I am an Engineer.
So much of my time is spent reading manuals, just checked and my collection is north of 11.000 (pdf + scanned) ones. I select equipment and components to be purchased this way.

My advice is read the manuals *before* you buy the gadget.

It serves two purposes:
1) to help you choose exactly what piece of equipment you really want to buy.
2) it help you start using the equipment quicker, because you already know how to use it.


Besides... reading manuals is a kind of art. You learn how to do it in an efficient manner. Sometimes I read a 1.000 pages manual in one or two days... because I already know 90% of what's in there anyway.

Taking responsibility for what we buy and use is, apparently, a controversial concept. Over the ten years or so I've been on UHH, and the 50 years of my "aware" life before that, I've noticed that a large number of people seem to gloss over the fact that technology is complex. They buy things that they think they want, but they don't do their research in advance, to be sure that THEY and their new devices, are compatible with what they want to do. They yank them out of the box, plug them in, turn them on, and get disappointed.

"Ready? FIRE!! (Uh, Aim, maybe? You just took out the neighbor's flower pot…)"

We're living in an age where our technical tools are not like hammers and screwdrivers, which are easily mastered by third graders. When you buy a hammer or screwdriver, it doesn't come with a manual, because it doesn't need one. It has a fairly singular purpose and a well-known and understood method of use. But technical gear — cameras, audio, video, computers, and cars — is different. These and many other tools and toys require serious consideration before buying, and serious study before use… IF we are going to get our money's worth from them.

Those of us who write user guides and technical manuals for products and software are usually the first to test the usability and viability of the product. If even the smallest detail doesn't work for us, we explain the issues we find to the product development team AND their directors. Making operation EASY for the customer IS HARD WORK for developers, engineers, and product design staff. It's just as difficult for trainers and training content developers.

One of the unfortunate assumptions companies make about their products is that customers WILL READ the documentation that explains proper use and care. Yet surveys have shown that up to 78% of customers never read it. Many users don't want anything to do with an 830+ page camera manual, or even any sort of a 20 page "Quick Start" guide.

I get all of that, but I also know from hiring many people in a photo lab — and from training school portrait photographers, office staff, and sales people — that understanding and mastering technology requires some quality time, focus, and a certain level of detail orientation. Patience with the documentation and with the entire learning process is usually rewarded with great results and long, trouble-free product life.

There is an old acronym that floated around the Internet BEFORE 1993, when the World Wide Web was born: 'R.T.F.M.' When users got stuck, and posted questions on a bulletin board forum for the tech support staff, the POLITE response was often, "Well, did you read the manual?" Soon enough, that got shortened to the acronym.

"Read The *Fine* Manual!" is the polite version of the acronym. After the tenth or eleventh call from the same user, with the same question, the tech support person would hang up the phone after a call, and yell into a paper bag, substituting whatever 'F' word suited his/her mood.

So here's my simple request to the universe of tech purchasers. Please read the documentation that comes with your purchase, or that you can download from the manufacturer's website at no additional cost. You will learn things you can do with your device that you never thought possible. You will avoid pitfalls that cause 80% of the issues people have with their devices. You will get more done, in less time, with better outcomes! You will trust the maker of the product more, because you understand what they do and don't expect you to do with their devices.

ESPECIALLY if you have used another brand of product in the same class, you need to read the manual just to UNLEARN how your old device of another brand worked. Don't expect brand L to work like brand N. Don't expect brand F to work like brand T. Terminology may be different, control placement may be different, and the way some of the functions work almost certainly will be different.

Don't try to make a Ford drive like a Toyota. It will just annoy you. Don't try to make a Windows PC work like a Mac. It will just frustrate you. They are different brands with different design philosophies and result from different ways of thinking about the same tasks. Take them for what they ARE, not for what they are not.

A little reading won't kill you. Operation may not be obvious, even when you think it should be. There's a reason for everything, and you need to know what it is, if you are going to get along with your new device. Read the freaking manual, and get your money's worth.

