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A Gripe About the Nikon Z9 User's Manual
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Jan 13, 2022 09:06:11   #
DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX
 
Howard5252 wrote:
I just got mine and the first thing I noticed was there was no User's Manual ... actually when I looked a bit closer, there WAS a User's manual ... more like a pamphlet. The User's Manual is 70 pages and the first 15 pages are "Notices"; things like the battery may get hot, before taking important pictures, take a test shot " ... to insure that the camera is functioning normally" / "Do not use while walking or using a vehicle". The usual crap that is always written and never actually read. So now we're down to 55 pages. There are 5 pages showing the parts of the camera with no references to what page will give more detailed information (because there are none). Following the parts of the camera are such items as ATTACHING THE STRAP / CHARGING THE BATTERY / INSERTING THE BATTERY / REMOVING THE BATTERY / INSERTING MEMORY CARDS / REMOVING MEMORY CARDS / ATTACHING A LENS .
At page 36, we get to SET UP; at page 38 SET UP is finished. Now we come to "Basic Photography and Playback".
I think I've made my point. I grant that anyone owning the Z9 (myself included) should have a pretty good understanding of setting up a camera BUT with all of the bells and whistles that this camera offers and for the price that is paid, an owner's manual should have been included. In fairness to Nikon, there is a 914 page Reference Guide ON LINE, which is really an Owner's Manual. That's 914 pages ALL IN ENGLISH! Unless you print it, it would be difficult to take on a trip with you. I'm going to guess that there will be "Third Party" manuals soon ... I certainly hope so!! Excuse me, I have to attempt to set the camera up. Please don't write about how lucky I am to have the camera, I know it and that doesn't change the fact that this camera came with virtually no instructions (when compared to say, the D810 or D850).
I just got mine and the first thing I noticed was ... (show quote)




You should not need a huge paper manual if you bought a Z-9. There is an online reference from NikonUSA that is big enough. Perhaps you bought beyond your experience or you are just letting us know you have the new Z9.

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Jan 13, 2022 09:26:52   #
BebuLamar
 
cedymock wrote:
We all have our preferences, personally I prefer downloaded PDF on my tablet. You can adjust font size for easy reading, less to keep up with and saves paper for more important papers like photo paper and toilet paper.


I use the PDF almost always but I do prefer to be given the full manual in paper and in only one language. I am willing to pay for the cost of printing it (not writing it as they must write the manual any way) Why they are picky about where you buy the camera when it comes to services and they can't supply the manual for just the country they sell the camera in?

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Jan 13, 2022 09:34:21   #
Iron Sight Loc: Utah
 
"How cool is this, finally I can download the Z9 manual without buying the camera."

That could be a good Idea

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Jan 13, 2022 09:37:50   #
BebuLamar
 
Iron Sight wrote:
"How cool is this, finally I can download the Z9 manual without buying the camera."

That could be a good Idea


Oh I always download and read thru the manual before I bought the camera.

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Jan 13, 2022 09:45:16   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
BebuLamar wrote:
Oh I always download and read thru the manual before I bought the camera.


So, you must have noticed the manual content is never re-written? It's a complete copy n paste of every other manual except where a new feature is added or some older feature is changed.

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Jan 13, 2022 09:50:44   #
Howard5252 Loc: New York / Florida (now)
 
DavidPine wrote:
. Perhaps you bought beyond your experience or you are just letting us know you have the new Z9.

No, I would like to have an owner's manual. I don't know what it costs to print just one manual but I'm equally sure that it costs less per book in the volume Nikon would print. The cost to them would be miniscule when compared to the price of the Z9. Perhaps they could have offered it as an option; I'd bet there are a whole lot of people who will be buying the third party books that will come out, myself included.

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Jan 13, 2022 10:57:43   #
larryepage Loc: North Texas area
 
I am in the group that prefers to have a hardcopy manual. Not necessarily to read like a novel, but to have available when a question about some camera quirk arises. And I don't care if the format is just like the format of the manual for every previous model. That's actually helpful when searching for an answer.

Unfortunately, manual users make up a small minority of equipment users. That truth gets reinforced daily on this forum and on others as well. My guess is that Nikon has realized this and decided to take advantage of the opportunity to save a few Yen with the packaging of each camera.

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Jan 13, 2022 11:22:17   #
Howard5252 Loc: New York / Florida (now)
 
There is no right or wrong here. We all have different ways of learning; I prefer to have a printed copy of a manual. Larryepage made a very valid point - I have seen questions put to the members of this forum that are clearly answered in owner's manuals and if the OP didn't have a manual, those who answered most likely did.

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Jan 13, 2022 11:38:29   #
BebuLamar
 
CHG_CANON wrote:
So, you must have noticed the manual content is never re-written? It's a complete copy n paste of every other manual except where a new feature is added or some older feature is changed.


Eventually they were rewritten completely I think. Comparing the manual of my Nikon F2AS bought in 1977 and the Nikon Df bought in 2013 I can't really see where they copied the old manual.

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Jan 13, 2022 11:55:04   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
Howard5252 wrote:
There is no right or wrong here. We all have different ways of learning; I prefer to have a printed copy of a manual. Larryepage made a very valid point - I have seen questions put to the members of this forum that are clearly answered in owner's manuals and if the OP didn't have a manual, those who answered most likely did.


Think about what these UHH respondents likely performing. They have the PDF downloaded already, or went to the applicable website. They opened the PDF and text-scanned for the topic. Many times, they screen-print the applicable page / diagram as their response. You should consider their demonstrated ease and effectiveness of finding and responding to a random question as input on both the speed and the ease of use of the electronic manual format.

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Jan 13, 2022 12:54:19   #
Iron Sight Loc: Utah
 
Some 3rd party manuals are available on E Books (Kindle)

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Jan 13, 2022 13:19:56   #
Dalek Loc: Detroit, Miami, Goffstown
 
CHG_CANON wrote:
Save the electronic manual as a PDF to all your computers and phones, download from Nikon.com if needed. If you need help on specific topics, open the PDF and print just the relevant range of pages for hardcopy.


Great advice. That is what I am doing at this time.

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Jan 13, 2022 13:34:24   #
kmielen Loc: Eastern NC
 
CHG_CANON wrote:
Save the electronic manual as a PDF to all your computers and phones, download from Nikon.com if needed. If you need help on specific topics, open the PDF and print just the relevant range of pages for hardcopy.


A major advantage to working from a pdf is the ability to search using Ctl-f.

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Jan 13, 2022 13:35:25   #
NickGee Loc: Pacific Northwest
 
<deleted>

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Jan 13, 2022 13:46:00   #
BebuLamar
 
The PDF has advantages. It can be searched. It can be duplicated easily. I can print sections of it when I need and I can always print them again when I damage the pages. Still I want my paper manual with the camera. I don't want third party one.

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