The italian photographer Gianni Galassi just sent us his wishlist for future MicroFourThirds cameras. Do you agree with him?
“Considering that I’m really happy with my GF1, here is what my
Ideal-Micro-Four-Thirds-Camera should be like.
SENSOR: a square 4000×4000. Remember 6×6 cameras? They cleverly exploit the whole circle of illumination transmitted by the lens. It’s silly to crop out the upper and lower 500 raws of usable pixels only because we are accustomed to rectangular TV and computer screens. Imagine having the opportunity of a portrait/landscape option without rotating your camera (no need of add-on grips). Or a gorgeous in-camera “full frame” square. Exciting.
MECHANICAL INTERFACE: in addition to the mode dial, I need exposure-compensation and ISO dials as well. I hate fiddling in the menus, even in the so-called “quick menus” (which generally aren’t quick at all). Under this point of view, Canon G10 and G11 are a paragon every designer should imitate.
MEMORY CARDS: given the small SD card’s size, two slots (RAID 0 or 1 configurable) would be welcome.
ON-OFF SWITCH: absolutely around the release button. Nikon is the paragon here. Nobody else does better.
VIDEO: Who needs it? If I had the choice to buy the same camera with video or without video at the same price, I’d pick the latter with no hesitation, though I’m aware almost nobody shares my opinion on this matter.
MENU: please, please, make it simple! I hate crawling between zillions of unuseful options which are there only because they help marketing people extend camera’s feature list at no-cost. Good designers must responsibly take their decisions. Offloading on the buyer the choice between too many options is unfair. By the way, the card-format menu is always hidden in some crazy location.
FLASH: I don’t think I have ever used the built-in flash of my cameras. GF1 has a ridiculous one.
VIEWFINDER: if I only used short focals, I’d be ok with a (costly) Contax G-style optical zooming viewfinder. But for medium-long lenses an electroni viewfinder is fundamental. The add-on Panasonic’s LVF1 does not bother me at all, but I wouldn’t mind a built in viewfinder, at the left corner of the body, taking the place now occupied by the collapsible flash. I could even accept a slightly higher (not wider) body for that. Speaking of electronic viewfinders, a huge improvement is to be expected in the next couple of years, IMHO.
STRAP LUGS: I’d prefer round ones, giving the possibility to easily remove a strap, equipped with spring catches.
SKIN: I definitely like the reassuring Canon G10 finish. It gives the photographer a good grip even when he wears gloves. And it’s gorgeous, too. The GF1 body is a little too glabrous and slippery for my taste. Moreover, efforts should be made to get rid of all those white or golden crappy writings and labels in the front panel of the camera. A plain matte black body is all we need.”
Visit his website at www.giannigalassi.com
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UPDATE: The very known photographer Mark Marano wrote:
“I especially agree with the square format.. the multi-aspect ratio introduced in the GH1 is a great idea, but why not make the square format the largest (or I’d even work with a sensor that’s bigger than the image circle – that may not happen, but would be interesting to use with larger format lenses with adapters!) RAID is interesting if it could be implemented properly without extra work on the effort of the user (or better yet, something like BeyondRaid found in Drobo/DroboPro) I disagree about video as I’m interested in motion work, and am interested to see future development in this area.. What we really need is something small, solid, mechanical, even with a mirror – how about a Nikon FA (or any other similar compact manual focus SLR) with a digital back? (I’ve been desiring such a camera since the beginning of this era of digital photography!) That’s what I really miss about the film world – the ‘feel’ of a solid, simple, intuitive, yet capable camera – more dials for photographic functions (bring back the aperture ring!) and less having to rely on digital menus or put up with the limitations of focus-by-wire! Despite the uses of a live view, photography just doesn’t feel the same if you’re not looking through the lens and can’t see the image come into and go out of focus as you feel the manual focus ring twisting between your fingers…” target=”_blank”>Marc Marano added his comment to Gianni’s wishlist:
“great ideas!
I especially agree with the square format.. the multi-aspect ratio introduced in the GH1 is a great idea, but why not make the square format the largest (or I’d even work with a sensor that’s bigger than the image circle – that may not happen, but would be interesting to use with larger format lenses with adapters!)
RAID is interesting if it could be implemented properly without extra work on the effort of the user (or better yet, something like BeyondRaid found in Drobo/DroboPro)
I disagree about video as I’m interested in motion work, and am interested to see future development in this area..
