First of all, realize that 80% of the features they pack in these things you'll probably never use. My preference is to do any editing on the computer, not using any features in the camera.
If your zoom lens has both an optical range and a digital range -- don't use the digital range. Optical means you're using the glass in the lens to change the magnification. Digital means you're editing the image by using fewer pixels -- you can do that on the computer. Here's (http://www.photoxels.com/digital-photography-tutorials/optical-digital-zoom/) a link to a website of tutorials -- I found it by Googling "optical and digital zoom".
Next -- take a lot of pictures. Then look at them. For those which you deem "bad", whether dark, crooked, unfocused, whatever -- then investigate whether there's a setting that might help. That sounds unhelpful, but you need to find out what things you actually want to know, rather than be overwhelmed by features in a poorly designed manual.
This answer is too short -- sorry I can't write more. But does it help?
no subject
If your zoom lens has both an optical range and a digital range -- don't use the digital range. Optical means you're using the glass in the lens to change the magnification. Digital means you're editing the image by using fewer pixels -- you can do that on the computer. Here's (http://www.photoxels.com/digital-photography-tutorials/optical-digital-zoom/) a link to a website of tutorials -- I found it by Googling "optical and digital zoom".
Next -- take a lot of pictures. Then look at them. For those which you deem "bad", whether dark, crooked, unfocused, whatever -- then investigate whether there's a setting that might help. That sounds unhelpful, but you need to find out what things you actually want to know, rather than be overwhelmed by features in a poorly designed manual.
This answer is too short -- sorry I can't write more. But does it help?
Dr. Phil