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| How not to do it. Sony RX10Mk4. This camera has state-of the-art technology and performance but a mediocre user interface. |
Way back in the good ol’ days of SLRs and film, top plate LCD displays served a useful purpose.
It was not feasible to display much data in an optical viewfinder and there was no monitor screen on the back of the camera.
With digital capture came the rear monitor screen on which a great deal of information could be displayed, or not if the user did not want it.
So the top plate LCD became redundant and disappeared from the majority of consumer level DSLRs. But top level models retain the LCD panel for reasons which escape me. Maybe professional photographers became accustomed to having it there.
Now we have mirrorless cameras, some with a fixed lens, others with interchangeable lenses. These cameras have an electronic viewfinder which can display all the information available to the monitor, or not if desired.
Either the EVF or monitor can display all the information which might be allocated to a top plate LCD panel, in a presentation which is easier to read with user selectable content.
No longer is there any logical or ergonomic reason for designers to include a top plate LCD settings display.
But what do we now see ? Curioser and curioser, the redundant top plate LCD panel is making a comeback to some recent released mirrorless camera models.
My Sony RX10 Mk4 has one (as do the previous three versions of the RX10).
The Panasonic G9 has one.
The Fuji X-H1 and GFX50S each have one.
And, wonder of all camera design wonders, it appears from the teaser photos that the about-to-be-announced-on 23 August-and-possibly-actually-released all new Nikon mirrorless full frame camera also has a top plate information display.
Why ?
What is going on here ?
I really don’t know.
Are camera owners and users demanding a return of the top plate information display ?
Digital Photography Review recently conducted a poll of readers asking “ What are the most important things you’d want from a Canon or Nikon mirrorless camera ?”
DPR closed the poll after a few days with 3783 responses.
I think we can assume most respondents were camera owners and users who have given some thought to exactly which features they consider important in a mirrorless camera.
The features most requested were as expected, things like compatibility with existing DSLR lenses, high quality EVF and focus system and in-body stabilisation.
A top plate settings display was the LEAST requested item, nominated by just 0.3% of respondents.
Maybe that tiny percentage of users is incredibly influential, who knows?
From an ergonomic perspective the top plate settings display is worse than useless.
1. It is not useful.
2. It displaces controls which are useful from the top of the camera.
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| Getting it right: Panasonic G85 with twin top control dials, drive mode dial on left side of EVF hump. This camera is a pleasure to operate. |
My I explain:
The information usually most prominently displayed on top plate displays includes aperture, shutter speed, ISO and exposure compensation. These are primary and secondary exposure parameters which the user needs to be aware of during the Capture Phase of use.
That is: when the user is looking through the viewfinder or sometimes looking at the monitor. In either case the top plate and its display are not visible.
So the top plate display provides information about exposure parameters when the user does not need it, in Prepare Phase of use when looking at the top of the camera, but does not allow the same information to be seen by the user when he or she does want it, during Capture Phase of use.
Top plate displays usually also present information relevant to Prepare Phase of use, including remaining shots available on the card, flash compensation, battery status, white balance and others depending on the make and model. But these are often small and difficult to read and are more easily seen in the EVF or monitor.
If the top plate information display were merely useless like the Fn7 button on the front of the Panasonic GX8, that would not be so bad.
But it is worse than useless because it occupies prime camera real estate and forces controls which are useful off that location.
The prime and best occupant of that particular piece of camera real estate is the main Mode Dial. This is extremely useful on a modern electronic camera providing quick access to many major functions.
But most cameras lack sufficient space for both an LCD panel and a Mode Dial so the Mode Dial gets bumped off to the left side of the EVF hump.
But wait…. The Drive Mode dial wants to be there…..tough luck.
So the Drive Mode Dial either disappears altogether or gets stacked beneath the main Mode Dial which is not an optimal arrangement or gets sent some other place where it is difficult to see.
All of which brings me back to my original question.
Why are designers fitting new mirrorless cameras with top plate information displays ?
I have no inside knowledge whatsoever of the way camera designer’s minds work so I must guess.
And my best guess is that the top plate panel is there for marketing reasons:
* Ten years after the first mirrorless ILC (the Panasonic G1 of 2008) the most popular type of interchangeable lens camera is still the DSLR.
* Camera makers want you to switch from a DSLR to a Mirrorless model. When the Canon and Nikon full frame mirrorless models come out that push will be on in earnest. Neither Canon nor Nikon will want to be burdened with the cost of running two completely different product lines for very long.
AND at the same time they want to upsell you to a top level model because they make more profit per unit on the more expensive models.
* Upper mid and high end DSLRs (but not entry and lower end models) have top plate LCD panels.
Therefore the designers have taken to fitting their upper/mid and high end Mirrorless models with top plate information panels.
Not because these panels are useful or ergonomically desirable but because the makers want to make their MILCs look and operate just like the (currently) more popular DSLRs.
Anyway that’s what it looks like to me.
Summary
Camera users have voted against the use of top plate information panels on their mirrorless cameras.
My ergonomic analysis concludes that such panels on mirrorless cameras are worse than useless.
I use my Sony RX10 Mk4 often but never look at the top deck information panel when I am operating the camera. On the occasions when I have looked at that panel to see what it displays I have found some of the icons so small as to be unreadable.
Conclusion
The top plate information panel is a relic of the past and an ergonomic absurdity on a modern mirrorless camera.
I really wish that camera makers would sell mirrorless models on their considerable merits and not resort to making them look like DSLRs for what appear (to me anyway) to be mis-conceived marketing reasons.