. I read the manual, understood it all, but rarely used any of the auto features on the camera. I wish 'they' would come out with a high end camera with only manual controls, they would sell a ton! I'm sure that anyone with an '80s porsche would look at the entire spectrum of cars then and pretty much understand them all. So, pick and choose the features of the camera and stick to it. I have a point and shoot nikon P80 that has a really cool video function, but for stills, I choose program or automatic do to extreme laziness. And the buttons an menus on prosumer cameras basically suck.

[TimT]

I wish 'they' would come out with a high end camera with only manual controls

They do... just set the dial to M, set aperture, and shutter speed to suit..

I think even the point and shoots are capable of manual operation... just not easily

[Wil Ferch]

I guess I should say I don't mind the *flexibility* and *capability* of what this camera can do.....jeepers....it will even act like a high$$$ motorized advance camera taking I think 5-15 fps....and even has a feature to take 5 frames BEFORE you intend to take the pics, to better assure you get the shot you want.....how's that for auto features?

Sure.... I understand that if you are really into this sort of thing that the 101 pages of techno-stuff can be a boon. But like so many other things...if it has 20 basic or core features that it can perform....why not format the text to have 20 individual chapters of "quick start" text....with each chapter offering add'l detailed text and instructions, if you want/need to go deeper? Doesn't seem to be set up with these core "quick start" chapters.

My point was also to say....is it possible that the marketing for these cameras has gotten so convoluted that a manufacturer HAS to provide these many features...just to be "sellable"? Does any one-person use all the features?

FWIW....look at my first attempt to use this camera in a recent thread about pictures at the Watkins Glen Vintage races of 2 weeks ago. Let me know what you think---> Some Porsche Pics from Watkins Glen Races

[willtel]

Originally Posted by grendiers

I wish 'they' would come out with a high end camera with only manual controls, they would sell a ton!

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