What we really need is something small, solid, mechanical, even with a mirror – how about a Nikon FA (or any other similar compact manual focus SLR) with a digital back? (I’ve been desiring such a camera since the beginning of this era of digital photography!) That’s what I really miss about the film world – the ‘feel’ of a solid, simple, intuitive, yet capable camera – more dials for photographic functions (bring back the aperture ring!) and less having to rely on digital menus or put up with the limitations of focus-by-wire!
Despite the uses of a live view, photography just doesn’t feel the same if you’re not looking through the lens and can’t see the image come into and go out of focus as you feel the manual focus ring twisting between your fingers…”
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21 Responses
I totally agree with the video! You are not the only one thinking like that.
Square sensor would be a fun one 🙂 Even though it will never to happen on mft. They are so full of that 4:3.
Video and built-in flash are must haves for me! And I sure hope the GF2 will have video with full manual control like the GH1.
Yes to every point apart from video. I felt the same way at first but am now starting to explore what is possible. As a no-cost option I’m happy. The round lugs are a great idea. I use the 20mm on a wrist strap but with the 14-45 and larger lenses (Nikkor AIS are heavy chunks of glass!) the camera needs a proper strap. I do not think they will ever go to m/66 but bringing over the GH1 sensor so you can change format and not loose pixels should be a GF2 feature. Cheers!
Dual cards using RAID is a silly idea. You’d never be able to take the cards out of the camera and have usable data. If you want speed, why not use CF cards and if you want data redundancy why not just have the camera send all data via wifi to another device. For instance, use something like the Eye-Fi pro but have it write to a wi-fi enabled 2.5″ RAID1 drive enclosure in a bag or something. Though have it so the software erases the data off of the eye-fi after it confirms successful writing to the drive, so that the SD card simply acts like a buffer and is always attempting to clean itself between shots.
Actually… I don’t know if such a product exists. . . . Patent pending! Don’t steal my idea 🙂
A square sensor is interesting, but I bet the majority of people would not have any clue as to why it’s any better or more flexible than a pre-configured aspect ratio.
I agree on the video and the flash. I don’t really like video all that much. I use a little FL-20 flash when I need to use one, mostly just so that my main camera batteries last longer, not so much because it’s much better than an on board.
I’d rather just a swivel screen that a good viewfinder. Though I was never in to taking pictures before digital, so I’m used to using an LCD.
Is the video capability that is in the camera affecting the still shots any of you take? TOTALLY disagree on video if it doesn’t add cost to the camera. I’d actually prefer a m43 that is tailored for video. Give me full manual still and video control and I’m happy. Why doens’t he mention the e-p2? It doesn’t have writing everywhere, has a great EVF, and with the leatherette is very grippy like the G10.
Sign me up! Where can I buy the Gianni Galassi special edition Panasonic GG-1?
Except for the EVF all the items in this wish list have nothing to do with the m4/3 mormat. These wishes can be addressed to the makers of basically any other type of camera.
Something that is inherent to m4/3 and that every overview of the format starts with is that the lack of mirror block allows for greater simplicity in making both bodies and lenses. Yet both the current m4/3 bodies and lenses on the market cost way more than any equivalent DSLR bodies and lenses. That I think is the greatest problem with m4/3 at the moment and that’s my whish: get the prices to a level where they belong – on par with the entry-level DSLR systems.
I totally agree on the sensor. Lenses are circular, give us the ability to use every speck of light that shines through them.
My #1 wish for a successor to the GF1 would be a silent shutter. The GF1’s shutter is really loud, I often take pictures during theater plays and such (from the stage) and the ke-CLUNK it does is way too loud.
this is what leica is all about, so panasonic won’t introduce such a camera. no lumix camera will ever reach this level of perfection – there would be no reason to buy a M9.
i see interface as the most important point. bringing some logic into the menus shouldn’t be that hard. for example, why do you have to turn the dial on the e-p1 the other way that you are used to from canon cameras and click wheel ipods? That’s a detail, but it’s one of many things that aren’t intuitive on panasonic and olympus cameras.
The full coverage sensor is desirable for a top notch model only. It significantly adds to the price as the area of the sensor increase, and keep in mind that it may come with a compromise on the frames per seconds department.
The EVF instead of the flash : yes. No question.
I’d make it a notch thicker to have s tilt/swivel LCD and a better grip. make it look more like the DMC-L1 than a bigger DMC-LX3
Video : I can live without, yet I don’t see why not.
yes, work on the ergonomy.
