An extraordinary thread.
Some excellent, informative, instructive and thoughtful responses.
Any camera I have ever acquired, (or washing machine, or printer, or cooker.....etc, etc), I read the manual - carefully and closely - before doing anything whatsoever with the machine or device in question.
@Clix Pix has written thoughtfully of how to intelligently consult, and use a manual.
When I obtained my first SLR, a lovely little Pentax ME Super, (second hand) in my first year as a postgrad and TA, - with my first paycheck for grading term papers and essays (my teaching salary came from a different budget, the university budget, but grading the essays, and term papers, - were paid by lump sum, once a term by the faculty, not the university) - even before making the purchase, I asked a friend in the university's photo club to give me a brief tutorial, and to take me through what mattered in SLR photography - he had an Olympus OM-10, - and he kindly brought his camera in and we sat together while he explained how things worked to me.
Likewise, through the camera club, I was able to lay hands on a manual for my Pentax, which they permitted me to borrow, and which I read closely.
Then, it was simply a matter of shooting several rolls of film, under different circumstances, light conditions, and settings, and seeing what worked, what didn't and what I needed to do and learn; in my experience, fellow photographers were always exceptionally helpful with support, suggestions, and advice.
