A look at the complex and exhausting Sony Alpha menu system
“Map contains about 900 nodes”
It only takes a few minutes with an Alpha to realize the camera has a lot to offer and only a few minutes longer to realize that you have no idea how to get the most from it. I’ve been to countless Sony held events where the person in charge had to slow down a given demo to look for a setting. Is it because they didn’t know what they were talking about? Not at all.
Alpha cameras have a menu system that was clearly designed by system engineers and not end-users, one of the reasons why features aren’t always where you’d think they’d be. They think differently than you and I. Sometimes, for better. In this case, for worse. To make matters more difficult, the menu systems are slightly different depending on the Alpha camera in your hands. So even though you may be able to navigate your Alpha camera blindly, it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do the same on another one. Hence certain demos coming to a crawl.
So how complex is the Alpha menu system? Dmitri Popov on PetaPixel:
It’s not a secret that the menu systems of any Sony Alpha camera can be charitably described as advanced. But you can only appreciate its intricacy and sheer complexity, when the entire system is laid bare in front of you. I spent several days mapping the menu system, and it felt like exploring an uncharted world.
The result is both fascinating and mind-boggling. The mind map contains about 900 nodes, each corresponding to an individual menu item — and this isn’t even the complete number, as I didn’t map elements where it was impractical to do so. Even if I subtract a handful of nodes containing annotations of certain menu items, the number is still staggering.
Looking at the entire map Dmitri put together is purely mind-numbing. No wonder Sony isn’t in a hurry to redesign their menu system, let alone enable touch input, which would require a complete rethinking. Most Alpha cameras currently offer a touch display that’s mainly limited to selecting focus and nothing else, much to the chagrin of younger users. The Sony ZV-1 has proven that the company can create compelling products aimed at a younger generation that has grown up on touch products and intuitive UI, something Sony still lags on across all of its products, including ZV-1.
It’s absolutely absurd how difficult it is to find basic features on an Alpha camera, and that’s a disservice to the end-user, and Sony who is creating cutting edge cameras with powerful features, only to have them locked behind a design wall due to a poor menu system. With this ‘mind map,’ we now understand the enormity of it all.
Do you find navigating the Alpha menu system a difficult task?
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