5D MkIII instructions - Rant !!

[Flake]

Please forgive this rant but there are times when I find instruction manuals so annoying!  I understand there needs to be a section of 'get out' sentences for the terminally stupid for legal reasons, but this time I think that Canon believes the 5D MkIII will be bought by the mentally deficient.

Page 36

On turns the  camera on !

'Off' turns the camera off & it will not operate!  (How many people would expect it to continue working after it's switched off?)  There's even a diagram of how to turn it on & off.

Page 39

A whole page dedicated to how to change a lens.  What are people doing buying a camera like this if they don't even know how to change a lens??

Page 40

An entire page about how to zoom a lens! and how to then detach it again (Obviously they're too dim to reverse the attachment instructions)

Page 41

How to attach a lens hood ! (for goodness sake if you can't work this out you shouldn't be allowed out alone!)

Page 42

The image stabiliser a whole page which basically amounts to turn it on & take a picture!

Page 43

How to hold a camera (because you're obviously not clever enough to work it out)

Page 44

How to press the shutter release (sheesh!)

Sorry for the rant, but this is supposed to be a 'high performance' professional digital camera, it just insults the intelligence of users to tell us these things, and wastes our time having to plough through them.

I'm also not sure you can have an approximately 100% viewfinder, it's either 100% or it isn't (approximately 99% perhaps).

Health & safety are incredibly important issues for photographers, cabling & electrics in studios are risks to be aware of, and outdoors there are far too many Utube clips of photographers walking backwards to compose shots, and falling down flights of stairs, or into water features, all things we should all be aware of, but the level of these instructions are frankly insulting.

Rant over - smite away!

[iso79]

The manual is for n00bs and gearheads who know nothing about photography.

[Alker]

Please forgive this rant but there are times when I find instruction manuals so annoying!  I understand there needs to be a section of 'get out' sentences for the terminally stupid for legal reasons, but this time I think that Canon believes the 5D MkIII will be bought by the mentally deficient.

Page 36

On turns the  camera on !

'Off' turns the camera off & it will not operate!  (How many people would expect it to continue working after it's switched off?)  There's even a diagram of how to turn it on & off.

Page 39

A whole page dedicated to how to change a lens.  What are people doing buying a camera like this if they don't even know how to change a lens??

Page 40

An entire page about how to zoom a lens! and how to then detach it again (Obviously they're too dim to reverse the attachment instructions)

Page 41

How to attach a lens hood ! (for goodness sake if you can't work this out you shouldn't be allowed out alone!)

Page 42

The image stabiliser a whole page which basically amounts to turn it on & take a picture!

Page 43

How to hold a camera (because you're obviously not clever enough to work it out)

Page 44

How to press the shutter release (sheesh!)

Sorry for the rant, but this is supposed to be a 'high performance' professional digital camera, it just insults the intelligence of users to tell us these things, and wastes our time having to plough through them.

I'm also not sure you can have an approximately 100% viewfinder, it's either 100% or it isn't (approximately 99% perhaps).

Health & safety are incredibly important issues for photographers, cabling & electrics in studios are risks to be aware of, and outdoors there are far too many Utube clips of photographers walking backwards to compose shots, and falling down flights of stairs, or into water features, all things we should all be aware of, but the level of these instructions are frankly insulting.

Rant over - smite away!

What is your point ?

[gecko]

I was wondering why it was over 400 pages long when my 7D is barely over 200. 

[nameless]

Page 40

An entire page about how to zoom a lens! and how to then detach it again (Obviously they're too dim to reverse the attachment instructions)

Something must be broken with either the lens or the camera, but I cant zoom with my 300mm/2.8 

[swampler]

You'd be surprised how many people I see holding the camera wrong. I guess they should have read the manual!   

As for the about 100%, 99.999% would be about 100%. 

[wtlloyd]

Same information in all Canon manuals, including all the 1-series...at least, my 1D2, 1D3, 1Ds3 and 1D4 manuals all had the exact same boilerplate.

[lrivero]

According to your 1D Mark 4 manual on page 34 it tells you how to turn on the camera and even shows you how to hold the camera on page 40.  Water bottles instructions even tell you how to open the lid.  Amazing!

[Macadameane]

There are some that come from the point and shoot background that hold the camera with the shutter button on the bottom.  With a large DSLR, it just isn't the best way.  Some may need to know that.

[Dylan777]

You'd be surprised how many people I see holding the camera wrong. I guess they should have read the manual!   

As for the about 100%, 99.999% would be about 100%. 

I have a friend that has 70-200 lens and 5D II, guess what mode he shooting with?................THE GREEN MODE

[Canon-F1]

Please forgive this rant but there are times when I find instruction manuals so annoying!  I understand there needs to be a section of 'get out' sentences for the terminally stupid for legal reasons, but this time I think that Canon believes the 5D MkIII will be bought by the mentally deficient.

Page 36

On turns the  camera on !

'Off' turns the camera off & it will not operate!  (How many people would expect it to continue working after it's switched off?)  There's even a diagram of how to turn it on & off.

