RoswellAlien

I’m sure this is been hashed over before, but as a relative newcomer to UHH, feel free to ignore. May even be in the wrong place.
My first SLR was a mid 60s Canon FT (which survived a deployment in the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club — 68) and the manual was a sometimes funny, at other times an all but unintelligible translation from the Japanese.
When I got into digital, it was Nikon (a 950 swiveling brick) and I’ve stuck with Nikon every since. Over the years I’ve learned to decipher the sub-text of Nikon manuals (retired English/Drama teacher that I am) and all is well.
Then in October I decided I needed a good, but light carry camera and got a Lumix LX100 II. Great little camera but the manual, Heilige Scheise! Finally resorted to the tried and true method of “let’s push a button and see what happens.” Now I’m actually having fun using the camera and my frustration level is way down.

Stay safe everyone.

Shaun Loc: Tucson, AZ

I ran in to the same thing when I traded my Canon D-60 in on a Sony a6000 - the instruction manual was a joke and the gazillion items in the menu needed explaining. Fortunately there are aftermarket books that do an excellent job of taking you through every menu item and explaining it in depth. But when I became familiar with all the choices and then bought a Sony RX100 VI for a backup, I still had to get another book for that!

Bill_de Loc: US

I consider my Nikon manuals easy reading compared to the Panasonic LX-10 manual. I did figure out the focus stacking which is basic, but pretty cool to play with.

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RoswellAlien

Not there yet 🤪

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

I recently purchased a refurbished Nikon D810. The paper manual was not included but I did download the manual to my computer. I am one of those people that prefers paper manuals and books and though I can download the manual to my phone, I will be extremely agitated if while I am out in the middle of nowhere I need to know something and am unable to get a cell signal or if my phone dies. Plus, I like to add notes to margins and make notes in the back of the book where to find certain oft needed info rather than search the index. I have checked Nikon's web site and the paper manual isn't available. I can purchase a used one but not everyone tells the truth about condition and the newest caution with books is bedbugs. I had also wanted David Busch's book but it is no longer available brand new and again I can find it used but I have the same concerns.

I have purchased Darrell Young's Mastering the D810 but it is not small enough and light enough to carry in my bag. Fingers crossed that my aging brain will hold enough info that I don't need that nice little paper manual.

Dodie

toxdoc42

I sometimes really wonder if the writers purposely write obtuse manuals. I find that once you know how to do something you can find it in the manual. If you know the correct word to use to describe the function, you can find it in the manual.

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

Most camera manuals are available even if the camera is out of production. The manual may be retrievable from the manufacturer’s website. If not available, you can go to Dick Butkus’ website. He has an extensive collection of manuals for cameras and light meters. While not required, as a show of appreciation you can send a check to him for $5 each.
www.butkus.org

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

Most camera manuals are available even if the camera is out of production. The manual may be retrievable from the manufacturer’s website. If not available, you can go to Dick Butkus’ website. He has an extensive collection of manuals for cameras and light meters. While not required, as a show of appreciation you can send a check to him for $5 each.
www.orphancameras.com/butkus.us

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

Much of a manual's content you will not require. download it and copy the bits you need - print them out.
OR there are on-line third parties who produce manuals at a very good price - don't know how they do it. In UK search for PDF-2-Print.

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

Before I retired I had long come to the conclusion that the worst thing about computors was the ability it gave to a dunce to turn out a professional (albeit pointless) looking document.

Things have not got any better.

Peterfiore Loc: Where DR goes south

So how often did you competitively sail against the locals? ; )

Thank you for sailing at the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club days.

I have an XL-100, the first version. Great camera.

Peter

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes, manuals could be better. One problem is the terminology. If you have an online manual, you can do a digital search for the term you want. However, it's likely that the camera company is using a different term than you are. Still, an online manual is the best way to go because of the searchability.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I have the manual of my cameras in a memory stick. I know that in the field it will be useless but it is better than nothing. Today camera instructions manual are so thick that just by looking at them I feel like throwing them away and not read them. I do read them to my pace and I take notes and when something is not clear enough I contact the company. As you have seen there are also excellent books that improve on learning the camera, not that they are not thick either.

With some explanations of the features of the camera it is not completely clear to understand how to master those features and further help is needed. It is always possible that if the camera has not been used for some time that those features tend to be forgotten specially if using more than one camera. It could be frustrating but we all have to live with it.

HRPufnstuf

I learned the most by reading "XXX For Dummies" books (insert your model # for XXX). 10x more informative, and easier to understand than the manufacturer's manual.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

Some folks make excellent "technical writers", many/most do not. The "how to" books are usually simply better because they are written by someone who has a vested interest in the tools (camera, lens, PP Systems, etc.) is definitely well versed, and has an interest in making their product "worthwhile and wanted". The manuals often seem written by someone because "it's my job", and they may or may not have the technical acumen, may or may not even understand english (or other languages) well.