Let's Face It, Camera Menus Suck – Big Time
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Loading... - Sadiki Omar
- 18 Jul 2022
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What do you dislike the most about digital cameras?
Two things get my goat: some of their batteries have a lower life expectancy than a 19th century Romantic poet on opium, and then there are the camera menus. The battery problem you can get around with cheaper third-party spares or a grip, but the menus you are often stuck with.
The worst offenders in my experience are the company formerly known as Olympus, and Sony, but having recently borrowed a Nikon Z6 II, I also found myself fumbling for key settings on an otherwise great camera.
And yes, you can customise buttons with your most commonly used functions but I reckon a lot of photographers are like me and well, just a bit lazy. Also in defence of the camera companies, some have built-in help, and all good cameras now let you customise a “My Menu” section, where you can add quick access to your favourite menu items, but even with this, it isn’t always as intuitive as it should be. Of all the big companies, Leica is the company that seems to have the clearest, most elegant menu design, as you’d expect from such premium-priced cameras.
All of this got me thinking. Many of us now have voice-activation features on our phone, or regularly use Alexa or the Google Assistant to check the time or enjoy our Bonnie Tyler playlist. It’s an attractive idea in principle – ‘Canon, set my ISO to 1600.’ But there are potential drawbacks. It wouldn’t work so well if you were trying to avoid drawing attention to yourself during street photography or avoid disturbing fellow bird photographers in a hide. Maybe a function best left for solo landscape photography, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we see this more and more in the future. Read More...
