Author Topic: How to read your camera manual (no kidding) (Read 864 times)

Centauri27 · « **on:** February 17, 2011, 01:26:56 PM »

I was catching up on my old emails when I came across this article. It caught my eye, especially since I'm in the user manual-writing business. The things he says are pretty obvious when you think about it. But like most pretty obvious things, they tend to get overlooked by most people.

http://www.nikonusa.com/Learn-And-Explore/Photography-Techniques/fvicbfuv/1/How-to-No-Kidding-Read-Your-Camera-Manual.html

(BTW: I tend to be the "plow through the manual" type of person. I've gone through my E-P1 manual several times.)

voyager · « **Reply #1 on:** February 17, 2011, 01:39:40 PM »

My what?

voyager · « **Reply #2 on:** February 17, 2011, 01:43:16 PM »

Actually, if I had read my camera manual (which I didn't)...I wouldn't have accidentally switched the settings on my E-P1 to underexpose by almost 2 stops for the last month or so and never be able to figure out why my photos were so dark. So I highly recommend reading it!

E-M5 Pete · « **Reply #3 on:** February 17, 2011, 01:50:19 PM »

I have looked at at it, but, most cameras/menu's are fairly self exclamatory IMO
There are some buried features that the manual is a most have to figure out.

I just got an original manual for my 1972 Leica M5... Really. More for historic value though. M5 is pretty simple to use.

Many camera's are not too complicated. But, with all the different menus out there, this is the biggest challenge, too remember each cameras menu arrangement if you own different make digital cameras.,

Centauri27 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 17, 2011, 02:27:24 PM »

The E-P1 has a helluva lot of cryptically-labelled features in the "hidden" menus, so it behooves any PEN enthusiast to at least attempt to understand each setting, for future reference if nothing else.

@voyager: You sure have some luck with your E-P1--first accidentally knocking the setting to low-res, now underexposure??? (Hmmm....wouldn't the display have been suspiciously dark if you were shooting at 2 stops under??)

voyager · « **Reply #5 on:** February 17, 2011, 02:30:11 PM »

(Hmmm....wouldn't the display have been suspiciously dark if you were shooting at 2 stops under??)

You'd think so.

E-M5 Pete · « **Reply #6 on:** February 17, 2011, 02:40:22 PM »

Quote from: voyager on February 17, 2011, 02:30:11 PM

(Hmmm....wouldn't the display have been suspiciously dark if you were shooting at 2 stops under??)

You'd think so.

Does it have an "auto-gain" LCD VF, like the EVF of the G1?

voyager · « **Reply #7 on:** February 17, 2011, 04:23:51 PM »

I was using AV mode so the LCD was "compensating" for the loss of light.

Centauri27 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 17, 2011, 04:29:42 PM »

I thought maybe you were using an external viewfinder and had the screen turned off.

I guess the E-P1 screen does "gain up" a bit to compensate, but to overlook 2 stops.... (I often use a 0.5 or 1 stop compensation and find it very easy to overlook.)

One thing I find is that when you try to use the fiddly scroll wheel to manually choose an ISO (quickly), it's very easy to accidentally dial in 6400 if you're not careful.

gareth · « **Reply #9 on:** February 17, 2011, 05:06:00 PM »

Quote from: Centauri27 on February 17, 2011, 04:29:42 PM

One thing I find is that when you try to use the fiddly scroll wheel to manually choose an ISO (quickly), it's very easy to accidentally dial in 6400 if you're not careful.

I agree.
Therefore I disabled the shortcuts function on the scroll wheel.

How to read your camera manual (no kidding)