Generally I don’t read manuals if they are longer than a few pages, I just look up something when I need it. But of course this is not helpful if I don’t know what I should be looking for, or even if a feature exists.
So I recently read through the whole 300+ page manual of my Panasonic GX9, and made notes. I should have done this sooner, as it apparently has a ton of trivial features that make my photography more convenient, including customization for quick adjustments, various focus presets, and handy button shortcuts. I will not provide a detailed list here, just mention one thing: I did not know what pinpoint AF was for and how to use it, and now I use it for prefocusing at a given distance before shooting a fast-moving and unpredictable object. I also did not know that you can press the rear dial in various contexts.
But… there were about 30 pages that I found interesting out of 300-ish. I wish camera makers had a slim manual for people who shoot still images in RAW. Or even a dedicated menu, separating all settings that affect JPEGs from everything else. Or maybe even a mode that hides these completely, so menus become much lighter. Yes, I understand that your engineers are great and stuffed a lot of post-processing options JPEGs into what is basically a tiny underpowered computer that looks like a camera, but for me they are irrelevant, I shoot RAWs. Yet information relevant for that is scattered all over the manual, which is then too large to read.
To end on a positive note, I managed to stuff everything that I would possibly want to change that I do not have enough buttons for into the custom menu, which can hold a total of 15 settings. But I barely need 10, and only need about 5 frequently. So now I have everything set up ergonomically, and can change everything quickly and without looking at the camera.
I also learned that with a bit of attention and practice, I can get good focus even for fast-moving subjects even with Panasonic’s DFD (which is a fancy contrast detect). So I can wait for PDAF to trickle down to smaller rangefinder micro 4/3 bodies.
Agreed about the size of manuals, I have a full manual (PDF) on my tablet, but I rarely consult it. Instead, I have an extract with all the information relevant to how I shoot (markdown, converted to PDF).
I use the Nikon memory banks to store base settings for particular scenarios, these can be tweaked in the field if necessary.
Sony’s reference manuals include absolutely everything with a basic description and listing of choices where appropriate, but without any clue as to why one would want it.
The gap is filled by books such as those by Busch and Friedman.
(And youtube/internet, of course. But somehow I still likes to have such things in print)
I skim the manual when I get the camera, and take note of anything interesting that I see. Most of the manual doesn’t make it into the notes, but would if I did other types of photography.
Customizing button settings is great for getting to various settings without navigation.
Sometimes you find some very odd inconsistencies. On my X-T20, there is dedicated dial for exposure compensation in 1/3 EV units. However, when shooting raw, you alter exposure compensation in 1/3 EV units (which can be useful for getting shutter speeds that are not on the shutter speed dial) using the rear command dial instead of the dedicated dial (which is a dead dial in raw mode).
What I wish is that every feature was labeled with “RAW only” or “JPG only” when applicable. You can always design an experiment to figure that out for yourself, but it would be very easy for the camera companies to include.
Modern cameras are so complex that I feel the need to read the manual despite decades of experience behind a camera. My Canon R7 has 7 pages on the cameras setting menu and even then some focus settings to do with back button focus and manual focus are placed in other pages of the cameras settings. I am not sure what the answer is to fighting your way through the user guides.
I used to read my manuals right through (and enjoyed it! ), but after a point all cameras work the same… so these days I usually work out 80-90% of a new camera after playing with it for a while, then dip into the manual for any feature I don’t understand (or can’t find!)
Having said that…
This is largely true as well
Except I do some sports photography where the AF needs to be doing what I want, and I tend not to use M but rather A (or sometimes S for sports) + compensation as I often tend to jump from one subject to another on the spur of the moment and prefer the camera to do the hard work of twiddling dials.
This is certainly fine for some kinds of photography, and relies very little on the extra features camera. It is also great because almost all of ILC cameras on the market support it.
But for some other kinds of photography, the extra features of the camera are very useful… but at the same time maybe not fully utilized by photographers, because they are hidden among a ton of other stuff.
To clarify, that is on the camera itself when I open up the menu to find all the adjustments. Then some manual focus options are elsewhere in the menu. The manual focus is brilliant on this camera.
), but after a point all cameras work the same… so these days I usually work out 80-90% of a new camera after playing with it for a while, then dip into the manual for any feature I don’t understand (or can’t find!)
