Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronald Garrett  Jeff, my Nikon D300 manual is 421 pages, all english.
I am proud to say I have memorized the first ten pages. Lets see, X x Y axis {C+D} / 24T = lots more days of studying. |
421 pages! Good grief! I am truly shocked.
Ronald, I honestly do not believe that creating images has become more complicated than it was in the past. The size of the instruction manual suggests to me that either the camera is aimed at users who are unlikely to be familiar with the concepts that are known to photographers... or that the camera is far more complex to operate than is consistent with the notion of ease of use.
I grew up with Nikon cameras and I used the F2 bodies for decades. I had never felt that the mechanical act required to use the cameras had ever got in the way of creating an image. I suspect that the vast number of 'functions' found in digital camera bodies (usually buried more than one or two levels deeper than the visible menu) are going to be instrumental in intruding on the photographic visualisation of the scene by the photographer and (in my opinion) will almost certainly impinge on the ability of any given photographer to work smoothly.
edit:
I have just downloaded the manual for the D300 and I have to agree that it is one very weighty tome. From what I can discern, the camera appears to be placed squarely in that category that has come to be known as 'prosumer'. The price for the body alone tends to suggest the same thing.
On the other hand, the Q & A index (on pages iv to ix) suggests to me that Nikon are not expecting their D300 clients to have a great deal of knowledge about photography. Questions such as... "How do I print photographs", "What memory cards can I use" & "Can I view my photographs on the camera" are not the sort of questions I would expect to hear from a photographer who is contemplating using the D300.
I have scanned the manual and apart from some functionality that is specific to the D300, nothing within the manual appeared to be too difficult to follow. In the end, I felt like saying "to heck with it". I think that manual would make me want to use a simple mechanical camera again. I would then only have to think about composition and exposure like back in the bad old days before the advent of digital imaging.
I suppose I ought to say that I can now see where the act of creating a photograph has indeed become more complicated, albeit needlessly, in my view.
The upside is that I will never need to buy another Nikon camera ever again... for if that manual represents the information which Nikon believe I must know before I can make an image using a D300 camera from their prosumer range, then I just dread to think of what I would face if I had to make an image with one of their pro cameras and I am speaking as a professional photographer who earns my daily bread by using my cameras.
Jeff
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