On 1/19/2018 2:19 PM, nospam wrote:
In article , Neil
wrote:

In the digital world, I'd say that ease of use is pretty important,
since they're all less efficient than film cameras.

digital cameras are *more* efficient, since they are not limited by
having mechanical linkages, film transport mechanisms, etc. nor do they
need to have film swapped every 36 shots (or less). control placement
can go *anywhere*, with the space that once was needed for film can be
repurposed for bigger batteries or faster and more capable electronics,
or just make a smaller camera.

Those aspects describe flexibility, which I agree are where digital
cameras excel. Efficiency is about how easily one can get the shot
they're after, and having too many variables is a detriment to efficient
management.

they also describe efficiency.

How?

no need to stop to change film, waiting for processing, needing to
bring sufficient film and of the correct type (daylight/tungsten,
etc.), keeping it cool, etc.

For the pro, there is no need to do any of that anyway because they
don't shoot willy-nilly, and if they need to shoot a lot of frames on a
job, they buy a special back which can hold enough film for hundreds of
frames. So, let's just drop that straw man and focus on efficiency as a
matter of composition and execution.

So, control
placement, menu structure, and a well thought out user interface are the
most important factors to me.

that applies to every product.

there are examples of well thought out digital and film cameras as well
as poorly thought out ones and everything in between.

I already covered that, which is why I prefer Olympus cameras to my
Nikon digitals.

why?

Go back and read it. I don't repeat posts.

I've never been a fan of autofocus, finding it more of a compositional
hindrance than a benefit. When combined with a varifocal lens, the
camera becomes pretty useless to me. So, my choices are mostly for the
least frustrating kits!

autofocus has the *most* benefit with varifocal lenses, and as a side
benefit, it offers more flexibility for the lens formula.

There are two aspects of this where I'd disagree with you. First,
autofocus presumes what you want to focus on, sometimes fights with you,
and even in the best of cases screw up with varifocal lenses because the
location of focus changes with focal length.

only when improperly used.

It's a property of every varifocal lens I've used over several decades.

Manually, I can focus much
more quickly with a zoom lens because the focal point remains constant
with focal length. YMMV.

autofocus automatically adjusts with varifocal lenses, making it
effectively equivalent to a true zoom. it 'just works'.

That has not been my experience.

also, you can't focus quicker than autofocus no matter what lens you
use. autofocus can maintain focus on a moving subject coming directly
at you or away from you, even adjusting focus as you shoot multiple
shots while it moves. human reaction time is much too slow to keep up.

I don't need to focus quicker, I need to focus where I want the focus to
be and have it stay there during composition.

--
best regards,

Neil