A short story and a coupel or three addendums: Several years ago I was doing a one day workshop on nature photography for some middle schoolers. There were two other pros on the property at the time. After a brief introduction the first question I asked was "show of hands, who has their manuals with them?". I held up my hand as did the other two pros (who were watching before heading out on their own) and maybe three or four of the kids held up theirs. Now, the three of us who use our cameras all the time thought it was smart to carry the manuals, but the kids who probably only pick up the camera a few days a month didn't. I can't tell you how many people I know who were unaware that their cameras had dioptric adjustments, and i even ran into one person at a workshop I was attending who didn't realize that the plastic thing surrounding the front of her lens could be twisted, removed, turned around, and used as a LENS SHADE. Also had a friend shooting with me who couldn't understand why my camera (30D) had a faster burst rate than his (50D). I had to show him how to set it on "high". The majority of the folks I see out and about have no idea what proper camera technique is and yet, at least in the full manuals, there are graphics showing the proper way to hold a camera and so on. The one piece of advice I always give is "read your manual, carry it in the gadget bag for quick reference."
