Digital SLR Cameras & Photography For Dummies [Paperback]

David D. Busch (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764598031 | ISBN-13: 978-0764598036 | Publication Date: November 7, 2005

Whether you own a Digital SLR camera or are thinking of buying one, with this guide, you’ll give it your best shot! It has info to help you choose the right camera and accessories, and then use them right. Digital SLR Cameras & Photography For Dummies covers the hardware, the software, and the techniques you need to take top-notch digital photos with your dSLR. This guide will get you clicking with information on:

• The advantages of a dSLR camera: more control over what portions of your images are in sharp focus; a more accurate viewfinder; lower levels of the annoying grain effect called noise; ability to capture the most fleeting action; more control over depth-of-field; ability to review your image immediately, upload the photo to your computer, make adjustments, and print a full-color print in minutes
• Choosing the accessories that will take your dSLR to the next level, depending on the type of photography you do and your current and future needs
• Megapixels, and matching pixels to print sizes and printers
• The components of a dSLR: lens; viewing system, aperture, shutter, light-sensitive component; medium for storing the captured image
• Accessorizing your dSLR with memory cards, filter add-ons (infrared, polarizers, neutral density, and special effects), electronic flash, tripods, and more

Once you get your hands on a dSLR camera (literally), this reference helps you use its features and controls to take great pictures. Complete with more than 300 color photos, lots of tables, and clear, step-by-step instructions for various situations, subjects, and calculations, Digital SLR Cameras & Photography For Dummies helps you refine your techniques with info on:

• Getting the exposure right with the histogram, the metering system, or Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or Manual Exposure modes
• Achieving the right focus with manual focus or autofocus
• The scoop on lenses—prime, zoom, and special—and using them appropriately and creatively

• How to use interchangeable lenses, set up speedy continuous-shooting burst modes, apply selective focus, and shoot under the lowest light levels
• Special features of dSLR to reduce noise, cancel camera shake, do time-lapse photography, and shoot infrared photos
• Working with the RAW format, JPEG, or both
• Taking action, flash, or sequence photos or freezing the action
• Composition basics, including the Rule of Thirds, tips for shooting portraits or group photos, and more
• Using image editors to fix-up your photos (with cropping, tonal adjustments, color correction, spot removal, sharpening/blurring, and more), with step-by-step instructions for using Photoshop
• Compositing images
• Choosing your printer and evaluating your output options

With Digital SLR Cameras & Photography For Dummies, you won’t only get the how-to for various types of shots, you’ll see the results with great color photos. In no time, you’ll be taking great photos of your own.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This book is split into clear sections and interspersed with photographs and bullet points, which along with the friendly language makes it an enjoyable read…” (What Digital Camera? 1st March 2006)

"excellent choice" (Amateur Photographer, Saturday 22nd September 2007)

From the Back Cover

Get the lowdown on megapixels, lenses, and filters

Choose the right camera and accessories, get perfect shots, and edit like a pro

Excited about that new digital SLR and eager to find inventive ways to put all its features to work? This book will help! It shows you (in rich, full color) exactly what you and your camera can do together. Discover the performance and creative advantages at your fingertips, sidestep hidden pitfalls, conquer the controls, produce perfect output, and uncover the secrets to terrific digital photos.

Discover how to

• Explore dSLR creative controls and options
• Improve quality with RAW, TIFF, or JPEG formats
• Change perspective with lenses
• Use histograms to optimize exposure
• Apply depth-of-field effectively

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies (November 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764598031
• ISBN-13: 978-0764598036
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #546,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

With nearly 1.5 million books in print, David D. Busch is the world's #1 selling author of camera-specific guidebooks, and the originator of popular series like David Busch's Pro Secrets, David Busch's Compact Field Guides, David Busch's Guides to Digital SLR Photography, and David Busch's Quick Snap Guides.

Most of his hugely successful books for Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax, Olympus, and Panasonic digital cameras are the top-selling guidebooks for their respective camera models. His advice has been featured on NPR's "All Tech Considered."

Busch's dozens of 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.

