Read your camera’s manual

After reading this post’s headline, you may think that reading the camera’s manual is the most natural thing to do when you get a new camera. Many people probably do that. But many don’t.

About two month ago, I met a photographer who was trying to shoot birds in flight with his Canon EOS 40D and a 100-400mm lens from Canon. After talking with him for a while, I found out that the guy was shooting only in “One-Shot” AF mode which means the EOS 40D will focus and then keep the focus. It will not track the bird and keep adjusting the sharpness. This is what “Al Servo” is for with Canon cameras. The guy didn’t know that such a feature even existed. No wonder he was frustrated that most of his bird shots were not sharp.
He admitted that he only skimmed some pages of the manual when he got his camera several month ago.

This is just one example of people missing features of their equipment. I’ve seen this over and over again. Sure, many cameras have features you will never use. But at least you should know they exist.

So read your camera’s manual. You can also read it again after several month in case you want to see if you are still up to date. Also read all the manuals that come with your lenses, flashes and other equipment.

For some cameras, there are even books that often explain the features of the camera in more detail than the manual. Check your bookstore or the internet if there are books suitable for your camera model. Be careful to get a book that provides real value over the manual and not a book that just copies the manual.

Happy shooting!