Question about whether old factory manuals are worth keeping around

I was at a camera swap meet in Chicago last month and this old-timer told me he tosses all his factory service manuals because he relies on online forums instead. I've got a stack of Nikon F3 manuals from the 80s that have saved me twice when internet searches failed me. So is it smarter to digitize everything or keep the physical copies on the shelf? Has anyone else had a situation where a paper manual solved a problem that the internet couldnt?

3 comments

3 Comments

fiona_kim976d ago

Old factory manuals are like my glasses, can't find em when I need em, but lifesavers when I do.

sammartinez6d ago

Man, that is way too relatable. I swear the ONE time I need to check a torque spec on an old machine, the binder has just VANISHED from the shelf. Then I find it three weeks later under a pile of receipts on my desk. It's always the manual you need the MOST that decides to play hide and seek. Total lifesaver when it's actually in your hand though.

felixlane5d ago

@sammartinez probably has a missing manual shrine in his garage, I swear. Old factory manuals just know how to vanish into thin air the second you need them. Mine usually turn up right after I've already guessed the torque setting and something starts rattling. It's like they wait until the exact wrong moment to reappear, hiding under the passenger seat or behind a stack of junk mail. The real trick is memorizing the diagrams from the one time you actually had it open.