David Busch's Nikon D90 Guide to Digital SLR Photography (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Welcome to the D90, Nikon’s newest full-featured—yet compact and affordable—digital SLR camera. David Busch’s Nikon D90 Guide to Digital SLR Photography shows you how to maximize your camera’s robust feature set, blazing fast automatic focus, the real-time preview system Live View, HDTV movie-making capabilities, and the Retouch mode that allows you to edit your picture in the camera, to take outstanding photos. You’ll learn how, when, and, most importantly, why to use each of the cool features and functions of your camera to take eye-popping photographs. Introductory chapters will help you get comfortable with the basics of your camera before you dive right into exploring creative ways to apply the Nikon D90’s exposure modes, focus controls, and electronic flash options. You’ll also find loads of helpful information and tips on choosing lenses, flash units, and software products to use with your new camera. Beautiful, full-color images illustrate where the essential buttons and dials are, so you’ll quickly learn how to use your Nikon D90, and use it like a pro!

About the Author

With more than a million books in print, David D. Busch is a best-selling author of books on digital photography and imaging technology, and the originator of popular series like "David Busch's Pro Secrets" and "David Busch's Quick Snap Guides." He has written eight hugely successful guidebooks for Nikon digital SLR models, and the most comprehensive manuals for dSLRs from Canon, Sony, and other vendors. His many other books devoted to digital photography include "David Busch's Digital Infrared Pro Secrets" and "Mastering Digital SLR Photography." As a roving photojournalist for more than 20 years, he has illustrated his books, magazine articles, and newspaper reports with award-winning images. Busch has operated his own commercial studio, suffocated in formal dress while shooting weddings-for-hire, and shot sports for a daily newspaper and upstate New York college. His photographs and articles have been published in magazines as diverse as "PhotoGraphic," "Popular Photography & Imaging," "The Rangefinder," "The Professional Photographer," and hundreds of other publications. He’s also reviewed digital cameras for CNet Networks and "Computer Shopper."

Product Details

• Paperback: 379 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology PTR; 1 edition (May 26, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598639056
• ISBN-13: 978-1598639056
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,562 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easily the superior guidebook for the Nikon D90, May 30, 2009

By	Terrence (Solon) - See all my reviews

I'm only halfway through reading this 392 page book, and I've already learned twice as much about my D90 as I did from the other guide I foolishly bought while waiting for this one. It's filled with information I couldn't find anywhere else, including wise advice on using all the features of this great camera.

I bought my Nikon D90 primarily as a backup to my D300, and it remained in that role for several months because I didn't really know how to use it. The other book I got explained all the buttons and dials, but didn't provide the kind of in depth information I wanted on using the D90's features. I was very pleased with Busch's D300 book, and so got this one when it became available. What an eye-opener. After reading through Chapter 4 I can hardly wait to get out shooting again, as I didn't realize just how much I can do with this camera. I've learned that it's a lot like my D300 in many ways, but with some nice new features that I can apply to my work.

The author devotes the first three chapters to introducing the camera, its controls, and menus, explaining how and why you should make each setting. Later chapters describe techniques for optimizing exposure, using the D90's autofocus features, and how to work with electronic flash. This book had the best explanation of using the Nikon GP-1 geotagging unit that I've seen. While it doesn't spell out all the ways you can actually use GPS information, it provides enough detail that you can get a feel for it and decide for yourself whether you want to invest in this accessory.

I found the 30-page updated explanation and evaluation of Nikon brand lenses extremely valuable. No other book goes into so much detail on this important topic. Despite the Nikon D90's bargain price, it's a fairly advanced camera, and really deserves a book like this one, which starts off simply and then digs deep to offer the kind of information we really need to take better pictures.

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly the right information, exactly the right way, June 3, 2009

By	Grampa - See all my reviews

I wanted a book that explained in depth how to use my new Nikon D90. David Busch's Nikon D90 Guide to Digital SLR Photographydid exactly that. It's well organized and describes everything in a logical way, so you can familiarize yourself with your camera, and then go on and master every control and option. There are nine chapters.

-Chapter 1: This is a quick start to using the camera, from initial setup to an introduction to drive modes, exposure modes, metering, and focus options.
-Chapter 2: Nikon D90 Roadmap. This chapter is a 35-page guided tour of every single feature and control of the camera. It shows you how to use each button and dial, and how they affect your pictures.
-Chapter 3: This chapter is worth the price of the book alone. It is 90 pages long, about three or four times as large as similar chapters in other books, listing each menu option and telling you why each is important. That's what I needed. Don't just tell me what choices I have, tell me why I need to choose one over the other!
-Chapter 4: This book is about exposure, histograms, etc. I have an entire book on this topic, but this chapter explains it better.
-Chapter 5: Advanced shooting. The author has an exhaustive section on autofocus, which I have found to be one of the trickiest aspects of this camera to master. I finally understand exactly how phase detection and contrast detection and Live View work.
-Chapter 6: Wow. A big chapter just on the various Nikon lenses available. I couldn't live without this.
-Chapter 7: This one covers the mysteries of light and has an introduction to the Nikon Creative Lighting System.
-Chapter 8: This chapter is an introduction to the software available for the Nikon D90. It does not provide step-by-step instructions on using Nikon Capture NX2 for example, but it provides enough of the flavor for me to know I am going to stick with Photoshop Elements.
-Chapter 9: More books need a chapter on troubleshooting. If you were afraid to clean your own sensor (the built-in sensor cleaning isn't perfect) you'll be confident after you read this chapter.

All in all this is the dream guide to using the Nikon D90. I recommend it to anyone who really wants to understand their camera in more detail than the small camera manual provides.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What every D90 owner needs., May 31, 2009

By	Keith Allen - See all my reviews

The other camera guidebooks don't seem to "get it." This one does. It provides exactly what a new Nikon D90 owner needs to get up to speed quickly with this great camera, with exactly the right explanations and exactly the right level of detail. For example one of the other books I checked out had a total of 30 pages devoted to the menus and setup options that I found most confusing. David Busch's guide has a comprehensive chapter with a whopping 95 pages on the same material. He list's every menu option and explains how to use it and why to make a particular setting. Then, if you want to know more, he provides a reference to a later chapter that explains the photography concepts behind his recommendations in more detail.

I like that approach much better -- give me just what I need to know first, with as much detail as needed to let me understand it, then move on to the next topic. This approach lets me learn at my own pace, while still providing the background that helps me master a subject.

I've purchased four books by this author, including his guidebook for my previous camera, a Nikon D60, and was pleased with every one of them. He has a knack for explaining complex things in a very clear way, and certainly has pulled it off with this one.