Reading User's Manual: Today I saw advice to read manual carefuly when bought a new camera. I am not reading manual from the 1-st page to the last one. I am reading only pages which I...

MMC Loc: Brooklyn NY

Today I saw advice to read manual carefuly when bought a new camera. I am not reading manual from the 1-st page to the last one. I am reading only pages which I need to set my new camera to desired settings. I would like to know how reading manuals other HH members. Thank you in advance everyone who answered my question.

dickparkans Loc: Arizona

When it come to manuals, I gave up a long time ago. They are all japanese translated to english. I just buy books written by David D. Bush. He does a great job explaining cameras and how to use them.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

MMC wrote:

Today I saw advice to read manual carefuly when bought a new camera. I am not reading manual from the 1-st page to the last one. I am reading only pages which I need to set my new camera to desired settings. I would like to know how reading manuals other HH members.

My manual camera manuals are obtuse, frustrating and sometimes hilarious because of the peculiarities in translation. If I had to depend on them to work my cameras I'd be in big trouble. It is good for looking up particular symbols or buttons (sometimes). I usually find a good early-adopter who zealously writes about how to use it and save their documents to study, and may buy a handbook if/when a good one comes out (usually down the road a bit).

Dan821 Loc: Traveling........

I typically read my user manuals to help put me to sleep at night...

Rongnongno Loc: FL

What is that :?: :?:

Oh Recyclable paper :!: :!: :!:

TucsonCoyote Loc: Tucson AZ

Dan821 wrote:

I typically read my user manuals to help put me to sleep at night...

:XD: :thumbup:

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

MMC wrote:

Today I saw advice to read manual carefuly when bought a new camera. I am not reading manual from the 1-st page to the last one. I am reading only pages which I need to set my new camera to desired settings. I would like to know how reading manuals other HH members. Thank you in advance everyone who answered my question.

I can't say I read it page by page from page one because many items are universal to all cameras, or at least universal to camera brands.
When I get a new camera, or other piece of gear, I do sit down with the camera and go through the manual.

Raven5278 Loc: Rockland MA

Was that a user's manual that came in the box with my D7000? I thought it was packing material.

For ease of reading and understanding, I like the book by David Busch "Nikon D7000". I bought it as an eBook on my iPad.

jfn007 Loc: Close to the middle of nowhere.

My manuals never see the light of day. I just buy David Busch's books like this member does.

dickparkans wrote:

When it come to manuals, I gave up a long time ago. They are all japanese translated to english. I just buy books written by David D. Bush. He does a great job explaining cameras and how to use them.

Bugfan Loc: Toronto, Canada

Anytime I get something new that has a user manual I will browse through the manual. The purpose of the browse is to become aware of what the gadget can and will do.

When that's done I go back in to read the specific sections that I need today. As I need new functions I will get back into the manual to learn how to use the new function.

Then once in a while I'll browse the manual again to see what else there is that I've missed. Through this process I eventually learn everything with minimal time expenditures.

What I also do sometimes is ignore the manual and buy a book like David Busch's books which I then use as a manual instead.

What I like about the latter is that there is more to learn. The usual manuals tell you how to do the things the camera can do but the manual rarely tells you why you would want to do it and when is the best time to do it. The authors like Dave help fill that gap.

cmc65

jfn007 wrote:

My manuals never see the light of day. I just buy David Busch's books like this member does.

Except that David Busch has had a falling out with his publisher and his manuals for newer cameras have not been printed. I read EVERY word of the literature that comes with anything new. Cameras, tv, cars .. Not that I understand them, but I do read them.

GTinSoCal Loc: Palmdale, CA

I read all my manuals cover to cover.
Hoping that I will remember that a certain something was in there, then go find it when needed.

I REALLY like having the manual in PDF, I can usually find what I want in just seconds with the search function! :-)

GT

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

I'm unusual, I guess, and I don't find them that difficult to understand. I use mine in conjunction with the manuals written by Darrell Young with camera in hand because I like the reasoning behind his choices for setting up his camera. I read and then experiment, thinking about how I might utilize the features.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

MMC wrote:

Today I saw advice to read manual carefuly when bought a new camera. I am not reading manual from the 1-st page to the last one. I am reading only pages which I need to set my new camera to desired settings. I would like to know how reading manuals other HH members. Thank you in advance everyone who answered my question.

For some cameras or flashes, I don't need to read the manuals ( like film cameras, or the 600RT flash), but on digital cameras I usually read the manual (and from front to back), so I know the ins and out's, especially with all the different menues.

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

I've never read any manual cover to cover. Most of my manuals are pdf files. I consult them when I don't know how to accomplish something, which button or menu item to use, etc. For software like PS or Premiere Pro I usually use youtube videos to explain a specific operation or function.
Bob