# 5D MkIII instructions - Rant !!



## Flake (Mar 16, 2012)

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!


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## iso79 (Mar 16, 2012)

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


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## Alker (Mar 16, 2012)

Flake said:


> 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
> 
> ...



What is your point ?


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## gecko (Mar 16, 2012)

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


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## nameless (Mar 16, 2012)

Flake said:


> 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


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## swampler (Mar 16, 2012)

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

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


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## wtlloyd (Mar 16, 2012)

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.


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## lrivero (Mar 16, 2012)

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!


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## Macadameane (Mar 16, 2012)

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.


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## Dylan777 (Mar 16, 2012)

swampler said:


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


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## Canon-F1 (Mar 16, 2012)

Flake said:


> 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
> 
> ...




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.


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## sanyasi (Mar 16, 2012)

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


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## awinphoto (Mar 16, 2012)

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... =)


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## Daniel Flather (Mar 16, 2012)

_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?


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## Tov (Mar 16, 2012)

Lol. ;D thanks


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Mar 16, 2012)

Manuals cover all users, not just the ones who have owned DSLR's before. 

However, for advanced topics, you have to look elsewhere.


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## D_Rochat (Mar 16, 2012)

Unfortunately, not everyone is born with the gift of common sense. I watched a well educated man load his rifle and proceed to look down the barrel. Why he felt compelled to do something like that, I'll never know. Point is, he had to be told not to do that anymore because it wasn't obvious enough.


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## aZhu (Mar 16, 2012)

*Common sense is not so common...*

You'd be surprised at how many people out there really don't know how to do certain things... it's sad and frustrating but true.


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## Drizzt321 (Mar 16, 2012)

sanyasi said:


> 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'm in the software world myself, and it's so true. Users can be some of the most obtuse people on the planet. Especially when they lie to you and tell you they did what you just told them...but didn't actually do it. Fortunately I don't have to deal with users directly much anymore, except for running my family's tech support line. But at least they don't lie to me about what they did or did not do.


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## drpeej (Dec 6, 2012)

> How many people would expect it to continue working after it's switched off?



My 5D Mk3 has just refused to switch off even if I follow the instructions 

I had to take the battery out


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## zim (Dec 6, 2012)

They probably have to have a lot of that stuff for legal reasons too. Was there not a story in America where a manufacturer got sued when the owner got up out of the drivers seat to make a coffee or something and it crashed, wasn't in the owners manual that you couldn't do this!  ;D


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## Jay Khaos (Dec 6, 2012)

Canon-F1 said:


> 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.
> ...




I'm always intrigued by arguments like this (if you can call it one). Who cares? Apparently you do.. and your comment is equally as negative and preachy as f*** lol. At least the OP was fueling a conversation--or entertainment at the least.

Good job on citing those sources to support your bitterness toward americans. Speak of complaining just to complain..


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## M.ST (Dec 6, 2012)

Manuals are made for all customers.

If you are new in photography you get a lot of information to handle the camera.

If you are a pro you don´t need the manual or need it only for some custom functions.


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## Boyer U. Klum-Cey (Dec 6, 2012)

User manuals in America are required by law to pass the "my wife" test. There is a reason we call them "users"!


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## crasher8 (Dec 6, 2012)

Wait, let's go over this again. I turn the camera on, press the shutter button and it takes a picture. Ok thanks.

I'll try it.


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## neuroanatomist (Dec 6, 2012)

crasher8 said:


> Wait, let's go over this again. I turn the camera on, press the shutter button and it takes a picture. Ok thanks.
> I'll try it.



You didn't put in a memory card and attach a lens as instructed on p.16. Therefore, no picture will be taken. RTFM, dammit!


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## cayenne (Dec 6, 2012)

Flake said:


> <snip>
> 
> 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.



Well, a lot of that 'warning' stuff, is caused by our overly litigous society....much akin to the feeling I get when I see warning tags on blowdriers to not use them in the bathtub, or the sign on the Coke machine that says "Warning do not tip over, machine can fall on your and kill you"...with a little illustrated Darwin Award scene if a soon to be squashed stick figure...

However, on some of the things...well, there's reason for it to be there.