In days of old when knights were bold...photoghay was practiced by few. When a late image formed on some coated plate, it had to be "developed" in a dark place with toxic metals and gasses, pungent, often deadly chemicals- not fothe average civilian! Perhaps it was thought of as some sort of witchcraft carried on by my mad scientist or wizard in cave-like places.

Then came old George Eastman (well after Deguerre and Nepeace) who sold folks simple box cameras with film and said these immortal words "push the button and leave the rest to us" or something like that- or was that Grayhoud, the bus folks who said 'leave the driving to us"? Well, y'all know waht I mean.

The "brownie" was very basic but as more folks became photo enthusiasts and pros, more complicated and adjustable cameras were designed proliferated, and sold tothe masses. Some folks wanted to do their own "driving" so they constructed darkrooms and processed and printed their own images. This went on for a very long time in both the consumer and professional worlds- things evolved

Serious photoghaer had to master various skills as to exposure, focus, depth of fielild or lack thereof, and all that good stuff. Exposure meters were popular. Then, meters were built into cameras. And the various basics- exposure, focus, etc. became automated. Nontheless, if your camera had an adjustable shutter, aperture, and a mechanism for focusing, and you knew about the basic triangle that governs their usage and how they interface for various effects- you were good to go. A little manual, a little auto, and a few cool gadgets- take your pick and do your thing.

Are we moving "forward" to digital photography or in a way moving backward? The Great Yellow Spirit of Rocherst is no longer with us - Kodak ain't what used to be but, has Gorige's ghost come to haunt us. Nowadays it's "press the button and leave the PHOTOGRAPHY to ME says your camera and if you want anything to say about it, you better read MY 300-page manual and figure out how to override my decisions"!

Alright, excuse the hyperbole! But I have reasons. In my days as a wedding and press photographer, we took every precaution to prevent accidental mis-settings. As soon as the press cameras came with front-end leaf shutters we all removed the rear end focal plane shutters to avoid possible activation. We screwed down the M-X Synch switch to X and any other switch, adjustment, or lever that could cause serious problems. We didn't want to miss vital shots because of all these possible glitches. KISS was the acronym.

Then came the day when I realized that my studio would need to go digital. I tested a few NEW and popular models and was horrified. One camera REFUSED to shoot if IT thought the exposure was off. The data in the viewfinder looks more like the flight deck of a jet aircraft. There were little batons all over the thing that could set the entire system off in another direction. The menu- forgetabout! Yes- I know, I can shut most of that stuff
off but I PAID for all of it. And...if I'd accidently pulled the wrong switch the robotic monster would come back from the dead.An accident waiting to happen! The first thing I did was go out and buy a digital conversion foty studio camer for ase I- $$$ just to keep things simple.

Years have passed and today I am well-steeped in too much technology. I am still a bit reactionary when it comes to gear. The new Nikon digital model looks like an F-series body but is a modern mirrorless camera, that appeals to me- I like dials.

I do read manuals- thoroughly. I will try to secure a manual even before I make a major camera purchase. Some seem to be written a secret code and a few are poorly translated from the language spoken in the place they were made. You have got to do the homework or you can always neglect the manual and then post on UHH and ask waht you did wrong and start a 12-page argument!

8:15 PM 2024/23/01 Rant (2) Over!

... If they don’t understand what’s going on they will never catch a mistake caused by the wrong keystroke or decimal point in the wrong place. Many of those mistakes either cost someone big bucks to fix or can imperil the lives of folks living downstream of a large dam.

But yes, attention spans seem to get shorter and shorter as time passes. Once one cocky young buck told me, “I don’t wanna know why, just tell me the number to enter.” Needless to say he ended up working somewhere else.

I couldn't agree more.

One additional thought, and I will use my iPhone as an example. When a company has you install an update to their OS, there should be a link, at restart, that forces one to learn all the changes that were made. I find it infuriating when some focus group drove the manufacturer to change a simple design into something the group thinks is "cooler" or more visually impressive. Often this results in a loss of functional simplicity and this demands a relearning of the task to fit the new design.

We used to have an old expression: if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

I guess this also is too much work.

Nice rant!!