A Look into Canon’s Ergonomics

Nice article.
The position of the off/on-switch is the biggest problem I found with canon. I realy cant understand why they won't put it around the shutter button. It works perfectly on Sony and Nikon. Its just the perfect spot. You can put it there for EVERY camera. There is no reason not to put it there. Its quickest to reach, you can reach it while taking your camera out of the bag with one hand. You. can reach it, without moving your hands away from "shooting" position (left hand under the lense, right hand at the shutter.) There is just NO reason at all to not put it there. plus, you safe a lot of space on the left top side.

Same goes for the video/photo switch. Why not put it on the left shoulder (where now sometimes the off/on-switch wastes a lot of space) for ALL cameras? I think this is the biggest inconsistency and I cant find any reason for this. On my R5 its even a button combination - why though, why? :-D

What was always a bit weird to me was the 1 series - coming from an 60D, 70D, 7D, 6D, 5D II, 5D III everything felt always the same. Than I got my first 1DX II and suddenly I felt like a total idiot :-D it was so different... same seams to be going on for the R3,...
And here its also the video/photo switch and the power switch which is so crazy inconsistent :D

Anyway, thats complaining on a high level, overall the ergonomics of my R5s is great, I like it. But coming from the 5D and 1D it was unecessary inconsistent x)
 
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Nice article.
The position of the off/on-switch is the biggest problem I found with canon. I realy cant understand why they won't put it around the shutter button. It works perfectly on Sony and Nikon. Its just the perfect spot. You can put it there for EVERY camera. )
Mamiya did it with their New Mamiya 6 system back in the early 90s. I like that position very much, too.
 
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Interesting read. Thank you. Since this is a living document, you might consider updating the section on the R6 Mk II. As it reads now, it was clearly written before the R5 Mk II was announced.

FWIW, I didn't love the on-off switch on the R5 but I like the lever on the latest cameras even less. It elevates the importance of the Lock function, something I've never used once in decades of shooting Canon cameras. Maybe I'm the exception. To me, both design choices waste space. A power switch around the shutter button would be my first choice by far.
 
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Even though I've gotten used to the R5 ergonomics fine and it has been years since I used my Nikon D7000, I distinctly remember both these points as the 2 that impacted me the most.
canon's front dial makes your wrist pronate 1, your fingers are no longer firmly holding the grip 2, your pinky is no longer on the grip, especially with small bodies like rp 3.
I'm not sure if that is the right terminology, but coming from the Nikon that is exactly how I felt about the front dial. You'll only really notice this if you often have wrist pain like I do (*), and you've used a Nikon for a while.

It's not that Canon's way is wrong, but one needs to hold the cameras differently. Let me explain:

With the Nikon D7000, I could hold my arms straight out in front (like a pistol with extended arms) and then grip the camera. The front dial was then changeable by only moving the index finger. Think shooting with the screen at arms length. I'd mostly keep that grip position also for shooting through the VF.

With the Canon R5, if I hold the camera like that I needed to move my hand and/or turn my wrist slightly to change the front dial. Of course a Canon shooter would never hold the camera like that. Instead, you'd hold the R5 to your face/EVF, and then grip it with your arms pointing down (like a pistol shooter at the Olympics, arms not extended). Then everything is fine and both shutter and dial are reachable. You just have to hold it differently.

Sidenote: the Canon dial itself feels much better to me, the Nikon one always felt a bit too recessed and hard to turn.

Nice article.
The position of the off/on-switch is the biggest problem I found with canon. I realy cant understand why they won't put it around the shutter button. It works perfectly on Sony and Nikon. Its just the perfect spot.
It's extremely convenient as you can carry it one-handed without changing your grip at all. I must've toggled the Nikon on/off switch probably for every single photo I took while travelling. Especially with a DSLR you don't need it to be on most of the time.

With the slightly different grip Canon requires and a mirrorless camera having to be on anyways I've gotten used to just letting the R5 in power saving mode. Works very well.

(*) like all the crazy ergonomic mice and keyboards you see, I'd never thought of using those until I suddenly needed to.
 
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I liked the touchbar. I set it to temperature back in the day when I used the EOS R. Nowadays I set it to AWB now on my cameras (rocking R5ii and R5 as my 2-bodies with the RP as a backup and the R50 as the fun tiny camera) because it's not convenient like on the EOS R.
 
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A great article to enjoy with my breakfast, thank you!

I have always appreciated the ergonomics of Canon cameras. I loved handling the A-Series cameras my dad used, but my first 'proper' camera, aged 12, was the T70. From there it was the T90, EOS600 (630), EOS3, D20 and then through almost the entire 1D range and on to the R1. The pleasure of using a camera through muscle memory even when moving from one model to another has never been wasted on me. The recent move to an R1 has been a slightly larger step (perhaps unsurprisingly) than moving up through the three 1DXs. I still get thrown by the odd, minor change with my fingers hunting for a button that has moved - I spent an age trying to find the MODE button while shooting a stage show in near total darkness, but the new placement makes very good sense now that I have found it!

While I feel happiest using Canon's bigger bodies, I do still yearn for a pocket-sized body that holds true to as much of the good ergonomics of the bigger bodies as if physically possible. I have had PowerShot G3 X as a sidekick for getting close to 10 years and know that it won't last for ever - a baby R-Series with a 'pro' edge to replace that would be perfect!
 
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I really hate the idea that you can't get a top LCD mode screen unless it's the R5 and up, especially when you had it in the 20D, 7D and 6D. I'd really like to see it in the R6ii and R6ii along with the grip options for the R7. I think most people would be happy. I think Sony has set the bar for mirrorless cameras however it doesn't mean you have to copy their style. Anyhow, that's just my 2 cents.
Oh! and another thing, I know a lot of people didn't like the move of the power button, I think once they make it standard between all the new cameras it will be fine however, I hate the new joystick thingy button, I think having the jog wheel doubled as the joystick (like in the 80D) would have not only free up some real estate but because of the distance between the directional buttons, it gave better control of the autofocusing points when moving them.
In all Canon is still the king for ergonomics and menu design.
The R5/R3's top LCD is a lot smaller and carries a lot less information than the old 1D/5D series. these day's there is so much information availble in the EVF and on the rear LCD display, the top LCD is a bit redundant in my opinion. I miss the top LCD from my old 5DIII, but only for old timey sakes....functionally, i don't miss it on my R6ii.
 
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The R5/R3's top LCD is a lot smaller and carries a lot less information than the old 1D/5D series. these day's there is so much information availble in the EVF and on the rear LCD display, the top LCD is a bit redundant in my opinion. I miss the top LCD from my old 5DIII, but only for old timey sakes....functionally, i don't miss it on my R6ii.
One quick glance from above and you immediately see aperture, shutter speed and Iso.
Without the need to raise the camera to your eye.
I always shoot "M", and a camera without a top LCD is a camera I'll never even think of buying. I continuously adjust my settings depending on the light and motives.
My first digital was a horrible Sony A 7 soandso (forgot the model). Apart from the terrible ergonomics and menu, I did bitterly miss the ability to see the settings from above. I sold it in a matter of weeks to buy the wonderful 5 D III.
That's why it's good to have cameras with and without top LCDs. Not 2 photographers have identical preferences...
 
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