"A Better Manual" for the A100

Discussion of all digital SLR cameras under the Minolta and Konica Minolta brands
Forum rules
No more than three images or three external links allowed in any post or reply. Please trim quotations and do not include images in quotes unless essential.
User avatar
edrice
Oligarch
Posts: 181
Joined: Sun May 20, 2007 12:35 am
Location: Sunny Southern California

"A Better Manual" for the A100

Unread post by edrice »

O'Reilly has come out with a downloadable manual for the A100 for $9.99US called "A Better Manual"

http://www.oreilly.com/catalog//9780596 ... index.html

Here's a quote from the Imaging Resource Newsletter -

http://www.imaging-resource.com/IRNEWS/
Book Bag: Sony Alpha A100, A Better Manual
--------
Some people think -- briefly -- that manuals don't matter. It's no surprise to see the high school grad who thought his laptop documentation annd CDs were as disposable as the box they came in. But we've also seen the Ph.D. who didn't think they were worth archiving either. After all, what could happen?

Then there's the used equipment purchase where the manuals just aren't part of the deal. We get a lot of email asking where a manual for an old digicam or printer can be found. The answer? Visit our Drivers Project page (http://imaging-resource.com/ARTS/DRV/DRV.HTM) for the customer support link for your equipment. There's often a PDF you can download.

And as a hardware reviewer, we know manuals are, if often inaccurate or incomplete, essential. We rely on a lot of sources to find out what's under the hood for each piece of equipment we review, but a camera without a manual isn't really ready for the store shelves yet.

But you don't need us to tell you that manuals are mostly difficult reading. They're poorly organized, obscurely written, badly translated, typeset too small and indexed inadequately. We don't love manuals, but we do need them. Eventually.

O'Reilly is doing something about this situation with its new Better Manual Series. The first title -- Sony Alpha dSLR A100, A Better Manual -- has just been released as a $9.99 illustrated PDF (http://www.oreilly.com/catalog//9780596 ... index.html). If you must, you can print it out on letter-sized paper (91 sheets of it), otherwise it fits compactly on your computer as a 4.7-MB file.

It's a model of organization, starting with just the thing you always open a manual to find: Quick Answers, which is a sort of FAQ for the camera, listing the top two dozen questions you might have, all of them linked to the answers in the book.

That's followed by 10 topics, including Introduction, Putting It Together: Assembly and Charging, Getting Familiar with the A100's Exterior, Setting Up the Camera, Basic Shooting Techniques, Instant Feedback in Playback Mode, Advanced Shooting, All About Flash, Your A100 and Your Computer. Bing, bang, bong. Why aren't all manuals organized that way?

Not only are the topics nicely laid out, but each discussion is heavily illustrated. One illustration, for example, shows you everything that comes in the box, all laid out on one page with arrows pointing to each item to describe it. Others include screen shots of menus and close-ups of dials and controls with critical points circled in red. There's even a sequence on how to attach the strap correctly.

One of the best things about this title, though, happens to be the author Ken Milburn, who has written three other titles for O'Reilly (and over two dozen total) in addition to a career shooting stills for Universal Studios, covers for Capitol Records, editorial shots for various publications and advertising shoots for even more.

Ken interjects helpful personal advice you just don't see in most manuals. "Don't do what I did when I was playing with this and choose Reset just below File & Memory," he warns. "If you do, it will start the file numbering system all over again and you'll have duplicate numbers for some of your images."

He also doesn't hesitate to recommend third-party solutions to sticky problems. Discussing alternatives to the viewfinder, he notes Sony's right angle and magnifier viewfinder attachments but also suggests Hoodman's solution, which is nicely illustrated. You won't find that in a manufacturer's manual.

If we have a quibble (and our Quibble Meter is always holstered to our belt, whatever we're up to), it's with the illustrations. It's not a big thing and probably to be expected when you have a white page and a black camera, but quite a few of the closeup images of controls and buttons are too heavily manipulated to make the objects clearer. And screen shots seem to be photographs rather than video out captures (so the lighting isn't even and there is some distortion). None of this really gets in the way, but it did surprise us.

On the other hand, for $10 (a dime a page), we can't complain (just quibble). It's a great idea, sure to be appreciated by any camera owner as a quick reference guide. And a pretty inexpensive gift, too.

TITLE: Sony Alpha DSLR A100: A Better Manual by Ken Milburn, published by O'Reilly Digital Media, 91 pages, $9.99.
Ed
User avatar
Greg Beetham
Tower of Babel
Posts: 6117
Joined: Sun May 27, 2007 3:25 pm
Location: Townsville, Qld. Australia
Contact:

A100 user OEM manual

Unread post by Greg Beetham »

I don't know about you, but I thought the A100 user manual was abbreviated far too much for people who have just purchased their first SLR/DSLR. With the introduction to photographic concepts that newbies had never heard of before being just too brief to be meaningfull.
If you don't take the time to explain with clarity what the purpose of a concept is, how are they to understand what the point of the camera facility is in the first place, let alone put it into meaningfull practise.
It's fine if you have had SLR's all your life, you can quickly grasp the ergononics of the camera, and just use the manual for reference, but, for people who have had a diet of P&S's from the beginning, I have this feeling the manual would leave them with more questions than answers.
So IMHO, there is definitely a place for an in depth manual written expressly for DSLR first timers.
Greg
rogprov
Oligarch
Posts: 170
Joined: Sun May 20, 2007 5:10 am
Location: Gloucester, UK
Contact:

Unread post by rogprov »

I think it would be a very smart move for Sony to buy the rights on something like this and put a hard copy in with every A100.
Roger
David Kilpatrick
Site Admin
Posts: 5985
Joined: Sat May 19, 2007 1:14 pm
Location: Kelso, Scotland
Contact:

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

They might not buy the rights, but in the past camera makers have bought up a large quantity of actual books, and used them as incentives. Since this is an e-book, it would be even easier - they could buy a series of free download codes, and give those in return for registering the warranty on the camera.

David
simontate
Acolyte
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2007 1:57 pm
Location: Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Contact:

Unread post by simontate »

I bought The Complete Guide to Sony’s Alpha 100 Digital SLR Camera by Garry friedman. I think that it is one of the best purchases that I have made, all 400 pages of it :D .

Simon
Don't take life too seriously...none of us get out alive anyway

http://www.smtmotorsport.com
AndyG
Acolyte
Posts: 29
Joined: Wed May 23, 2007 8:02 pm
Location: Leeds, UK

Unread post by AndyG »

I can also recommend Mr. Friedman's excellent book. I splashed out on the colour hardcopy version, being a fan of 'real' books, but the e-book download is $19.99 from http://www.friedmanarchives.com/ebooks/index.htm

AndyG
User avatar
RomeoD
Acolyte
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2007 10:21 pm
Location: Chicago, IL

Unread post by RomeoD »

I have purchased the Friedman guide and I love it. Even went to one of his seminars and have learned a great deal. $19.95 US is no biggie then I just use up some toner at work... hehehe.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
-Romeo

SONY Alpha 100 (SOLD)
SONY Alpha 700
Sigma 24-135mm f/2.8-4.5
Sigma 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 D (SOLD)
Tamron 18-250mm (SOLD)
SONY 18-250mm
SLIK 700DX with a Manfrotto 322RC2 ballhead
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests