There are some fine cameras out there today. The current state of technology is truly remarkable. Oh yes, they have come a long way. That said, cameras and lenses still work with three physical basics: aperture, shutter speed and focus.
There are other functionalities that factor into generating a great photograph, but these core three are the core physical influencers in how a photo turns out. Not only that, but used skillfully, a lot of creativity in photography centers around altering those three.
For decades, the aperture ring was found on the lens and the shutter speed somewhere near the right thumb, usually not far from the shutter button. Now, however, it requires the studying of a manual to find out where those controls might be. Worse, they are buried in some kind of electronic menu that usually has nothing intuitive about it.
There seems to be an obsession in those labs to cram more controls and features into a camera. Yes, there have been some amazing technological advances, but the human interface has been altered and is now very different from camera to camera.
As a photographer I need to know what aperture and shutter speed I’m shooting at. The use of the left hand to move the aperture ring on the lens was extremely intuitive. Recently Fuji released the X100, which by all accounts has some great manual controls. It too has a terrible electronic menu, but the fact that you can control these core functions via rings and knobs is a step in the right direction, meaning it's a step back. Every photographer I know that plays with it simply loves that aperture ring and the shutter speed knob.
So, Canon & Nikon please take note. To your credit, both of you make some amazing sensors and have some other amazing technology incorporated in those cameras, but us photographers are wildly enthusiastic about that aperture ring.
The new Fuji is not without flaws though and is clearly a version one-point-O. This is evidenced by the fact that the manual focus rings takes several full rotations to go to infinity. It has several other quirks too, but the feeling in the hand makes more than up for it.
