Customer Reviews

Complete Digital Photography

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm a professional photographer, and when I decided to go digital, I bought about a dozen books on the subject. This one leaves the others in the dust.

One of its greatest strengths is that the author explains digital by referencing film photography. This allows quick understanding of the new by comparing it to the familiar.

But if you're new to photography, this book is still for you. The author has a real gift for explaining complicated processes in a way that makes them easy to understand and utilize. And he covers what you need to know, without putting the pro to sleep.

I read omniverously, but I'm rarely impressed enough to write a review. If I could only keep one book on photography -- digital or film -- this would be it.

And thank you to the author for insisting that digital photography is created with a digital camera, NOT a scanner. I am SO tired of books that are supposedly about digital photography which are really about digital manipulation of film photography.

Do yourself a big favor: if you're interested in this subject, buy this book. You won't be disappointed.

As an instructor of Photography and Digital Imagaging, I have found it difficult to recommend texbooks that incorporate ALL the most important points of capturing, transmitting, printing, storing, archiving, and retrieving digital images. I generally need to list several titles to cover these various topics. Ben Long not only does the job with the Complete Digital Photgraphy, but he does it in a very concise, logical and easy to comprehend manner. This book is timely, informative, accurate and thorough. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to jump into to the art of digital photography. I especially praise its use for instructional value. I am replacing next year's text with this one.

I've found Ben Long's Complete Digital Photography an excellent writing about today's superior digital imaging equipment! As an advanced nature film photographer, I've had my eye on the recent advances in digital photography for quite some time, and this book will help anyone, experienced or beginner grasp a good thorough understanding of what digital photography encompasses. This writing does not go into the specifics of all the digital cameras in today's market, there are plenty of excellent equipment review sites online to handle that task. Instead, the book provides excellent material regarding how digital cameras work; what components are common and present in the various models; how to match a camera to your particular shooting requirements; the "similarities" and the "differences" between digital photography and traditional film-based photography. It further gives a good basic understanding of photography fundamentals which apply to picture taking in any medium. The book includes a CDrom disk of actual sample photos, and is presented in a tutorial basis so that you can actually try out the explained techniques and examine for yourself on your own computer/monitor and or scanner equipment setup, the qualities and results from photo editing tutorials etc., that are presented in the book. There are some excellent Adobe Photoshop image editing lessons included as well as a demo version of this popular image program on the CD. I could ramble on about this book, but let me just summarize and say that if you are serious about digital photography and/or are interested in making the transition from film to digital photography or just want to get the very best results from your digital equipment, this book should greatly help you achieve your goals... highly recommended!

It is BEST digital photography book I have read and I have purchased over 10 different books on the subject. It is comprehensive covers not only digital photography but also the principles of 35mm photography in general. It is complete! You can get information from camera type, file size, camera control, lens type, printer choice, output resolutions and many many more. I am totally impressed by this book. This is idea for some one who is new to not only digital photography but 35mm photography as well. Highly recommended.

Complete Digital Photography offers a lot for it's intended audience, entry through intermediate level digital photography experience.

If you have not owned a digital camera, or your experience is limited to the more simple point and shoot cameras, and would like to understand enough to make an informed decision on a new digital camera you will find the information here to make a decision on the type of digital camera that will meet your needs and budget.

Once you own your digital camera Complete Digital Photography can serve as a thorough guide in how to shoot and edit your photos. This is not a camera specific manual. Combined with the manual that comes with your camera Complete Digital Photography will guide you through the issues and opportunities you will face when capturing images allowing you to get more out of what ever camera you have.

Complete Digital Photography also provides a guide to the selection and use of editing software, or the "digital darkroom". One of the most intriguing aspects of digital photography is the opportunity to get creative after you take the picture in a way that was just not possible for most shooters with film. there are many inexpensive, and expensive, digital editing programs available that anyone with a basic PC can take advantage of, Complete Digital Photography takes you through the options and provides a good overview of how to make your shots yours.

The included cd includes trial versions of many of the applications referenced in the book as well as sample files for the examples used in the book.

Someone with experience with digital SLRs and Photoshop will likely find this book a waste of time and will be looking for more specialised books that dig deeper into specific areas. For the vast majority of readers Complete Digital Photography will provide an interesting and thorough overview of digital photography.

I have purchased this book twice, it is an introduction to digital photography, particularly for the fixed lense Nikon SLR cameras (such as the 8700) and SLR digital cameras. If you have a simple point and click camera you will get some benefit from the book but not as much.

The book provides a photography primer, clearly explains terms, and gets the reader excited about taking pictures.

Additionally it discusses SLR and non SLR cameras, and digital photo processing using Photoshop (a good portion of this book is dedicated to this task, roughly 40%).

This is a great gift for the person just getting into digital photography or someone looking to expand their skills and knowledge.

I have been messing with photography for many years. I wanted some pointers and a little refresher, so I ordered this book. The book had a lot of detail about how digital cameras work etc., but also a descent amount of exposure, focus etc. My finished prints are 300% better now than they were before reading this book. I picked up several very useful tips on camera settings, camera limitations (both digital and film) and Photoshop touchup techniques (very good) in one quick read through the book. I look forward to studying some of the more advanced Photoshop tutorials soon. I could barely put the book down until it was finished. No real content on how to compose an interesting picture though, but author never claims to touch on this subject. A good all around book that any fairly serious amateur photographer should read.

I'm a photonut. Even more so with my latest DC gadget.

This book is a terrific resource for me - previous books discuss digital photography from an old media (chemical film) perspective. With my latest dual-mode camera, I wanted to master lighting, framing, click to clicks and feature adjustments quickly. This book helped me out alot, and comes highly recommended as a companion to your next digital camera purchase (regardless of the grade camera you buy).

- GiddyupGuy

I picked this book up on a whim when looking for gifts for others. And boy am I glad I did. I have other photo books that are either too basic or too specialized, or don't explain fully. I actually read this cover to cover, and am now going back and re-reading sections as needed. It's the most comprehensive and useful photography book I've found.

I am a beginner to Photography. I have owned a auto 35mm Pentax IQ zoom for about 5 years and then went on to buy a Kodak DC290 in 2000. I am now thinking of upgrading to a 'prosumer' or a SLR kind of digital camera. I had a small, limited background of apertures and shutter speeds, from what I have heard from my father (he had an old Yashika).
Given my background, this book has been a wealth of information for me. The author doesn't beat around the bush, and give lenghty anecdotes - the book is very precise, with lots and lots of information - about photography in general, and the book never once veers from the main topic - digital cameras and digital photography. If you are shopping for a camera like me, if not for anything else, you can get this book just for Chapter 5 - 'Choosing a Digital Camera'. You can make a check list of things you want in your camera, cross-check with dpreview.com and get the camera that has it all that you want! And the good thing is, it doesn't get too pedantic - there are practical illustrations and common usage tips.

All in all a fantastic book for beginners. On the negative side - the book doesn't seem to have been thoroughly proof-read. There are typos, one reference to a wrong illustration and minor grammatical errors. Also the illustrations in the book do not always bring out what the author is trying to say (limited colors?) - you have to refer to the jpeg's in the accompanying CD.