Cameras for photographers, please, not just electronic devices taking photos

I've written a few times about checklist engineering.  It's popular with electronics companies such as Sony and Samsung.  It's generally popular with car companies like Chevrolet, Hyundai, and Honda.  It's about building devices with the personality of a toaster.

For the longest time, great cameras were designed by photographers.  A company would look at what worked for a person who didn't just snap photos, but wanted the camera to work each time, every time with consistency.

I never found rangefinders to be this kind of camera but people adored them.  Although the old medium format viewfinders were rather odd with the upside-down image (so were twin lens reflex), looking down from the top of the camera, you were engaged in the process.  Your imagination worked with reality.

Then, with the SLR, imagination wasn't quite as necessary.  You could see almost how the final image would be, as you looked through the lens with which the image would be captured.  Then, if you used the correct film and processed it well, you'd end up with an image that came close to your vision, your imagination of the scene.

Today, cameras are easy.  You don't have to think at all.  Auto-this, Auto-that are available.  You can even set the camera to take photos at intervals and just leave the camera doing its own thing, so you don't have to be bothered.

What camera engages you?  What equipment says "come out, and let's hear and see and find a story to re-tell people."?

For me, the Fujica series of 135 format SLRs from FujiFilm and the OM-series from Olympus were those kinds of equipment.  The Olympus E-1 was another, more specific, more modern model, and certainly now, the FujiFilm X-T1 seems to pull at me that same way, even though I've yet to buy one.

Intuitive controls are important and the camera body has to feel like an extension of the arm (for me, at least).  That sort of design doesn't come by starting by specifying internal components and working toward the outside eventually.

Look at the Sony A7/A7R duo.  They might as well be called "The Committee" because that's who designed them.  There was so little thought to the exterior that a 10 year old could have done it (with Lego?).  It's a brilliant combination of parts inside but who but Sony fanatics will want to use it?

The FujiFilm X-T1 has the controls all over it, much like the Fujica ST801 that was so dear, or the Olympus OM-1, if they had been designed for the digital age.  When the controls are where you want them to be and you don't have to access a display to make changes, you can be part of the process.

What I photograph with sports doesn't happen twice.  There are no second chances.  The camera body and lens have to work with me at all times.  I don't need to go back to a photo and find that my nose touched the rear display (Why Olympus with the E-M1 and FujiFilm with the X-T1 think I want those displays out in the open, I don't know.  The E-1 display was out in the open but it was off most of the time and had no touch capabilities.)  I keep the rear display hidden usually.  I don't need to find that a dial moves too easily, either.

The Nikon Df was made for people who care about such things, though I don't think it's for me.  I've had enough experience with heavy, slippery Nikon equipment from way back when.  The D800 (and the legendary, mythical D400) is better for me.

I've thought several times about gutting my Olympus E-1 and finding a way to put the Olympus E-5 or Panasonic GH3 equipment into it.  The E-5 innards might be a bit overwhelming for it, but the GH3's insides might just fit.  Matching the controls would be the problem, since I'm hardly a hardware engineer.  Of course, doing video on a 1.8 inch rear display might be a problem, though I rarely mess with video--so far.  However, getting photos in an intuitive environment would be wonderful again.

Mind, the Panasonic GH3 isn't a bad camera body.  It was my first encounter with an electronic viewfinder and it wasn't a very good encounter and they've re-worked the viewfinder for the GH4.  The problem is that it's not intuitive.  They seemed to look at the Olympus E-5, miniaturised various aspects of the design, gave it some Canon appeal, and moved a lot of control to the rear display.  Given what I've just written, you know that I don't have much love for the Olympus E-5 either.

The E-5 is a great tool.  You could use it to pound nails into the wall.  Like the E-1, it's possibly one of the strongest camera bodies from any dSLR maker.  It ignores intuitive design, unlike the E-1.  There is no mode dial, to provide space for a huge top display.  What it has over the E-1 is a higher resolution, better balance with larger lenses, and image stabilization but it never feels quite right in my hands.

So, I ask again, what camera engages you to go out to re-tell a story?

Update 2014.02.20: I was in a camera store yesterday talking to a salesperson I've met in the past.  I mentioned to him about the camera being an extension of the body and he just didn't get it.  I guess people growing up in a world where electronics were everyday devices has changed the thinking.  He suggested the Sony A7, but image quality alone isn't everything for me.  It has to be a good shooter and the A7 is an ergonomic disaster, as are most of Sony's serious camera bodies, unfortunately.  Apparently, the A7 is somewhat of a disaster to use, but is quite great at image quality.  Landscape photographers are more likely to take the time, as are rangefinder users, that Sony is giving them.

