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| This is Mockup #13 showing the canted-back-10-degrees-inverted-L-shaped handle. Unfortunately words and photos cannot adequately describe just how good this handle type really is. |
The subject of this discussion is cameras which will be hand held most of the time. It is therefore of fundamental importance that such devices be comfortable and secure in the hands and that they can be held and operated simultaneously without interrupting the capture flow.
I have expended much effort and research over the last five years into the matter of handles. I have worked with many actual cameras, full camera mockups and handle mockups.
Handle mockups are useful as they enable the research to focus (pun intended) on that specific aspect of design without the distraction of all the other stuff which burdens a modern camera.
In order to clarify my thinking and work I have identified several handle types, with intermediates being fairly common.
Handle type and shutter button location are inextricably bound together as we shall see.
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| Handle only mockups with top/rear shutter button location. The no handle version is on the left and the 'form-follows-fingers' handle on the right. |
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| Hand/finger position for the top/rear shutter button, no handle. |
The handle types are:
No handle: This includes numerous variants with a vestigial or minimal handle. No handle cameras have the shutter button in the top/rear position on the camera body. In order to hold and operate a no handle camera the user’s right hand must be held in the index finger cocked up position.
This position is ergonomically inferior to the half closed relaxed position.
Why ? From the half closed relaxed position the index finger can easily flex and extend as well as move side to side. This enables the index finger to easily operate four UIMs (user interface modules: buttons, dials etc) without strain and without having to move a muscle of any other finger.
But in the index finger cocked up position the index finger has already used up its side to side movement capacity and most of its flexion and extension capacity. So it can get onto the shutter button but nowhere else, unless the whole hand shifts grip.
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| Top/rear shutter button position with form-follows-fingers handle. This is reasonably comfortable but there is no overhang beneath which the third finger can fit to support the mass of the device. Movement of the index finger is restricted. |
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| Photo courtesy of Digital Photography Review This shows what happens when designers try to marry a full handle with top/rear shutter button position. The index finger is required to stretch far away from the third finger. Several reviewers reported this to be awkward and uncomfortable. Movement of the index finger is very restricted. Sony changed this layout with the next generation of A7 cameras. The question is why did they inflict this ergonomically unsatisfactory arrangement on buyers in the first place ? |
Handle with top/rear shutter button Several camera makers have tried to incorporate a handle on a camera with top/rear shutter button position. This produces a result which is at best suboptimal and in some cases worse than no handle at all.
One of the handle mockups, as shown in the photo illustrates the general shape of handle which results if the handle shape follows the fingers. There are numerous problems with this arrangement. There is no overhang under which the third finger can fit. So in order to prevent the camera falling when the left hand is removed, the right hand must squeeze the body tight. There is no platform on top of the handle for control modules and the hand must be deployed in the index finger cocked up position.
Some cameras have tried to deploy a more substantial handle, some with incorporated control dial, on a body with top/rear shutter button. One such is the Sony A7, shown in the photo. This requires the right index finger to separate widely from the third finger so the index finger can get onto the shutter button and the third finger can get down to the handle. To compound the problem there is a control dial positioned neatly in the center of the top plate of the handle. This might look nice to the designers but is an ergonomic kludge, as the dial cannot be operated with any finger without shifting and disrupting grip with the right hand.
Someone apparently tapped Sony’s designers on the shoulder about this because with the A7(II) they changed over to a projecting handle with the shutter button and control dial top front on the handle.
The implementation of this still requires work (the inverted L shape is better) but at least they are moving in the right direction.
The thing which baffles me is that camera designers move simultaneously in so many ergonomically wrong directions with the release of new model lines, requiring corrections with update models.
I am not picking on Sony here. Check out the major changes seen in each iteration of the Nikon 1 V series MILCs or the ergonomically conflicted Nikon Df.
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| Small cameras, projecting handle on the left, parallel handle on the right. The parallel handle is basically the same but turned 90 degrees. It works much better. |
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| Small camera projecting handle. Fingers in position required for operation. This forces the palm of the hand away from the camera and diminishes integrity of the grip. |
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| Same mockup as the one above. Fingers where they want to go. The grip is stronger and more comfortable but as you can see the index finger is not on the shutter button. |
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| Photo courtesy of Digital Photography Review Canon SX20 with projecting handle, shutter button right on the top front end. I bought one of these a few years ago. The handle looks like the real business but is not. It is thin, smooth and lacks any indentation or overhang under which the third finger can hook. The shutter button position forces the right palm away from the handle, weakening the grip. Appearances can be deceptive. I always felt this camera was about to fall to the ground unless I gripped it tightly and even that didn't help much as it was so smooth. |
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| Photo courtesy of Digital Photography Review Sony RX10 with a problem similar to the SX20 above. The shutter button on the very tip of the thin projecting handle is too far to the right forcing the hand away from the right side of the handle. The problem is compounded by the thumb support also being far to the right side. The result is a weak grip and poor support for the body from the right hand. |
Projecting handle This is typified by the classic SLR/DSLR handle dating from the Canon T90 of 1986 and found on many cameras today.
