TheShoe Loc: Lacey, WA

If the thief has access to the Internet, then the manual is only a click away.

BebuLamar

So you think the crooks are those willing to read the manuals? People who read manuals are few these days.

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

Well, I guess the members have spoken.... too bad the conversation was so fixated on the " Manual " which was just one example. I respectfully disagree with most of you but endless debate which goes nowhere as many of these threads wind up being, is pretty unproductive. I will continue to carry all my cheat sheets etc... in my bag or maybe I will pull out another device to reference info the inefficient first device was not able to produce.... Cheers. Bob

papaluv4gd Loc: durham,ct

I can see an SD card being supplied by the manufactures with the latest firmware on it. Bypass having to plug your camera into a computer. That can occasionaly turn a camera into a very expensive paperweight. I'm sure it has happened a time or two to someone. specially if the battery dyes before the download is complete. You can bet someone did it by mistake. things do happen.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Or you could just put your manual on a smart phone and have a much larger screen to view it on, and be able to adjust your camera settings while reading the manual on your phone.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

In short, we use our cell phones only as a phone when away from home.

You can do as you want of course, but I find my smart phone to be the most useful piece of electronic gear I've ever owned. For most people it's phone functionality is often the least used part of it. A flip phone and a modern smart phone are not comparable except for the word "phone" in the title. One is a simple telephone, the other is a incredibly sophisticated, multi purpose, communication device and tool. Its the equivalent of an electronic swiss army knife with a few hundred thousand blades. By the way, I'm responding to you while having my tank filled with gas about an hour from home, after which I will use Google Pay on my phone to pay for a light, inexpensive, fast food dinner. Since my wife is with friends this evening, I will be dining alone. Consequently while I'm eating I will text my son who is working this evening. Then I'll do some online research for some pull out shelving options for my kitchen. Perhaps if I have time I will also finish viewing the movie I started on Netflix late last night. Chances are I will not speak to anyone using its phone app this evening. I'll say it again, My smartphone is the most useful electronic device I've even owned.

shoelessjoe

I download a number fo PDF files including manuals from Nikon. In fact, I have some of Steve Perry's books in PDF format that is on my Kendle's. One is a reader and the other is a color Kindle. The reader is B&W but light and can be read with direct sunlight. The Color one is better for viewing color pictures but is an LCD and therefore more difficult to view in the sun and is a little heavy. You can put one of them in your Camera Bag or Backpack and take it into the field. Manuals would be difficult to read and navigate with the camera but could be done. These are the kind of things that the manufactures should be looking into to better compete with their competition.

Bill_de Loc: US

I don't know if they have it for phones, but I use the Nikon Manual Viewer on my tablets. The pictures are from Nikon, but you get the idea. You can download most/all manuals through the viewer.


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Cover


Download


Open Manual

was_a_guru

OK, I'm probably going to get some criticism for this post, but it's my belief that if you are out in the field using your camera you probably should have a pretty good knowledge of it's capabilities and workings, and not have to be referring to any manuals.

I also find my Nikon D7500 manuals not that useful for learning the camera. The manual and menu guide are 357 and 263 pages respectively. They both have a lot of good information but one has to follow a lot of manual hyperlinks as most topics have a lot of references to other pages that then also have references to other pages.

When I got my camera I took an online course from Creative Live (Fast Start D7500, taught by John Greengo) and it got me 90% of what I needed to know for most everything I want to do. I also purchased David Bush's "Nikon D7500 Digital SLR Photography" and got me to 99%. It's great because it not only explains the how but also the why for most operations. For the last 1% the manual is fine.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

They already do. You put the most advanced imaging device on the planet, your Mark 1 eyeball, to the viewfinder, and your brain, the most powerful supercomputer ever built , makes a decision and communicates with your remote manipulators (fingers) to capture an image.

Don't need an app for that.

shoelessjoe

This is not to bash because I think you make some valid points about self training that we should all do with our equipment regardless of what type or manufacture. It makes sense to me however, to be able to look up something that you might forget after a period of time away from that subject and want to look up to refresh your memory while in the field.