Why Fujifilm Retro Dials are Superior to PSAM Dials
There is this notion that cameras with a PSAM dial are faster to operate than cameras with dedicated retro dials, which slow you down.
And you know what? I get your point!
Imagine you are at a wedding, lots of things happening, tons of pictures to take, your eye glued on the viewfinder capturing all the precious moments.
And having photographed a wedding myself, I can say that conditions change all the time: indoors and outdoor, fast moving and static subjects, group shots and portraits, natural light and artificial light, low light and bright daylight…
In short: whoever is a wedding photographer out there, must be a very skilled allrounder and constantly master all possible photographic conditions.
And from this point of view, being able to quickly adjust all your settings by just turning the front and rear command dial while keeping your eye glued on the viewfinder can be extremely convenient.
So case closed, right? PSAM is for Pros, and Retro is for less demanding photography.
Well, not really.
First off: when I took my favorite X-T1 image, I could set the camera even before turning it on thanks to all the dedicated dials, which if you ask me is incredibly fast.
But that’s not why retro dials are superior to PSAM.
The real reason Fuji’s retro dials are superior to PSAM is because of their terrific flexibility.
In its infinite wisdom, Fujifilm designed their retro cameras in a way that you can quickly make all the dedicated dials totally superfluous and control all parameters using the front and rear command dials just as you would on any Canon, Sony or Nikon PSAM camera.
Isn’t it brilliant?
You need command dial control? Easy peasy, instantly make all the dedicated dials useless by doing this.
- set aperture ring to A
- set exp. comp dial to C
- set shutter speed to T
- set ISO to C
Just four quick turns… a few seconds of your time, and you’ve disabled all dedicated dials. Now every value will be controlled with the front and rear command dial (as you can see in the video above).
And if for example you want to still control Aperture using the ring, just don’t put it on “A”, so all values except for aperture will be controlled with the command dials.
I’ll go more in depth into the various PSAM modes in the video down above.
So that’s why I consider the layout on my X-T4 to be superior to the one on my GFX100S: the X-T4 gives me more choice, more options, more flexibility and it combines the fun of retro controls with the efficiency of command dial controls, whereas on my GFX100S I have no alternative: it’s PSAM or nothing!
The only way to get a slight retro touch on my GFX100S is via the fake dials, and although they are honestly a nice touch, they simply can’t replace the real thing.
And since in my opinion, everything that gives us more options, without taking away other options, is superior, the retro layout of Fujifilm cameras beats the PSAM layout.
100% Fuji Colors Power
Rumors and Discussions