This has definite advantages over the no handle type, especially on a medium to large camera body.
The medium/large projecting handle opens up the fingers, gives the user more grip and allows the shutter button to be relocated to the vicinity of the top/front of the handle.
This in turn allows the hand to assume a posture closer to the desirable half closed relaxed position for strength and stability without strain.
On small cameras, the projecting handle can be problematic. The handle is not large or fat enough to allow the fingers to take up a comfortable holding position and the shutter button position requires the index finger to be pulled back. This in turn weakens the grip and destabilises the user’s hold on the camera.
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| Small parallel handle mockup. This is a huge improvement on the same sized small projecting handle in the photos above. The hand is able to come closer to the desirable half-closed-relaxed position, the third finger can tuck under a small overhang and the index finger has much more freedom of movement. |
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| On the left parallel handle. On the right inverted L handle. In my mockup work this evolved from and is superior to the parallel handle. The main body of the handle is not quite as wide. The overhang is more pronounced. This is more comfortable, provides more support for the camera's mass and opens up the top of the handle area for a quad control set. |
Parallel handle While working with my mockups I realised that I could turn the projecting handle 90 degrees anticlockwise (looking down on the camera) and alter the shape to better fit the holding fingers.
This gives a result ergonomically superior to both the no handle and projecting handle types. Better still, it is effective on small, medium and large bodies.
The parallel handle brings the hand position even closer to the desirable half closed relaxed position, and gives very good purchase to the three gripper fingers, the action of which is now directed into the palm of the hand for improved stability.
In addition the parallel handle opens up a small platform on top of the handle for the disposition of capture phase UIMs.
The parallel handle makes the camera a little wider but less deep than the projecting handle.
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| Holding the small parallel handle. This is a substantial improvement on the no handle and projecting handle, providing better support and freedom of movement for the index finger. |
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| Holding the inverted L handle. This is even better than the parallel handle with more support, a shape better matched to the holding fingers and more options for control modules on top of the handle. |
Inverted L handle When I make mockups I work away at the handle shape until it feels right. This is a subtle thing as a shape can feel good enough initially but on further acquaintance be found capable of improvement.
The inverted L shaped handle is an evolution of the parallel type which I arrived at by continuously improving the shape to best fit the hands which hold the device.
The inverted L shape if optimally crafted, allows the hand to adopt the desirable half closed relaxed position, places the shutter button exactly where the index finger wants to find it and creates a platform on top of the handle for a quad control set of UIMs.
It also creates a large and comfortable overhang beneath which the third finger of the right hand takes a natural position. When combined with a well crafted diagonal type thumb support the inverted L shaped handle allows the right hand to hold and support the camera with no requirement to squeeze onto the body or apply clenching force with the finger muscles. If the left hand needs to leave the lens or left side of the camera to change grip as is often the case, for instance when shifting from landscape to portrait orientation, the camera is held securely throughout. There is no need for the user to juggle the camera back and forth from one hand to the next.
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| This is mockup #13 with the lens removed. This has the inverted-L-canted-10-degrees-back handle. It is the best handle configuration I have yet done. It provides excellent comfort, stability, security, support for the camera's mass, freedom of movement of the index finger, half closed relaxed finger position and a neutral position of the wrist. This mockup has been my 'aha' moment, when everything came together to form a very satisfying and coherent whole. |
Inverted L canted 10 degrees back The great benefit of blogging in a public domain is reader feedback. It is clear from some of the feedback which I receive that some of my readers are thoughtful and analytical people who share my interest in good design.
I was recently challenged by a reader to rethink my ideas about the ideal handle. He pointed out that a camera with the top/rear shutter button position and no handle or minimal handle allows the right wrist to be held almost straight when viewing through the EVF (or OVF in the case of a DSLR).
But with a standard projecting handle, particularly on a large camera, the right wrist has to tilt forward which could be uncomfortable for some users.
I realised that simply by canting the whole right side of the camera back about 10 degrees a user could have the best of both systems.
I applied this strategy to my 13th full camera mockup a photo of which appears at the top of this post.
I made up the basic camera body in plywood, sawed right through it at the right side of the monitor then re attached the right side with a rearward cant of about 10 degrees.
The result has been so successful that I rate #13 as my best mockup to date. In addition to the handle configuration, #13 incorporates much of that which I have learned about ergonomics over the last five years.
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| Mockup #13 in hand. This camera is quite small, measuring 120mm width and 80mm height. Yet it is very fully featured with triple set and see dials on the top plate for Prepare Phase adjustments, twin control dials, JOG lever and a full suite of hard controls. Fully featured cameras can be quite compact as proven by this mockup. |
