Customer Reviews

The Complete Guide to Sony's Alpha 100 Digital SLR Camera

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the manual you wish came with the camera! It drives me crazy to get a complex piece of equipment and not be able to make it work as it should because the manual is inadequate. The manual that comes with the Sony Alpha 100 is fine in terms of telling you "Well, if you want the flash to be set up as TTL, do this, but if you want it to be set up as ADI, then do that." That's fine for telling me how to change between the two, but what's the difference between them, and when would I want one or the other? This is where Gary Friedman's book comes in. He tells you in plain English without the need to have a secret decoder ring.

I view the book as having several components. First, and foremost for me, it tells you what the different features of the camera do and when to use them. As part of this process, he tells you what sets this camera apart from others. Second, it introduces you to basic photographic techniques that will result in better pictures. He gives tips on lighting, angles, composition, camera settings, and the like. He also helps explain some of the differences between film and digital imaging. Third, he gives a brief introduction to the photo browser software that comes with the camera. And finally, he gives a very brief history of the Minolta product line.

A bonus, for me, was the chapter on using wireless flash. When I saw the feature in the manual, I thought, Hmm, great for professional photographers, maybe, but no one else would ever use it. This book changed my mind. I now realize that it is a great feature for the serious amateur.

Some prospective purchasers may be daunted by a 398-page book. Fear not. The book is sized like a manual, not a regular book, and the amount of text on a page is modest. The book is very well laid-out and easy to read. The writing is clear and informal; it's as though you had a friend telling you what the camera's features and how to use them. If you're concerned about whether this book is too long, just go to FriedmanArchives.com and look at the sample pages.

The book is best read in color so you can benefit from seeing the color photographs that are used as examples, but the color version is ridiculously expensive. The .pdf is much easier to read on the computer than I expected because the layout is so good. Having the book in .pdf format not only saves money but it also allows me to copy those segments of the text that give tips and ideas that I want to use and paste them into a Word document. That way, I can create my own personal "cheat sheet" that is a few pages long that I can take with me.

The subtitle of the book is "The Friendly Manual with Professional Insights." That sums it up for me.

This is significantly better than the "Magic Lantern" book (which I
also bought), the main difference being Gary's incredible enthusiasm
and technical insights that the other books simply don't
cover. Gary's books are legendary and often referred to as "The
Bible" on Minolta and Sony online discussion forums.

For the money nothing beats it; however the book that appears on
Amazon.com is B&W; I don't know why he did that since a color,
downloadable .pdf file is also available (and cheaper!) as is a color
printed book as well. [...]. While the B&W version is more
affordable, many of the images showing fine differences in color
balance cannot do their job. By all means, spring for the color
version instead!" If you want to master this camera, this is your book!

I'm sure my story isn't the first of its kind -- I was really excited about getting into a DSLR, and when Sony came out with the Alpha, I bought it almost immediately. As soon as I got it, I tried reading through the entire owner's manual along with another photography book that was highly recommended to me ("Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson). I ended up spending a lot of time learning almost nothing because it all went right over my head. Sure, the owner's manual told me what each knob and button was for, but I needed definitions FOR the definitions, so I wasn't making too much progress. And Bryan Peterson's book is great, but it didn't do much for me at the time because I didn't know how to operate my camera well enough to get to the settings he'd refer to.

I read all of the great reviews on Gary Friedman's book and only stopped to debate over which version I should buy (black & white printed, color PDF, or color printed). I opted for the printed color version and it was well worth it! The price of the printed color version is significantly higher than the black & white, or color PDF, but it was still cheaper than many introductory photography courses. The version being sold here on Amazon is the black & white copy, so if you want the color version, you'll have to purchase it directly from Gary Friedman's website.

Gary's style of writing is enjoyable, friendly, and incredibly informative all at the same time. I read the entire book from cover to cover in one sitting with the camera by my side the whole time, and as I went through it, I started to realize that I finally understood what all of the formerly cryptic numbers and symbols on the LCD meant and it's such a great feeling!

One of my favorite parts is the last chapter, which is a "cookbook" for special shooting situations. It gives you a handy guide to the optimal settings that you could use for various events (such as fireworks, waterfalls, concerts, nighttime time exposures, outdoor group portraits, sunsets, and many more). I look forward to re-reading the chapters and really concentrating on a topic at a time so I can fully absorb the content.

You won't regret purchasing this book, no matter which format you choose. Thanks to this book, I'm finally out of "Auto" mode!

I have just bought my first DSLR and I chose a SONY for it's opinion as user friendly. Even though the camera is good for a starter, it still has quite a lot of functions that I just did not know how to use. Mr. Friedman's book not only explains all the functions of the camera in very simple, easy to understand language, it gives you tips and real examples how to take magazine-quality photos. Mr. Friedman uses personal examples and provides a lot of pictures to illustrate all the different things your camera can do. I have been looking through other manuals and the one that comes with the camera is nowhere as complete, giving sometimes conflicting information but none compare in terms of the amount of information that is in this book. If you are going to buy a SONY dSLR 100K, you should seriously consider getting this book; you can either read the camera manual and search the internet and still not fully understand your camera and how to take great pictures or you; or you can buy this book and learn about all the knobs and buttons as well as picture taking techniques and enjoy your camera more thoroughly right from the start. I highly recommend it.

Just ONE of the many tips I learned from this book was worth the price of the entire book!! You'll need to order the book if you have the Sony Alpha because even though you may THINK you know how to use all the features, you don't really. The photos inside the book Amazon sells are in black and white but it's not really any problem. The color version (available only through the author's website) is about $30 (?) more.

This is a marvelous book to buy if you purchase the A100 and are a relative novice to high-end cameras and digital photography. As another reviewer noted, the A100's users manual will tell you what buttons to press to set "dynamic range optimization" and "zone matching". But for the rest of us who want to know what these features are, and then how to use them on this specific model, this book is fantastic. The book may look chunky but its a very easy and fast read with plenty of straightforward diagrams. If you're going to spend the money to purchase this as your first DSLR, it's well worth it to invest in this book. Frankly it pays for itself in the time you'll save in learning how to use your new camera, (its a heck of lot faster than if you're working from the instruction manual alone) and you'll enjoy it so much more.

I was surprised that a former rocket scientist could write such a clear, succinct and absolutely useful book. I have tried his suggestions with my a100 and have taken a few pictures I am very proud of. You cannot go wrong with this choice. Hard Copy or downloaded (print pages to take with you on theme shoots).

dateline 3 months later... I have since taken many more pictures with the Sony and Gary's guidance and am still very happy with the outcome.

I even took one of his weekend seminars and came out with much more knowledge than I took in. If you want to move your photography to the next step, check out his schedule on the website when you order.

Easy to understand. Really fun to read. And the fact that after 15 minutes you'll be having the best AHA! moments with your Sony Alpha-100.

[...].I did this and printed it on my own. Gary's service and response times are just the best!

I usually don't recommend any books or products, but you can tell on this book, after reading its first 2 pages, that it was made with love and dedication.

Gary Friedman's book has not measured up to my expectations. The volume is outdated for starters. I have the impression that the text was composed on a tape recorder. The tone is conversational and consequentially details are lacking.There is anecdotal material that increases total word-count, but adds nothing to learning how to operate a rather complicated camera. And,the price is simply outrageous! The book is published by the would-be author, and not particularly well-done. I find the Magic Lantern Guides: Sony DSLR Alpha 100, by Peter K. Burian, far more instructive and far less expensive.

This is a perfect book for the amature who is trying to learn the right way to use the camera. Lots of great tips and easy to understand.