Dear Fujifilm, You are One Firmware Update Away from the Perfect Camera

fuji_feat

Last year I bought a new Fuji X-Pro 1. I bought it as a camera to keep in my pocket, not really as a serious option, but I’ve loved it from the moment I snapped the first pictures. I even bought a second one, used, and converted it to infrared.

The quality of the RAW files is incredible, and so is the quality of the lenses. I really enjoy the OVF and the option to switch to EVF as needed. Low or high ISO, the quality is superb, and I started to bring the camera with me everywhere—something I was not doing with the much bigger and heavier Canon 1DS Mk III I own. Every single time I develop the RAWs from this camera, I like it a little bit more.

I could not be happier, and I’m planning to get the X-Pro 2 very soon.

But…

I hate absolutely all the buttons and wheels that get pushed and moved anytime I grab the camera out of my bag. The macro function seems like it was designed only to make me worry that the OVF/EVF switch is broken every time I push it accidentally and get stuck in EVF. The exposure compensation is constantly being pushed out of the zero position, making it so I’m under- or over-exposing pictures because I don’t always have the display on to check.

All the buttons, sooner or later, get pushed accidentally. It makes me crazy!

So, dear Fuji, why do you not put an option in the firmware to disable the buttons and dials? I know, I’m a dinosaur—I need only shutter speed, aperture, and ISO 90% of the time. But Leica made money selling a model without even the display!

A few lines of code in the firmware, and we will be able to personalize the camera, turning off all the buttons we want. The camera could go back and forth, from normal to limited function, with something as simple as pressing one of the annoying buttons for more than 3 seconds or something similar.

Personally, I would be happy with all the buttons and dials inactive except for play, shutter speed, and aperture. Other people might have other needs, but I think it would be easy to customize the camera using a menu similar to the one used to choose what to show in the OVF. Plus, this could easily be done for all past, present, and future models in one fell swoop!

Dear Fuji, I already love you, but with that option you would save me a lot of money on therapy.

Written with love… and a little hate.

About the author: Luigi Barbano is a renowned Italian photographer, artist, and author, who divides his time between Italy and the USA. He started his professional career in 1994, and specializes in commercial and travel photography. You can find more of his work or get in touch through his website, Facebook, and LinkedIn. He’s also published a book, “Photography: The f Manual”, which revisits the classical approach to photography. This article was also published here.