Myself, the 5D3 was my first DSLR camera ever. Till I held it in my hands, I'd never picked one up, never changed a lens. 

Many decades ago, I had an old Nikon 35mm camera, but hadn't touched that in decades.

So, while the order was coming, I read through the manual online..and again when I opened the box and put it together.

Yes, some of it is a bit childish even for a 100% noob, you'd think common sense would prevail, but if you've ever worked in a job facing the *General Public*, then you'll know that the majority of them out there are blithering idiots.

I know that sounds elitist...but I worked in my youth as a busboy, a waiter, a bartender, I sold retail (clothes, shoes, etc), and most anyone that has spent time in a public facing job will usually tell you the same I have.

So, yes...ALL instructions are going to be dumbed down. And yet....tech support will still get calls.
Heck, I think the reason computer manufacturers are trying to get rid of optical drives, is to just finally get people to quit calling in asking about the built in coffee holders...


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## EvilTed (Dec 6, 2012)

Have you ever looked at your cars manual?

ET


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## rpt (Dec 6, 2012)

Flake said:


> Please forgive this rant but there are times when I find instruction manuals so annoying!


You know what? I could have included *all* of your comments in this quote because they reflect my thoughts as I read the 5D3 manual. I took two days to read the manual (time constraints...). I head the documentation department for the company I work in. The exact words I told my boss and the documentation team were: "The Canon 5D III manual looks like we wrote it"!!!!

It is amazing how one can be lost in the "I need to explain what happens when I use this option" rather than why and where the F^@* would I use this function...


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## neuroanatomist (Dec 6, 2012)

rpt said:


> It is amazing how one can be lost in the "I need to explain what happens when I use this option" rather than why and where the F^@* would I use this function...



Should documentation for a cell phone tell you who to call, and when? Is it Canon's job to teach us how to use the camera itself, or to teach us how to take good pictures? The why and where seem much more aligned with the latter, and I'd argue that's out of scope for a manual.


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## rpt (Dec 6, 2012)

neuroanatomist said:


> rpt said:
> 
> 
> > It is amazing how one can be lost in the "I need to explain what happens when I use this option" rather than why and where the F^@* would I use this function...
> ...


I believe the how, the why, the when and the what (and possibly others) go together. I believe manuals need to morf into a compendium of "How to...". I have not figured that out yet, but hope to do that soon (before 5D7 or 8 or 9... whatever...)


<NOSARCASM>
Sorry, needed to add that for good measure...


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## neuroanatomist (Dec 6, 2012)

rpt said:


> I believe the how, the why, the when and the what (and possibly others) go together. I believe manuals need to morf into a compendium of "How to...".



Oh, that's simple. Canon covers that in the Quick Start guide, right up front. Insert battery and card, mount lens with AF switch set to on, turn on camera, set green square/A+ mode, point, and shoot. :


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## editreject (Dec 6, 2012)

What is even more amazing than an instruction manual that is supposed to be written for the masses is that this thread is 3 pages long.


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## distant.star (Dec 6, 2012)

.
1. Flake, I can't imagine why you'd be sitting around reading a camera manual. Why torment yourself? Go out, watch a sunset, have a beer. Be gentle with yourself, as a philosopher once advised.

2. Litigation is the cause of this nonsense. Akio Morita, cofounder of Sony Corp. devoted a whole chapter to this travesty in his 1986 book, "Made In Japan." Here's the first paragraph of that chapter:

"I once complained to an American friend that it was becoming difficult to find anything actually made in the United States these days, and he said, 'Why don't you take some of our lawyers, a genuine Made in America product!' We both laughed over the joke, but it isn't really funny."

And 26 years later, none of us are laughing. With Canon, as with every major corporation, not a single official word leaks out that is not vetted by lawyers. When I went to work for a national trade association in Washington, DC in 1984 we had a "staff attorney." When I left 10 years later we used an entire floor of our eight-story building to house the legal department. Perhaps, as Shakespeare suggested, we should kill all the lawyers!

