Experienced folks, do you ever go back and read your manual?

I bought my last camera body, a Canon 1ds, 5 years ago maybe, whenever it was first introduced. As I always do, I read and reread the manual. There is SO much to take in though, I probably didn't really soak in a lot of it. I find that even now, I will go to the manual and read certain areas again. Things that didn't mean much at the time, make perfect sense to me now and I get more value out of reading it, given that I'm not trying to take it ALL in. Of course, now that I have the mechanics of the 1ds figured out, I'm waiting for the next full frame upgrade to that body, and will have to start that process all over again...

Yeah once in a while I still check something in the manual.
I sit down with the camera and the manual and go through every page and feature when I first get it....2 or 3 times until I feel I have a good feel for all the capability of the camera.

I do about the same, When I first get it I go though the manual and try all the features at least once. However, I seem to have always skipped over the "direct print" button. Ok, so maybe I don't try all the features, but I do try almost all.

Then my manual goes into my bag. I refer to it when needed and it does get used from time to time.

Heh! Let's see -- with my first DSLR (the 30D) I went over my manual a bunch of times and kept it with me when I was out shooting. My second, the 5D Classic, not so much because it was so much the same body. When I got a 1DM3, I spent more time with the manual because of the Custom Functions but for the basic operations not so much because they still had a lot in common with the earlier two...

Nope

If there's a feature I need to use that I never used before, then sure.

Only reason I EVER needed a manual was for figuring out how to use my 580EXII/430EXII in a Master/Slave configuration.

I shoot raw and Av or M, so as long as I know how to set the ISO, shutter speed, and aperture, I'm good.

I also occasionally change the AF mode and format the card, but what else do I need?

+2 to Tony's view! Manual for my 400D lived with my camera for a good month or more as I first got used to using it and learning all the controls (learning photography at the same time meant it spent a lot longer in the bag as I learnt how to use new things). Though I've still never touched the auto bracketing feature.

7D manual is also living with my 7D, but not for as long since its mostly just for quick reference to new custom functions and the AF setup. Flash manuals though are invaluable because they don't have a read out on the screen telling you (in words) what the custom functions actually are - so you might know how to use the function but you're darned if you can remember its code name

I did it as an exercise. There are features I simply never use and perhaps never will, but its good to know they are there in case they might prove useful.

I will say that I have the manual for my 1D3 close at hand when I'm on POTN because things come up for discussion a lot!

yup...been shooting for 20+ years (so most of my life, as I'm 29 haha), but still look at my manual when I need to...it's a great resource and every camera is different...sure, I knew how to change the basics (and then some), but just recently, I needed to look up how to change (or if it was even possible) the AEB from 3 shots to 5.

I go back and look at my flash's manual. the damn custom functions always reset when the batteries die and I forget to change them w/ the quickness lol

Yes. Not often, but from time to time.

I look at the manual, especially if there is a little used feature that I want to employ on an upcoming job. I could probably figure it out on site, but why not run through it a few times at home. That way I don't waste time and look bad in front of a client.

egordon99 wrote in post #11936387
I shoot raw and Av or M, so as long as I know how to set the ISO, shutter speed, and aperture, I'm good. I also occasionally change the AF mode and format the card, but what else do I need?

Not sure if you're serious here or not... and I don't know what body you have, but you've got to use a little more than just those few features (even if you didn't need the manual to figure them out). Do you genuinely not use any of these features?
- Burst shooting
- Self timer
- AEB
- Mirror lockup
- ... there's got to be way more that I'm forgetting.

I'm sure I don't use every feature the 60D offers (e.g. direct print, as stated above) but I also have trouble believing that you use none of the on-camera niceties.