The biggest wishlist : just an other iteration. Never mind the none-sense, improve on the dynamic range, ISO performance, FPS and resolution. Thats all I want.
if you are going to add some nonesense : blue tooth or wifi, configurability from remote(from the desktop) and geotagging would be nice.
Oh how I would love to goto square sensor. I would be really cool if they made two version, one being square.
great ideas!
I especially agree with the square format.. the multi-aspect ratio introduced in the GH1 is a great idea, but why not make the square format the largest (or I’d even work with a sensor that’s bigger than the image circle – that may not happen, but would be interesting to use with larger format lenses with adapters!)
RAID is interesting if it could be implemented properly without extra work on the effort of the user (or better yet, something like BeyondRaid found in Drobo/DroboPro)
I disagree about video as I’m interested in motion work, and am interested to see future development in this area..
What we really need is something small, solid, mechanical, even with a mirror – how about a Nikon FA (or any other similar compact manual focus SLR) with a digital back? (I’ve been desiring such a camera since the beginning of this era of digital photography!) That’s what I really miss about the film world – the ‘feel’ of a solid, simple, intuitive, yet capable camera – more dials for photographic functions (bring back the aperture ring!) and less having to rely on digital menus or put up with the limitations of focus-by-wire!
Despite the uses of a live view, photography just doesn’t feel the same if you’re not looking through the lens and can’t see the image come into and go out of focus as you feel the manual focus ring twisting between your fingers…
I ‘m using a G1 for about one year now, and I ‘m looking out for a second micro4/3 body.
Attributes I DONT want in my second camera:
– video
– built-in flash
– scenes
Attributes that are a must have:
– high quality evf
– a swiveling LCD
– a extra X-contact if the flash-shoe is used to hold an viewfinder
Thing I like to alter:
– a LCD on top of the camera (cfr Sony R1)
– the double function of the “push and turn” wheel (I hate it)
– the double function of the AF-lock; “lock and unlock”
(the way it is done in the Konica-Minolta 7D is by far superior)
– no focus by wire, but mecanical manual focus
Better than an ISO dial would be a fully configurable auto-ISO. ISO is only there to trade off SNR for highlight headroom, it’s not a creative parameter like shutter and aperture.
Hello,
interesting suggestions from G. Galassi but also within some of the reactions.
1 – Just no hope that a future m43 camera could ever incorporate a LC-1 / L-1 design: my guess is that those could only proceed from an agreement with Leica while the latter is now going its own way with the X1.
2 – I still own a Sony R1 and the swivel top screen is a unique and very convenient feature, the true problem being that, from a building point of view, this can only make sense on a rather thick camera and / or a heavy / fast fixed lens. Be that as it may, just hope that, if Sony ever has such an interchangeable lenses / electronic viewfinder project under cover, it will remember somehow about that truly unique camera.
3 – I do very much agree about the square sensor idea : the single film camera I am still using is a Pentax 6×7 and I definitely love almost square format. That being said, and as this was implicit from the Panasonic GH1 but also from the liveview mode of the recent Olympus DSLR, electronic viewfinders bring about an increased flexibility in that regard and a square format would be a wonderful answer. The cost issue is a real one, but : the m4/3 consortium currently relies to a unique sensor builder and is thus essentially free of achieving original / unconventional projects.
[sigh] Here it is again, the ongoing plaint of the professional/enthusiast photographer: “Give me a small, solid mechanical camera, like in the good old days, with simple mechanical controls for just the functions I need.”
But then s/he adds: “… but with a large square sensor, and a built-in RAID array, and…” then a laundry list of add-ons that would require more mechanical structure and extra logic and move farther and farther away from the mythical ideal of the small and simple into the realm of complex and feature-packed.
Most of the suggestions in the post add up to something that already exists — a V-series Hasselblad with a digital back, which is a nice camera, but not exactly small, very expensive, and not what most people are going to buy.
Same issue every time someone says “Can’t they just put the most-needed functions on mechanical switches, and then simplify the menus and organize them better?” Sure, but the functions YOU need most are probably not the ones I need most, and the menu organization that makes sense to you may be completely frustrating to me and vice-versa.
The only way I can think of to get around the menu and control issues would be to design a camera with a fully configurable interface: you’d plug it into a PC and launch an application that would let you assign f/stop adjustment to Ring A, shutter speed adjustment to Dial B, put ISO and bracketing options on Menu Page 1, and so forth.
But then the photographer would get out in the field and discover that he really, really needed to turn on second-curtain flash sync and had forgotten to assign that option to a button or a menu, and the griping would begin again…
Agreed
Moreover, efforts should be made to get rid of all those white or golden crappy writings and labels in the front panel of the camera. A plain matte black body is all we need.”
