Customer Reviews

CANON DSLR: The Ultimate Photographer's Guide (Digital Workflow)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

To make engineering and production simpler and especially to make using Canon cameras easier for photographers, Canon tries to keep the location of controls and settings the same between models of their EOS line of DSLR cameras. Related to this commonality, Christopher Grey has written this book on Canon DSLR cameras. The book explains the various features and menus on a Canon EOS camera, pointing out differences between models. He provides photos of cameras, editing out any camera specific to depict a generic EOS camera. Additionally, the end of just about every chapter includes text from professional photographers explaining how they conduct their work effeciently.

The Chapters
In the first chapter, the author covers photography basics: exposure settings. This includes the range of shutter speeds for the camera line, but mostly it's on the basics of photography and not equipment specific. The second chapter provides tips on chosing the color space to use, taking photos in RAW image format, and managing images files.

In the Chapter 3, Grey lists the current EOS cameras available. At the time of this review, the list is outdated. Chapter 4 discusses those features that are common to all EOS cameras still (e.g., auto-exposure bracketing and customizing white-balance). Chapter 5 goes through the camera modes (e.g., creative or non-automatic modes). This includes explaining shutter priority (Tv) and aperture priority (AE) modes.

In Chapter 6, Grey discusses external light meters and reviews the various picture preset styles (e.g., landscape, neutral, faithful) for sharpness, contrast, saturation, and color tones. He provides photos of the same subjects for each so that the reader can see the differences. These examples and others throughout the book are excellent comparison shots for various settings. He also discusses color temperature settings in this chapter, as well as automatic and manual focusing.

Chapter 7 is a nice chapter on the types of lenses for the EOS system. In Chapter 8, Grey discusses the built-in flash, as well as the settings for Canon's external flashes. Again, he discusses their common settings.

Grey has dedicated Chapter 9 to using the digital image processing program provided by Canon with their cameras: the Digital Photo Professional (DPP) software. Most professionals use Adobe Photoshop. However, if you don't want to spend the extra money for Photoshop (which is expensive), the Canon DPP utility works well. This chapter of Grey's book has some helpful information and examples for using DPP--which is good since there aren't that many books on the software. The final chapter is just a bunch of photographs by various photographers with comments about the photos. They seem pretty unnecessary.

Summary
At this point, the book is outdated in many ways. In other ways, it's still a useful book and will be so for a while longer. If you decided to buy an older model of a Canon camera, you'll especially appreciate this book. For most readers, though, I hope that Grey will come out with an updated edition.

As a 5D owner I found this book great from a practical point of view. Great hints. The colour of the titles could have been clearer otherwise a really valuable read.

WOW! I would recommend to anyone that shoots with a Canon from the beginner level up.

Hi Everybody.... Though I have not completed this book completely I can assure you that this is some great reading material for the novice, semi-pro, and professional photographer. There is countless information in regard to actual photo shooting, preparation, and final drafts of photographs. I am 95% through the book, but in the first 10 pages I already knew that this reading was going to be a great value to me and others in the photography world.

I unfortunately haven't been able to finish my new purchase which appears great. I have been "hounded" by amazon to give a review and so all I can say is the book I received was in very good condition, seemed new, and was sold as 2nd hand so I'm very happy with the condition and the content I have covered. I am also very impressed as I am from South Africa and was advised I would only receive my package mid June. I was surprised to receive it early in May so well done!

My colleague and I each bought a Canon EOS 400D early this year (2007) and have been using it successfully on a trip to Europe (France/Italy and Switzerland). We are both over 70 and have been enthusiastic amateur photographers all our lives, starting with photo technology courses some 60 years ago. Recently, we saw an advertisement for the book "Canon DSLR - Digital Workflow" and bought a copy each. We are both delighted with the contents and the ease of explanation. It is comprehensive and includes basics of photography - which I learned many years ago but had forgotten the details. An excellent reference book at an affordable price !
Wal Moser, Geelong, Victoria, Australia

I am "over seventy" too, and I too just purchased a Canon 40D along with a whole assortment of accessories --- for my wife who loves it all.

I'm buying all the good books which I can find that even mention the Canon 40D. THIS ONE DOES NOT! It mentions just about every other Canon camera, but not the 40D.

It's probably a very fine book, but those who are looking for 40D specific information should be advised that this isn't the book for you.

Eric