3. Many Americans (people in the U.S. that is) are fat. I think stats now say a third are officially "obese." And all you have to do is look at the failing educational systems, the dysfunctional political system and the crumbling infrastructure to realize as a whole, the people really are dumber than dirt. However, it's dangerous to say such things. This country of the fat, dumb and fearful is armed to the damned teeth and has global reach -- over 1000 military installations worldwide, satellites, drones and a president who sits in his office looking at lists of people he decides will or won't be killed in any part of the world. Just a word to the wise -- my lawyers made me say that!

Anyway, I'll get the 5D3 this month. First thing I'm going to do is burn the manual (after getting the necessary environmental permits, of course).


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## brought1 (Dec 6, 2012)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> Manuals cover all users, not just the ones who have owned DSLR's before.
> 
> However, for advanced topics, you have to look elsewhere.
> [/quote
> ...


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## rpt (Dec 6, 2012)

editreject said:


> What is even more amazing than an instruction manual that is supposed to be written for the masses is that this thread is 3 pages long.


May be. And that is short. You should look at the medium sized threads (about 14 pages long) on highly technical topics like YALCFCLOLCs... (Yet Another Lens Cap From Canon Like Other Lens Caps)


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## AudioGlenn (Dec 6, 2012)

I know you were just ranting but may I suggest you skip over the stuff you know about. 

I read the manual, too. I just glanced over the basic stuff. It has to be in there for the idiots. Yes, I agree that the general American public is dumb. (And yes, I'm in/from the states). My wife and I have a great time laughing at people when we walk around the mall and hear their dumb comments.... especially the ones who have that THICK California stupid-girl voice. (We're both Californians and neither of us talk like that). This is EVERY time we go out...we hear people say dumb s%&^ all the time.


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## ahab1372 (Dec 6, 2012)

AudioGlenn said:


> I know you were just ranting but may I suggest you skip over the stuff you know about.
> 
> I read the manual, too. I just glanced over the basic stuff. It has to be in there for the idiots. Yes, I agree that the general American public is dumb. (And yes, I'm in/from the states). My wife and I have a great time laughing at people when we walk around the mall and hear their dumb comments.... especially the ones who have that THICK California stupid-girl voice. (We're both Californians and neither of us talk like that). This is EVERY time we go out...we hear people say dumb s%&^ all the time.


Valley Girl? The Catherine Tate Show - Valley Girl

Btw the comedian is actually British


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## sawsedge (Dec 6, 2012)

The OP made me chuckle. Yeah, some of those are pretty silly, but like others have said, there are people out there who really need the help. I encountered quite a few of them when I did tech support. Wizard's First Rule.

OTOH, before my 5D3 arrived, I browsed the manual and read up on relevant parts like the AF system and various customization options. Most of the features are pretty obvious to someone familiar with a Canon DSLR, but the camera is way more feature-packed than my previous bodies and I had a much better idea of how I'd customize it when it arrived. There were a few tidbits in the manual that helped me, that would not have been obvious to me without going over it.

Nikon bodies, on the other hand... I was out photographing a waterfall and someone approached me, asking if I knew how to enable the movie mode on their D90. I figured it would be obvious, but I could not figure it out. It's totally obvious to me on Canon bodies without reading a thing. Then again, Nikon does focus backwards... ;D


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## Jesse (Dec 6, 2012)

Most pointless thread and most pointless rant ever?







Yes.


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## crasher8 (Dec 6, 2012)

Ok I tried what you said Neuro but the pictures keep coming out black. 

I'll see what I can do.


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## ahab1372 (Dec 6, 2012)

crasher8 said:


> Ok I tried what you said Neuro but the pictures keep coming out black.
> 
> I'll see what I can do.


LOL. Black Tape


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## DHaass (Dec 6, 2012)

crasher8 said:


> Ok I tried what you said Neuro but the pictures keep coming out black.
> 
> I'll see what I can do.



Ha, ha, ha, ha....forgot to say remove lens cap. Priceless!!! Almost fell out of my chair laughing as soon as I read your reply.


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## crasher8 (Dec 7, 2012)

Thanks DHaas, now I'm seeing colors!









Lensbaby Composer @ Red Butte Garden, SLC Utah


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## rpt (Dec 8, 2012)

crasher8 said:


> Thanks DHaas, now I'm seeing colors!
> 
> Lensbaby Composer @ Red Butte Garden, SLC Utah


You're a riot! BTW, do you work in a QA department?


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