Update 2014.04.10: I'm not sure exactly why but the FujiFilm X-T1 has become a big hit for the company.  I think it's the overwhelming effect of all the dials.  Yes, the image quality is quite good, but I'm not sure that's the driving force, as it's much the same inside as the X-E2.  Is it a state of mind?  The camera body, like the Olympus E-M1 is just a bit small and uncomfortable for me, but with smaller lenses, it would be a great casual body with enough physical controls to delight the best perfectionist.

OK Google vs. Siri

In the late 1990s, I used my Mac Clone with Mac OS 8.5 and PlainTalk to dial the modem, get my e-mail, start my web browser, and keep me current without touching a keyboard or mouse each morning.

It seems as though we've gone backwards since Mac OS X and while I have a built-in microphone, I don't use it much.

Then came Siri, with all the canned advertising requests.  It seemed that Siri worked beautifully, if you asked it the correct questions.  As the service became available in Japanese, I tried it both in English and Japanese.  At the time, I thought that Mac OS 8.5 did a better job.

A few times, I've used OK Google with the Google app to show me relevant information and it's not always okay, but it usually understands me and finds what I want.

I was concerned about tornadoes tonight, as the sirens were screaming for a couple of minutes.  Siri didn't know where I was and wanted me to access privacy settings.  I re-stated the request with a zip code.  It told me that it didn't look as though there would be tornadoes today.  Oops, that wasn't what I wanted to know.

The question wasn't that difficult but I suppose it could have been slightly vague.  However, OK Google had given me results for several news articles related to the area a few minutes earlier.

I also asked both for the location of San Jose State University and I got various information from OK Google, and again I got "I don't know where you are." as Siri pointed me to privacy settings again.

I could understand if it had trouble with names, but I saw the text and it had written "San Jose State University" just fine.  Then, it cleared the display and told me about privacy settings.

I disabled Siri again.  I might try it in Japanese again.  There might not be as much confusion, except that I'm not in Japan now.  I just tried OK Google in Japanese.  You must tap the microphone icon, as the "OK Google" phrase does not seem to work, but the results were as impressive as they are in English.

Update 2013.11.26: I saw an announcement today that Honda/Acura have added Siri Eyes-Free to certain models, as Chevrolet did earlier.  I hope those users have more luck than I did.  It's certainly an interesting idea.  My 2012 VW Golf TDI has phone-related voice commands but I don't have navigation as part of the car, so I would imagine that would enhance the experience quite a lot.  Buick's voice control over music seems as childish as their advertising but it might be useful.  I sometimes wish Apple would implement voice search but it would have to deal with multiple languages and they're not ready for that.

Update 2013.12.08: I've been using voice search a bit on the Nexus 7 tablet.  Apple said that Siri required the iPhone 4s' special noise reduction chip and that the iPhone 4, with its more primitive technology from the same company couldn't do the job correctly.  Why is it then, that all these Android-based devices work so well?  I doubt Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 Pro processor has such technology nor did my (now ancient) LG Optimus S.  Of course, Apple wants you to ditch the old and buy the new, but it's probably not just about the money, Apple's developers probably can't get things to work correctly.  There are occasions where OK Google doesn't work with certain names, even when I'm quite crisp with my enunciation.  However, it seems to work better some days with UK English selected instead of US English--my accent drifts quite a lot.  Using UK English tends to get results from the other side of the ocean, which isn't always helpful.

Update 2013.12.17: I've tried to use the new Chrome plug-in for searching by voice.  I couldn't stop laughing at the horrid results.  It rarely got any of the words correct, and I was using it on a rather powerful MacBook Pro with a 2.6 GHz i7 processor, 16 GB of RAM, and an SSD.  Imagine the results for a lower end machine with a 5400 rpm hard drive.

Performance, thy name is...diesel?

On Friday, I was missing some local high school basketball to photograph, so I decided to look at games further away that were interesting.  I picked one near the southern point of Ohio, near the Ohio River.  It was three to four hours' drive from home.

Being that I no longer use gasoline, diesel fuel drives a lot more thinking.  Where is the nearest fuel?  Do they have the correct fuel?  Will I arrive before I run out?  Considering that the estimated distance for a tank is nearly 600 miles and I've made it a bit over 400 miles on my gasoline-powered car, I don't really have to worry.  The smaller towns will have diesel fuel but the pumps are sometimes hidden.  I remember when the Mercedes 300D and the VW Rabbit Diesel were available and a few filling stations added a diesel fuel pump to the side, so it wouldn't be in the way.

