[Barbu]

That's strange, I bought two K-70 (online from U.K.) two months ago and a complete b&w 152-pages operating manual was present inside each box. No quick start guide, though.

I bought the K-70 too (only one of them thou) and it had the full english manual (in Europe/Romania).
I wonder how does the quickstart guide look like

[robert52]

Anyway real men dont need manuals

[Jeff Lopez]

There was an issue about this, around 1987, Hasbro issuing color user manuals. Which led to a class law suite, becuase color blind people felt that it was discriminatory..After that, a lot of companies changed to BW printing, and it was very convenient for them, saving $ on printing costs

[35mmfilmfan]

Instead of printing the PDF manuals, I download them to my phone and tablet. That way, they are always available - and you don't look a complete twit frantically thumbing through a book for something you have temporarily forgotten !

[DeadJohn]

There was an issue about this, around 1987, Hasbro issuing color user manuals. Which led to a class law suite, becuase color blind people felt that it was discriminatory..After that, a lot of companies changed to BW printing, and it was very convenient for them, saving $ on printing costs

Urban legend? I did a little searching and couldn't find anything about that law suit.

Think about it. Let's say Hasbro was legally obligated to put manuals into B&W. Yet the games and other toys remain in color so the colorblind still can't use them.

[eugene68]

I've just got my new (and my 1st DSLR) K-70 from Amazon.ca. I live in Toronto area and I was surprised to find inside the box two brochures: Start Guide in English and Operational manual (Mode d'Emploi) on French. Usually in Ontario we get both, French and English guides, or English only.
How is it possible that the package does not have manual in English? Why one document is in English while another one is in French? Is it a normal practice for Pentax or it is Amazon's fault?
The camera looks new and I do not believe it was returned or refurbished. I made a picture and couple online shutter counts returned me count 1 and date of manufacturing middle of June.

[Adam]

I've just got my new (and my 1st DSLR) K-70 from Amazon.ca. I live in Toronto area and I was surprised to find inside the box two brochures: Start Guide in English and Operational manual (Mode d'Emploi) on French. Usually in Ontario we get both, French and English guides, or English only.
How is it possible that the package does not have manual in English? Why one document is in English while another one is in French? Is it a normal practice for Pentax or it is Amazon's fault?
The camera looks new and I do not believe it was returned or refurbished. I made a picture and couple online shutter counts returned me count 1 and date of manufacturing middle of June.

Was the camera sold by an authorized dealer? While amazon itself is authorized, many of the third-party sellers, even some big ones, are not.

Adam
PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide | Site Help | My Photography)



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[eugene68]

Was the camera sold by an authorized dealer? While amazon itself is authorized, many of the third-party sellers, even some big ones, are not.

Adam, sorry that I forgot to mention explicitly that my camera (K-70) was sold and delivered by Amazon.ca itself. I could order it from the local store (Henry's) for the same price but they told me that the distributor does not have it in stock and it will be a back-order hence they could not provide me with ETA. However I ordered a lens (Sigma) from Henry's and it was also a special order but it's just came, pretty fast in 10 days and I was very pleased with their level of service. And lens was made in Japan and properly packed and instruction is on 13 languages.
I do not believe it was Amazon's fault, it seems, Pentax does not have a proper control over their sloppy operations in Philippines. I live in Canada for 17 years and it was, probably, 1st case when I purchased an electronic merchandise from reputable retailer and I do not have manual in English.

[Adam]

I'd contact Pentax about this, to make sure both manuals should normally be included, and to ask for them to send you one.

[normhead]

It's easier to find what you want asking on the forum. The suggestions are often way ahead of what you'll find in the manual. The manual explains what it does, but not how you would use the function in combination with others tfor a specific purpose, and that is crazy.

Turn on AF.c
Set the level of AF hold
Enlarge from single point to to 9 or 27 AF points.

All combined you have a functional tracking set up. Does it say that anywhere in the manual? You have to figure it out.

[eugene68]

Adam, I asked them yesterday and I've just got an answer from ricoh-usa (they answered within 24h):

thank you for your email. Unfortunately, we do not have any paper manuals we could send out to you, however you can download the English version of the manual for free on our website. http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/support/man-pdf/k-70.pdf

Antwann Mitchell
Ricoh Imaging

It seems that normhead is right, I'll better stick to forum.

