Do you carry your manual with you?

[Stradawhovious]

Due to a recent rash of questions that can easily be answered by simply RTFM, I have no choice but to ask this question. Probably more of a soapbox rant than a question though....

Does anyone here actually carry the manual for their camera with them? I always have the manual for the toys I carry (right now just the camera body and speedlight) , just in case I run into a situation where it would be handy......... which happens just about every 5 minutes.......

Is this not standard practice for those who don't have a complete and thorough knowledge of everything their camera can do?

 

[Snakeguy101]

I dont carry it with me but I always read it.

 

[flyingember]

I wonder if they make a pdf version. I could stick it in dropbox and view it on my iphone.

I know my camera and it still helps to have it on hand.

edit: yes, they do

 

[KVRNut]

I always carry a manual with me. It's a vital source of information on the camera I'm using at the time.
How many out there buy a camera and don't even bother cracking the manual at all?

 

[vtf]

I do, its small enough I drop it in my camera back pack.

 

[cfusionpm]

I keep mine in my camera backpack pretty much all the time. Never know if you need to look up some obscure camera sub menu or option that I never regularly use.

 

[Derrel]

Hell, better yet, I have had important sections of it tattooed onto my belly...

 

[Canon AE-1]

No, i read it once and Done.

 

[Geaux]

Nope, I learn as I go lol. Plus, if I have a question ... google is always handy on my phone.

 

[pgriz]

Whenever I get new gear, I carry the manual around. More important, I carry around a notebook in which I record the date, time, and location; what I was trying to do, what options and variations I tried, reasons for doing those options, etc. Sometimes, I have an objective in mind, and I would prepare a storyboard or a sequence ahead of time, visualizing the photos beforehand, and making notes of things to try. Later, after coming home, I'd upload the shot and review the notes I took while studying the shots on a large screen.

Recently, I did a series of experiments with various lenses to understand if Bryan Peterson's recommendation (in his Understanding Exposure book) to use f/22 without concern about the diffraction effects, is justified. I organized a shooting sequence, and then carried it out in the field. Later, I studied the results I got and compared them to Bryan's recommendation. As a result of this exercise, I learned just how far I can push the f/22 idea and under what circumstances. But without the notes prior to, and then following the shooting sequence, I would have had much more difficulty coming to the conclusions that I did.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

I do not carry it with me. However I have read it SEVERAL times and refer to it frequently.

 

[mrpink]

Hell, better yet, I have had important sections of it tattooed onto my belly...

I just have photos of Derrels belly in my gear bag.








p!nK

 

[pgriz]

Hell, better yet, I have had important sections of it tattooed onto my belly...

I just have photos of Derrels belly in my gear bag.








p!nK

Um, is that legal? Did you have to get a model release? Or were you standing in a public place when the shots were made?

 

[Stradawhovious]

Hell, better yet, I have had important sections of it tattooed onto my belly...

I just have photos of Derrels belly in my gear bag.








p!nK

Does Darrel shoot with a D90, or do you just like looking at the photos of his belly?

Tattood on the belly eh? That's a GREAT idea! Even with the D7000's 320+ page manual printed at 12pt bold, I should still have room for the index.

I certainly hope I would never upgrade after that.......

 

[Overread]

I do, its small enough I drop it in my camera back pack.

Same here. It's lived in my camera bag since the day I got the camera. ::shrugs::

I used to do this as well when I first got the camera. It was great to be able to reference the manual at any time whilst out shooting - rather than have to miss the shot - or the possibility of the shot - and have to come all the way back home to find out the info (by which point I won't learn or remember it and chances are by the time I got home I would forget about it anyway).

So yes manual - in the camera bag all the time - was my policy till I learnt how to use all the major functions. Same too for my flash. I now only have to reference the manuals to find out what the darn custom functions are (I seriously cannot understand why canon insists upon numbers instead of a clearly written title for the mode and the status - its a nightmare trying to remember what "mode 4 setting 2" actually does!

Hell, better yet, I have had important sections of it tattooed onto my belly...

I'm too small for that - I'd end up with the tattoos on my arms and then where would I put the zone system and depth of field charts for reference!