a color picture ~ (embiggenable) • iPhone
Over the holidays I had some time to ruminate on a number of items, re: the medium of photography and its apparatus (conventions, not gear). However, to be honest, one item was gear related.
That item-based rumination was instigated by a post, re: some camera or another, on TOP. A comment from a reader about the camera stated that he did not like menu(s) configuration (or words to that effect). That comment sruck me as kinda odd. Although, truth be told, I do find digital camera menus to be rather obtuse.
On the other hand, I could not care less one way or the other due to the fact that I rarely utilise the menu(s) on my cameras. The reason for that is simple ... for 40 years of my picture making life I was in the anologue / film world (there was no other choice). My picture making mechanics were quite simple; set the film speed on my handheld spot meter, take a reading, set the desired aperture and shutter spend on the camera, focus and shoot. Easy peasy.
When I entered the digital picture making domain, I just naturally fell into the same picture making M.O. with the exception of the handheld spot meter thing ... set the ISO (almost aways 200 so it rarely requires setting), take a light reading (center weighted) with the in-camera meter, set the aperture / shutter speed and shoot. Again, easy peasy.
I rarely visit the menu(s) because I always - with a "real" camera - shoot RAW. Color is always set to "NATURAL/NEUTRAL". The viewing screen is always set to square (the camera delivers a full frame file for cropping to square). And, I don't do in-camera effects. So diving into menu(s) is a very rare occurrence (most often to set an auto-bracket setting).
For me,other than the initial set-it-and-forget-it menu setup, menu(s) just are not a part of my normal picture making M.O.. Therefore, I can't ever imagine a situation where menu(s) configuration would be a factor in choosing a camera.