Pentax Manual

Hi All

I've just come across another instruction manual for the K10D called Everything you need to know...and then some for sale on e-bay from America. Does anyone have any info on this book.
Check the link below

www.k10dbook.com

Richard

I See that there are 100 people viewing this post yet nobody seems to want to reply. So i'll take it that nobody has heard of this manual.

Richard

I've never bought a camera book, and don't think I ever will

If there's something you want to know... just ask (we don't bite!)
Matt

if I have to open the manual...there must be something wrong with it.
If I have to buy a manual...there must be something wrong with me....
seriously....
when you're dropping a grand on a worktool, it had better be intuitive in design, the sales clerk knoweldgable, and come with a good manual (prefer interactive multimedia cd's to paper) for problem solving.
that is your right as a consumer.

I hadnt heard of it before, the collector in me quite fancied it as I do have a soft spot for books, but there is a list of other accesories further up the list

Who reads manuals anyway.?

I pick the camera up
Browse the manual and get fed up
Try the camera and see how I get on
Open the manual 3 weeks later to find out how to use the bits I dont understand
Try angain and get it right
File the manual
Buy a new lens, filter whatever with the money that I've saved on not buying another manual.

I find the manual for any new toy is an excellent way to keep myself occupied while waiting for the batteries to charge.

Don't think I've opened my K10D manual since that little red light went out for the first time.

Very Strange i posted this early on and nobody seemed interested then

Richard

I'm sorry, but this is nonsense. I'm all for making hardware and software as easy to use as possible, but to expect everyone to be able to learn every nuance of a complex product such as a dSLR without looking anything up is unreasonable in the extreme.

If people could be bothered to lift a finger and look something up in the manual (and as manuals go, the K10D one isn't bad) as a first instinct, it would be a lot better than exploiting the helpfulness of people here.

There's a huge difference between "having trouble with X, don't understand the manual on page Y, have tried 'a', 'b' and 'c' and am still stuck", and "I've just bought a K10D and I can't do X".

Errr....

My K10D works the same as all my other cameras when I switch it to Av, if it caries on working in this mode then I'm happy

I'm in agreement with most of the previous replys, the supplied manual covers everything joe public needs to know about the operation of whatever camera in question, true I have tried the hyper program mode on my ist D and K10D, I have even taken the opportunity to program the e-dails how I want on the latter, and even long before that experimented with the multiple exposure on my MZ7, but.......do I really need a hands on guide that tells me if I press three buttons simutaneously I automatically order a 16X20 print from Hong Kong budget Labs, or whatever?
I would sooner be taking pictures than trying to remember something I remembered in a book that probably (for most part) duplicates the manual

Clearly, you don't.

How about this for an idea....

You have the pentax lab software cd....you check a box in the software and the software sets your clock and date to match your computer. it also installs a copy of yuor manual into a file on the camera's memory card, and your camera you keep it with you, easily acessible in the menu. (Uncheck the box and it's gone).
in the menu mode, have a setting that works off the green button that makes the camera explains what is doing, and why, referencing the manual, as it does so. That way people who are learning, have only to look at the lcd and push a green button, or scroll through the menu section called "user manual".
could also add interactive problem solver function to the software that goes on your computer...help button in the menu bar....

have you camera your way.....
then throw the paper manual out, becuase the reason it exists is because nobody thought to build it into the software/hardware, which is in my opinion, an oversight. As I said...if I have to read the manual...there must be something wrong with it.

Well as I say, I think that's an unreasonable stance to take. It's a great aspiration, but ease of use has to be paid for. It's hard, and expensive to build a UI that is so intuitive that absolutely nothing ever has to be looked up - and the job gets harder, not easier, as the level of sophistication goes up. Especially since what is obvious and intuitive to one person is not so to another.

I'd rather have a slightly less good UI (and the K10D is pretty good, I reckon) than have to pay a lot more, or wait a lot longer.

I'd also rather not have to pay for the additional software that would have to either be written or licensed, and included in the firmware, with the risk of more bugs, which would allow you to read something like a PDF directly in the camera.

Especially with only a tiny screen to view it on. There's already quite a bit of explanatory help text with most of the options in the menus which is a pretty good half-way house.

If I want to read the manual it's either on the computer or in the bathroom.

difference in personal preferences is a good arguement...
Cost however....as an argument, fails to account for having a paper manual written, printed, distributed. environmental impact, and increased packaging, and weight. All of which add to increases in cost (even shipping costs when you load up a container with thousands of units, the weight of those manuals does add up).
If I choose not to use a software function, or delete a file off a memory card...no additional loss....throwing a paper book out adds to other problems we have to pay $$$$ to fix.
anything with a micro chip in it should be intuitive enough to use, and complex functions should only be a click away from explaining how to use it.
It's called design. and good design should take the headaches and complexity out of the user experiance, especially for items that cost as much as a camera!

I agree with ChrisA - although I'm not sure about the bathroom bit.

I read the manual as a matter of course when I buy something. There are tricks on the K10D you would only find by chance if you didn't read the manual.