The other day, I was looking for fuel and every pump I wanted to use only had gasoline.  I finally gave up on the town and returned home on the half tank I had, even though I was really wanting to gauge the fuel economy.  On the way home, I found that the Golf TDI was much more capable than most any car I had driven on that hilly, curvy road I had been using for years.  What was 55 mph in one car had become 65 mph in another and 80 mph seemed very possible in this one because 70 felt like nothing.

So, when Friday came, I filled the tank and went for a long drive across the state of Ohio, seeing the U.S. 35 expansion that had been done a while back to provide truckers a more direct route from coal country in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia to Dayton, Columbus, Cleveland, Ohio, and to cities in Indiana.  It was much as you would expect an interstate highway to provide without the fancy name and new road.

As I moved closer to my destination, I took various state roads which were not quite so straight or wide but serviced the situation well enough.  I was nervous about the weather--when you live in an area prone to ice, the freezing point becomes a huge issue in driving.  The high school was on the edge of a national and a state forest.  I was somewhat amused to find that my phone lost reception as soon as I turned off the road.  Of course, do students need mobile phone reception at school?  No.

In any case, I was early, wasted some time, and returned to the school, still a bit early.  I photographed two games, talked to a couple of people, and hopefully, left people with a good impression.  Since I was leaving at 9 p.m., my best hope for an arrival time was midnight and the worst would probably be 1 in the morning.

Since the temperature had dropped a bit, I went south to U.S. 52, which more-or-less follows the Ohio River.  There are a lot of small towns.  I travelled it about 1.5 times, since I had turned to use U.S. 68 or some other on my previous return north.  This time, I found myself on this two lane road driving 75 mph easily--it felt like 50 mph.  I panicked a few times after seeing the number, even though the car didn't.  Of course, it was a long drive home.  What's worse, it wasn't so easy to go north of Cincinnati because it said I-275 east and west.  I-275 west went into Kentucky after the Cincinnati Corp. Limit sign.  Weird!  It was a few miles to I-71/I-75 so that wasn't a problem and I got to see the Cincinnati skyline (no chili, just skyline!) from the Kentucky hills.  If you ever saw the tv show "WKRP in Cincinnati", they showed a similar view with the Central Trust sign and all.

I arrived home about 1 a.m., not so tired, and with about 100 miles' worth of fuel remaining.  According to my Road Trip app, I only got 40.85 mpg but that's almost the estimated 42 mpg that VW and the government state.  That figure probably does not account for fun.

Also, this evening, I was driving from my friends' Chinese restaurant to Target and there is a small expressway in-between the two.  I happened upon one of those NOISY Honda Civics with the performance muffler that generates an extra 1 HP and loads of noise.  I ended up right next to him at a stop light just before the expressway began.  He decided to show me how wonderful his car was.  So, with not much in front of me, I put my foot halfway down and he disappeared.  I let off the pedal and he came back after a while and they looked over at me, as I was laughing about it.  "Dude, you just got smoked by a diesel."  :-D  Apparently, there were four of them travelling together.  I had already noticed an older VW Jetta with the VR6 engine ahead of me at some point.  I suspect that they have a bit more respect for diesel-powered cars now.  I do.

Returning home: thought I was doing 65 mph, but I was doing 90 mph!  This car feels so stable and assured, similar but different to my 1990 VW Corrado.

Update 2014.05.15: The car has over 32,000 miles now.  I took it for the 30,000 mile service about two weeks ago.  It still does quite well, and much better than I would have expected, but may I just drive more than most.   People told me how the engine would practically not run, if I didn't drive it long distances as though it was a semi-truck/tractor without the trailer.  I'm not sure it's as happy as it was, but then, I've become accustomed to it.

I drove it back to photograph basketball January 31 and February 1 in that same area.  The weather was warmer on Saturday--around 60 degrees F, but by the time I arrived home, it was only 34.  The car performed well, but I was antsy and slowed down this time.

Since I've had the car, I've been surprised over and over how well it accelerates and handles the real world overall.  I was surprised to see over 50 mpg but that only happened briefly, with 47-48 mpg a regular occurrence.  I could see many more people buying these and maybe, I'd have to wait behind diesel users for the diesel pump, instead of the gasoline users.

