I’ve had my digital camera for a couple of years now, but I’ve yet to read the owner’s manual cover-to-cover. I pull it out when I need to troubleshoot a problem, but I know there’s information in there that could help me utilize my camera much better if I simply took the time to read more than a few pages.
During my recent trip to Hawaii I realized that I could have greatly benefited from spending 20-30 minutes reading my camera’s manual rather than relying on my own skills to “figure things out.” While in Hawaii my entire family visited an aquarium. My camera happens to include an “aquarium” feature that allows the user to take clear photos of sea life without recording flares from the flash reflecting off the clear glass tanks. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to use the feature properly (I would have if I had taken the time to read the manual), so I was left with washed out images of my young daughter gazing at massive sharks instead of crisp shots of her trying to share her potato chips with the mysterious denizens of the deep.
It may not be as riveting as a “Harry Potter” book, but I guarantee you will obtain more than a few tricks if you simply take time to read your camera’s manual. If you refuse to read it, then take a class and have someone else physically show you what is detailed in the manual. Many camera shops offer free classes on how to use equipment purchased at their store.
In addition to learning the nuances of your camera’s functions, the owner’s manual also details how you can set the photo quality (jpeg quality) for the pictures you take. If you are a serious shooter, who tends to enlarge images, then it’s best to set it to the highest quality possible. Doing so will eat up storage space on memory card since the files will be larger, but you will have much more flexibility in the long run. Higher resolution images can be edited, enlarged, or used on a photo product without compromising the integrity of the shot.
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