I understand not all features are absolute requirements.. It’s doubtful that manufacturers would put RAID in a very compact camera, and I don’t find it to be the most necessary feature either. Yes, I have had one of the top name-brand memory cards completely die on me (and become entirely unusable afterwards), though with proper use and care, memory card failure isn’t usually the greatest thing to be concerned over . Mine must have been the one in a million that had some manufacturing issue as it was never used under any extreme or rough circumstances: it randomly died when I was creating a long-exposure time-lapse sequence while driving across a very long bridge so I didn’t exactly have my eye on it while operating my car, but it’s pretty safe to say it was well within its limits!
Perhaps I am in the minority in the eyes of the manufacturers, though with proper marketing, a simple, full-featured camera could be targeted at a wide range of photographers, artists, students, hobbyists, etc – yes, perhaps not your average consumer, however a good market does exist for those of us that do engage in the creative process of making lens-based art.
Yes, one can obtain such a machine in a much larger package, and the future will hold even greater developments in medium and large formats (the Leaf Aptus-II 10 in particular is very nice), though the compact mechanical SLR / rangefinder cameras have so many potential uses, especially for those that believe in the ‘carry a camera everywhere’ philosophy. Many great examples of the uses of a capable compact camera can be seen in the world of street photographers. In addition to the interchangeable-lens mechanical compact, what I’d really love to see is a pocket-size compact camera like the old Olympus XA series with a large sensor – something more Minox-like than like Sylus Epic’s that we’ll more likely end up with.
Despite my desire for continual advancements in microelectronics for certain devices and cameras (digital features and techniques certainly do have plenty of creative uses), the speed and simplicity of a camera with basic functionality will allow users to focus more of their energy on what’s important: creating the image. I’m not saying make all cameras like this, but rather have the option for those who desire it, much like Nikon still creating a camera like the FM3A long after the domination of autofocus, and the beginning of digital SLRs..
So much of photography has changed with the death of the darkroom and the birth of the digital era – look at cameras like the Mamiya 7, the Fuji GX680 series, or the Linhof Technorama 617 for inspiration of how cameras that were created for photographers function! Yes, perhaps a part of me is just longing for the preservation of this art form, and I do admit I am guilty of jumping into the digital world nearer its beginning (and am now parting with darkroom equipment that has been gathering dust), though I still feel the camera manufacturer world should see what innovations they can derive by simply reflecting upon the great equipment that brought us to where we are today.
I am very interested in future open-source cameras that can be entirely customized by users to suit most any special need or technique they desire… (though by no means pocket-sized, the new Hartblei Cam has a pretty interesting approach too..)
Thanks to the 43rumors’ staff for featuring my first comment in the post update (and for their great efforts in making this blog available to us)!
“MECHANICAL INTERFACE: in addition to the mode dial, I need exposure-compensation and ISO dials as well. I hate fiddling in the menus, even in the so-called “quick menus” (which generally aren’t quick at all). Under this point of view, Canon G10 and G11 are a paragon every designer should imitate.”
YES YES YES!
It took 100 years of camera design to get to simple intuitive focus and ISO dials on the lens body. Couple that with a high resolution EVF, and you have a complete all digital m4/3 camera.
It wouldn’t answer all of the needs expressed here, but an intermediate solution that is within reach using existing technology would be an Olympus E-Pl1 fitted with a non-interchangeable 25-300 folded-optic zoom. One of the great things about the Panasonic ZS3 is its useful zoom range fitted within such a compact body. An E-PL1Z (for zoom) would have to be somewhat larger, but still, with a folded-optic lens retracted behind a self-closing lens cover, the camera could easily fit a large pocket and provide the user with the added benefit of the 4/3 sensor.
The Gh1 dial on the front can be pushed in to switch between aperture and shutter so no need for 2 dials.
Needed for forthcoming micro four thirds cameras
1. Manual focus assist that covers the whole of the screen
2. Internal memory maybe 1gb to allow moving pictures to different memory cards (you could shoot on a SD card then move it to a micro SD card then move micro SD card to your phone to email/mms
3. Built in intervalometer
4. Battery grip
5. Higher burst rate
6. Cinema aspect ratio 21:9
7. Higher shutter speed maybe a ground breaking 1/20000 of a second!
8. GPS would be nice
9. Copyright info etc would be nice too
On panasonic micro four thirds:
L1 type flash that can be bounced and art filters