"Read the Manual" - is this comment/response always helpful?

[PhotoLover]

-To me "read the manual" sounds unfriendly, kind of arrogant. IMHO it's better not to answer at all.

Afaik there are many other people with more patience and knowledge and who can help. Just look at this forum.

Right, if you don't want to answer the question .... don't post a reply. Everybody saves time.

Answering the question with a bit of context (this option I use a lot when in situation X) possibly with a reference to the exact spot in the manual (it's in section A, page 123) is helpful.

 

[coachjohn57]

A forum is a community…almost everything asked here could be answered if someone was diligent enough to spend enough time reading, Googling, etc., and I would hazard a guess that a lot of posters haves spend some time trying to find answers on their own, without success. Posting an answer, offering a helpful link, guiding people helps build the community we all want. And the disappearance of a printed manual hasn’t been helpful, at least for me…I used to keep manuals in my camera backpack when I was in the field so I could quickly find answers on the spot if needed…I don’t find the PDFs as user friendly or as accessible.

 

[bcaress]

Touched upon a pet peeve here. I was a lab tech and the manuals we used had to be written so anyone off the street could make sense out of them. My experience with Nikon manuals is they, for the most part , are incredibly difficult to find answers to what you need. When you do get to the proper section it may not make sense to the reader. This is why what Steve does is sooo important. Therefore check the manual may not be the proper response.

 

[Rob Pedowitz]

In my opinion, "read the manual" is just plain snarky. It takes less effort to skip the question than it does to post a snarky response. Like my Mom said, if you don't have something nice to say ...

 

[John_DE]

Answering the question with a quote form the manual, with a page number, is helpful. Just “Read the manual” is certainly not.

Also…, try a LLM like ChatGPT. “It” has read the manual and can usually answer your question on camera settings, Photoshop, etc. Works much better than the “old fashioned” idea of Googling the question. Below is the reply I got from asking as an example, ChatGPT how to display the histogram in the EVF of a Z9.

To display the histogram in the electronic viewfinder (EVF) on your Nikon Z9, follow these steps:

1. **Turn on the Camera**: Make sure your Nikon Z9 is turned on.

2. **Access the Menu**: Press the `MENU` button on the back of the camera to open the main menu.

3. **Go to the Custom Settings Menu**: Use the multi-selector to scroll to the Custom Settings Menu, which is represented by the pencil icon.

4. **Select `d` Shooting/display**: Scroll down to the `d` (Shooting/display) section and press `OK`.

5. **Choose `d8` Apply Settings to Live View**: Scroll to `d8 Apply settings to live view` and press `OK`. This ensures that the settings (including exposure) are reflected in the EVF.

6. **Enable Histogram Display**:
- In the same Shooting/display menu, scroll down to find `d13 Viewfinder display format`.
- Select `d13 Viewfinder display format` and press `OK`.
- Choose an option that includes the histogram. Depending on your preference, you can select "Custom" and enable the histogram along with other information.

7. **Check EVF**: Once you've selected the desired settings, half-press the shutter button to exit the menu and return to shooting mode. You should now see the histogram in the EVF.

8. **Toggle Info Display (if needed)**: If the histogram doesn't appear, press the `DISP` button to cycle through different display modes until the histogram is shown.

These steps should help you set up your Nikon Z9 to display the histogram in the EVF.

 

[Viathelens]

I am a manual reader, I read the Nikon information, which does not come in one manual but in several parts, prior to getting my cameras and I do refer to it when needed. I'm also an experienced shooter. Recently, however, I did a really dumb thing and ended up with thousands of JPEGS instead of RAW shots. I couldn't put my finger on what happened so posted something on the forum and something someone said jogged my memory of what I had done to cause my camera to take JPEGS. People did post "read the manual," which in my particular case would not have helped. I do think there are times when people should refer to the manual first and then ask the question if the answer was not found but the manual cannot solve every issue, and sometimes we simply forget what the manual we did read said. I think if someone does not want to write a helpful answer they should just move on and not act on the compulsion to write, "read the manual."

 

[peachfront]

The Nikon z8 manual is over 900 pages and will take months to read and absorb. I read a bit in it every day but, "read the manual" is not helpful advice to a complete newbie. We're already reading it and becoming overwhelmed. When someone first gave me that advice, I pointed out that I was trying but that older people can't absorb more than a certain amount of new information in a day, and, even then, we have to go back and review it and work with it several times, or soon it's like we never read it at all. This is brain science. You have to sleep on things to fully consolidate them in long term memory.

So, for me, "read the manual" is lazy advice. While it's understandable that people with lots of knowledge are in a demand and don't have time to do more, it feels like the best way to handle this online is for the busy people not in a mood to chat to ignore the question.

In person, it might be more awkward. "Read the manual" might be better phrased as, , "That will take some time to explain to someone at your level of knowledge, so I can't do it right now." But in a culture where we all strive to be nice and agreeable, this might feel just as awkward to say as "Read the manual," and at least, "RTFM" has fewer syllables so the moment of awkwardness might pass more quickly... So I don't mind if someone says RTM in real life. It's a shortcut...

People who started in film or with a DSLR have no idea how intimidating the manual to an absolute noob. I had to start by learning the names of all the parts of the camera, while you undoubtedly take for granted that everyone knows what a sub command dial is or which is the monitor and which is the viewfinder...