[SharkyCA]

Adam, sorry that I forgot to mention explicitly that my camera (K-70) was sold and delivered by Amazon.ca itself. I could order it from the local store (Henry's) for the same price but they told me that the distributor does not have it in stock and it will be a back-order hence they could not provide me with ETA. However I ordered a lens (Sigma) from Henry's and it was also a special order but it's just came, pretty fast in 10 days and I was very pleased with their level of service. And lens was made in Japan and properly packed and instruction is on 13 languages.
I do not believe it was Amazon's fault, it seems, Pentax does not have a proper control over their sloppy operations in Philippines. I live in Canada for 17 years and it was, probably, 1st case when I purchased an electronic merchandise from reputable retailer and I do not have manual in English.

I bought the K-70 too (only one of them thou) and it had the full english manual (in Europe/Romania).
I wonder how does the quickstart guide look like

My K-70 is a week old now, it came with a "Start Guide" and on page 70 there is a link to Manuals | Support | RICOH IMAGING

Also I found this link for "ALL" the manuals for "Pentax DSLR'S" hope it helps.
Operation Manuals Download : Support & Service | RICOH IMAGING

[Lord Lucan]

I think it's great not to have a printed manual. It's a huge environmental waste. .

An A5 paperback booklet with a $1500 camera that some people might buy the likes of only once or twice a lifetime? I don't think you know what a huge environmental waste is; you should spend a night with the cleaners on the London Underground. Every night they remove from the trains several tons of a discarded free newspaper called Metro, which is available from racks at stations (and is printed on better quality than normal newsprint). Same again for the main line commuter trains. That is as well as the other discarded newspapers, but I mention Metro as, being free, many people pick it up and then scarcely look at it.

I get more junk mail through my door in three months, some of it very high quality print on glossy card, than would make a camera manual. If you want to save the planet, there are far more effective ways to do it than not providing equipment manuals, but perhaps the green "warriors" prefer to just to piss off those they consider have too much money to spend. I suspect that if you do not need a manual yourself (and it seems to be something to boast about among millenennials) you are not using an SLR camera to its full advantage and might be better with a point-and-shoot.

[Pentaxis]

An A5 paperback booklet with a $1500 camera that some people might buy the likes of only once or twice a lifetime? I don't think you know what a huge environmental waste is; you should spend a night with the cleaners on the London Underground. Every night they remove from the trains several tons of a discarded free newspaper called Metro, which is available from racks at stations (and is printed on better quality than normal newsprint). Same again for the main line commuter trains. That is as well as the other discarded newspapers, but I mention Metro as, being free, many people pick it up and then scarcely look at it.

I get more junk mail through my door in three months, some of it very high quality print on glossy card, than would make a camera manual. If you want to save the planet, there are far more effective ways to do it than not providing equipment manuals, but perhaps the green "warriors" prefer to just to piss off those they consider have too much money to spend. I suspect that if you do not need a manual yourself (and it seems to be something to boast about among millenennials) you are not using an SLR camera to its full advantage and might be better with a point-and-shoot.

Well said, Lord Lucan!

I recently bought a second hand, thirty year old film SLR on ebay. The seller included the original paper user manual. Even though I had previously downloaded a .pdf version from the web I do find myself mainly using the paper manual. It's obviously much more readily available. I find the .pdf version useful mainly for when i want to do a word search.

I also find the manual not only useful but also essential, to understand fully some of the operational details and characteristics.

[monochrome]

I just bought a Denon AV Receiver to replace my thirty year old Pioneer amplifier. There was no manual in the box - but there was a depression in the styrofoam brackets that once held one. They must have stopped including them.


I paid $13.75 to have the pdf printed - 150 sheets 8 1/2 x 11, 2-sides - 3-hole punched it and put it in a 3-Ring Binder. These receivers are as complex as a camera. Getting it connected and set up correctly really does require detailed reading of the manual, and initially, frequent reference to it to fix niggling little settings conflicts.

My Millenial children would do the same, but they’re the type that collect mis-assembled curbside IKEA discards and reverse engineer the correct assembly.