Page 39

A whole page dedicated to how to change a lens.  What are people doing buying a camera like this if they don't even know how to change a lens??

Page 40

An entire page about how to zoom a lens! and how to then detach it again (Obviously they're too dim to reverse the attachment instructions)

Page 41

How to attach a lens hood ! (for goodness sake if you can't work this out you shouldn't be allowed out alone!)

Page 42

The image stabiliser a whole page which basically amounts to turn it on & take a picture!

Page 43

How to hold a camera (because you're obviously not clever enough to work it out)

Page 44

How to press the shutter release (sheesh!)

Sorry for the rant, but this is supposed to be a 'high performance' professional digital camera, it just insults the intelligence of users to tell us these things, and wastes our time having to plough through them.

who cares?
some have more then enough money to buy a 5D MK3 but never touched a DSLR camera.

well i guess you just love to complain.

no manual = bad... manual = bad.... S___ i guess the world is a ugly place for some people.

Health & safety are incredibly important issues for photographers, cabling & electrics in studios are risks to be aware of, and outdoors there are far too many Utube clips of photographers walking backwards to compose shots, and falling down flights of stairs, or into water features, all things we should all be aware of, but the level of these instructions are frankly insulting.

not canons fault.
fat and dumb americans will sue you for everything.

there is no idea stupid enough (or embarrassing) for a lawsuite in america.

you can´t dry a cat in a microwave?? ...well someone has to tell me that......
well that is an urban legend.. but these are not:

In 1992, a seventy-nine year old Albuquerque woman (Stella Liebeck) bought a coffee from a McDonald’s drive through. Her grandson was driving and he parked the car so she could add cream and sugar to the drink. She put the cup between her knees and pulled the lid toward her – inevitably the coffee spilt in her lap. She sued McDonald’s for negligence because she claimed the coffee was too hot to be safe. Unbelievably the jury found that McDonald’s was eighty percent responsible for the incident and they awarded Liebeck $160,000 in compensatory damages. But it gets worse: they awarded her $2.7 million punitive damages! The decision was appealed and the two parties ultimately ended up settling out of court for a sum less than $600,000

In Michigan, a 27 year-old man was involved in a rear-end collision. He only suffered minor injuries. Four years later he changed his mind and sued the owners of the truck that hit him. He now claimed that the accident caused his sexual relations with his wife to deteriorate and he was unable to maintain their sex life. The crash had changed his personality forever, he said, and in fact, the collision had turned him into a homosexual. He left his wife, moved in with his parents, began hanging out in gay bars, and became a fervent reader of gay literature. So, he got rear-ended and then he got rear-ended. He won his case and was awarded $200,000 dollars. The jury threw in $25,000 thousand for the wife

The winner of the 2007 True Stella Award: Roy L. Pearson Jr. The 57-year-old Administrative Law Judge from Washington DC claims that a dry cleaner lost a pair of his pants, so he sued the mom-and-pop business for $65,462,500. That's right: more than $65 million for one pair of pants. Representing himself, Judge Pearson cried in court over the loss of his pants, whining that there certainly isn't a more compelling case in the District archives. But the Superior Court judge wasn't moved: he called the case "vexatious litigation", scolded Judge Pearson for his "bad faith", and awarded damages to the dry cleaners. But Pearson didn't take no for an answer: he's appealing the decision. And he has plenty of time on his hands, since he was dismissed from his job. Last we heard, Pearson's appeal is still pending.

Barbara Connors of Medfield, Mass. Connors was riding in a car driven by her 70-year-old(!) son-in-law when they crashed into the Connecticut River, and Connors sank with the car. Rescue divers arrived within minutes and got her out alive, but Connors suffered brain damage from her near-drowning. Sue the driver? Sure, we guess that's reasonable. But she also sued the brave rescue workers who risked their lives to save hers.

[sanyasi]

You are too critical.  I have written instructions for computer software and handled the tech support calls (my own product).  You'd be surprised.  What is obvious to you is not obvious to others, particularly if they did not design the product.

I am not mechanically oriented, so I find assembling stuff to be frustrating and annoying.  Nothing is obvious to me when it comes to screwing parts together.  Therefore, I'd rather have too much i than too little as far as information goes.

If you read the threads on this list, you'd be surprised that the company is still in business or that anyone uses their products.  The manual is terrible, automatic ISO isn't implemented, the price is too high, the image quality isn't as good as the Nikon equivalent, its the same old sensor, why isn't 40mp, this isn't right, blah blah blah.  And except for field testers and carefully crafted promo photos from Canon, nobody has really seen images that average photographers take with the camera on a day-to-day basis.

Bottom line:  All of these cameras are marvels and can be used to make great photographs, assuming they are in the right hands.

Jack Siegel

[awinphoto]

I fully agree with you flake, but you KNOW for every one of those stupid bonehead things, there had to be at least one person somewhere at sometime who griped because it wasn't in there... =) 

[Daniel Flather]

Page 44

How to press the shutter release (sheesh!)



Yes, and 99% of the population still does it wrong.  Ever notice when people take a photo and say on the count of "three", it takes more like 6? 

[Tov]

Lol.  thanks