Buying a new car

2012 was a lousy year for my 1999 VW Golf GLS.  A lot of things went wrong and needed repair and replacement.  I've probably spent near $5000 with all the things that had to be handled.  Since my mum's house sold, I have the money to do something all at once.

The latest problem happened in the last week where a plastic coolant junction broke.  This reminds me of the stinking news that a Mr./Hr./Sr. Lopez was at VW for cost-cutting reasons.  There was a huge clamour about it.  It showed up in so many ways on my car, including the 30+ visits for the window regulator clips.  It showed up in the armrest fabric that pulled away or the door sensor that doesn't know whether the driver's door is open or closed and when the security alarm decides to activate while the door is open.  I was told that Lucas Electrics were used in the car, which is ridiculous since most cars built in the UK went to Bosch to get away from being stranded on the side of the road.

I've been considering cars from Suzuki, Mazda, Subaru, and mostly avoiding the thought of another Volkswagen.  I have plenty of reasons to avoid VW but the worst was the person on the toll-free hotline who told me that there was no problem with the power window regulators.  I was there for maybe the 14th time already and there were three other customers in the waiting room for the same problem, that apparently didn't exist.

The Suzuki SX4 Crossover AWD is quite nice.  It's more of a wagon than an SUV/Crossover and the price is right.  Unfortunately, Suzuki is to stop selling cars (but not SUVs) in the U.S.A.

The Mazda 3 has been on my list, more-or-less since I first had a Mazda RX-3 and drove my co-workers Mazda GLC/323.  I liked the joy that seemed to come with the cars and the 3 is much sharper than either of those were.  I only wish for a rotary engine getting 30 mpg in city driving, as well as one having low emissions.

Subaru's Legacy was on my list but the price continues to escalate.  The Impreza seems more in my preferred range but it's big on the outside, small on the inside, like most Japanese cars.

Given my druthers, I'd prefer a Mazda 2/Toyota Yaris/Nissan Versa/Honda Fit-sized vehicle like my 1999 Golf GLS with 4-wheel disc brakes.  They're not to be had, and from my experience driving in Florida's storms, I'd never again suffer drum brakes.  Besides that, the cars really don't have that Volkswagen space efficiency and upscale feel.

Enter the VW Golf mk. VI (isn't it the 6th generation?), which is larger than the one I have, as two generations have passed, and it's about 300 pounds heavier which seems reasonable and fat.  I hope they used more sound insulation.  Despite what people say about the price of the Golf, it's a huge bargain.  You get a lot for your money, especially in the upper models.  Of course, the diesel version, TDI, has a substantial price premium, which you should be able to recover more quickly than with a hybrid.

Locally, the Mazda dealers seem to be jerks or clowns, playing games with the prices.  I don't see anyone I feel I could trust.  Obviously, when they have a lot of money for television-based advertising, it's coming out of your pocket.  When they won't tell you their price, you're in for games, and you'd better play your part well or they will walk all over you.

The Subaru dealers seem to change their inventory very, very, very frequently.  Given that it's winter and we just had a minor but not really minor snow, I suspect All-Wheel Drive is in demand, especially when you can get it in the low $20s.  I suspect you can't order extras unless you order them through the parts department to be installed after your receive your new car.

I checked the web site for the VW dealer I already use and they had 2 Golf TDI models from 2012.  Since they're last year's models, they're discounted.  The manual is more expensive than the DSG Automatic.  There should be an equipment difference but the web site is not properly informed.  White cars with dirty snow (the manual) on them look horrible but I would think that red cars (the DSG Auto) would look almost equally bad, and be police bait.

After reading the review from a former Mazdaspeed 3 owner, I think there is no huge question but to buy one of the TDI models.  My concerns about reliability seem to be unjustified, as this generation, introduced in 2010, seems to be better than my four generation model.  Of course, the Subaru Impreza Sport Premium still looks a good option, but reviews call it rather utilitarian, instead of inspired.  Plus, the ULEV II-compliance of the Golf TDI looks better than the PZEV-compliance of the Impreza.

I punted and drove both of the Golf TDI models.  I've never owned a car with an automatic transmission and which car gave me the trouble--the manual.  I killed it twice during the test drive.  I couldn't get the seat in a great position.  The automatic had over 5000 demonstrator miles but was sold as new with full warranty.  I like refurbished electronics so it was perfect for me.  I was so nervous, but I think it worked out well, and my bank was directly across the street--even the driveways met.  I just hope people will leave it alone.  I already had a few close calls.