The sensormatic buttonhole foot is really smooth and easy to use IMO it's a clever feature. :thumbsup:
It's fast
I've had the opposite experience with the buttonhole foot, or maybe it's more that one issue I have with the machine in general also interferes with the buttonholes. My machine HATES any change in thickness. Not a big deal with quilting and its thin cottons, but with clothing and needing to cross other bulky seams, it balks. Big time. The long buttonhole foot means that it senses those perpendicular seams even when the buttonhole itself will not cross it. The fabric bogs down, and does not advance as it should, which messes up the stitching, and affects the consistency of reproduction of the buttonholes. Several times I have been tempted to purchase a machine related to the older Viking I had that made gorgeous 4-step buttonholes, but I have 2 hand-me-down machines in my future that need to be tested out before I spend money on yet another one.
I agree that it is a fast machine! Unfortunately it causes so much vibration in my table that I can't see what its doing, so I have to keep to a slower pace. I need to get a vibration mat, but my table is already too high for comfort, and I have a new sewing room in my further with new furniture, so I just keep the slower pace for now.