Is there a short cut to learning the camera or can anyone recommend the really important parts.
I've got good news! You don't really have to read the manual or even learn the camera either!
You can just take pictures the old-fashioned way; aim and shoot. Seriously, if book-learning is not your thing, just learn this much:
1. turn it on.
2. set the dial on top to "green auto".
3. point the camera at whatever you wish to take a picture of.
4. plug in the download cable every once in a while to "get rid of" too many photographs in the camera.
5. repeat.