As a writer, photographer, and contributing editor for ten magazines, he has more than 130 books and 2500 articles to his credit. A PR consultant for Eastman Kodak Company's photography divisions for nearly 20 years, Busch has published photography articles under his by-line in Popular Photography & Imaging, PhotoGraphic, The Rangefinder, The Professional Photographer and other photo magazines. His photos have appeared on the covers of magazines, and in both print and television advertising.

The graduate of Kent State University operated his own photo studio and was a principal in CCS/PR, Inc., one of the largest public relations firms based in San Diego, working on press conferences, press kits, media tours, and sponsored photo trade magazine articles. In addition to Kodak, CCS photography clients included Hewlett-Packard. He sold his interest in CCS in 1992 to become a full-time author, photographer, and reporter.

Since then, Busch has become one of the leading photojournalist/authors in the United States. He has had as many as five books appear simultaneously in the Amazon.com Top 25 Digital Photography Books, and when Michael Carr of About.com named the top five digital photography books for beginners, the #1 and #2 choices were his Digital Photography All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies and Mastering Digital Photography. Several of his digital imaging books have sold in excess of 50,000 copies.

Busch was a featured guest speaking on digital photography on Toronto's Breakfast Television show in 2005, was the keynote speaker at the Dayton Computerfest, and has been a call-in guest for 22 different radio shows nationally and in major markets, including WTOP-AM (Washington), KYW-AM (Philadelphia), USA Network (Daybreak USA), WPHM-AM (Detroit), KMJE-FM (Sacramento), CJAD-AM (Montreal), WBIX-AM (Boston), ABC Radio Network (Jonathan & Mary Show).

His work has been translated into Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Bulgarian, German, Italian, French, and other languages. his web site is http://www.dbusch.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

472 of 478 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, but..., September 9, 2006

By 

I. Wan (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Digital SLR Cameras & Photography For Dummies (Paperback)

Having recently decided to move to the DSLR world, I needed to learn how to shoot pictures in mode other than Full Auto.

So I purchased this book as well as
"Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition)"

While this book is good, for my specific case (I'm fairly comfortable with the digital world), the "Understanding Exposure" was a far better book for me.

I appreciate the fact that the author is trying to explain about image formats, memory cards, etc... But what I was really looking, was for a book to explain how to shoot great pictures.

I had to learn about exposures, apertures, shutter speed, ISO, etc, and this book covers it slightly, but wasn't enough for me to have a good grasp.

If you're new to the digital photography world, then yeah... go for it and buy this book, but if you've already owned a Digital Camera (and knew what you were doing) but only shot pictures in Auto Mode, then I'd suggest the "Understanding Exposure" book. Not only it explains basic and advanced concepts, but it's full of pictures so you can visually understand how each parameter affects the exposure.

92 of 96 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An instant classic for digital SLR owners, November 5, 2005

By 

Dandy Randy (Santa Fe, New Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Digital SLR Cameras & Photography For Dummies (Paperback)

The Dummies people have finally recognized that books about digital photography deserve to be published in full color, and this one amply demonstrates the reason why. It's written by the leading author of DSLR books (I also own his Nikon D70 guide), and is filled from cover to cover with wonderful full color photos and shrewd advice for getting the most from your camera.

If anything, this book is even clearer than the usual Dummies book, taking you through every step in choosing, using, and accessorizing your digital SLR. It's perfect for new DSLR owners who are puzzled by the many options, features, and settings found in these cameras. It's also a good guide for those seeking to improve their skills. I now fully understand things like continuous autofocus and single autofocus, how to select lenses, when to use aperture and shutter priority, and why I should not ever use my D70's full "automatic" mode.

Unlike some other DSLR books I've seen, this one covers both cameras and photography thoroughly, so you'll learn how to use your camera as well as how to take better images.

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent - Explains Digital SLRS Fully and Clearly, December 10, 2005

By 

Brion (Salt Lake City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Digital SLR Cameras & Photography For Dummies (Paperback)

Like many snapshooting amateurs, I upgraded from an ordinary point/shoot digital camera to a digital SLR because I wanted to take advantage of the features these new cameras offer. Plus, a camera like my Olympus E-500 doesn't really cost much more than the high-end non-SLR cameras. However, once I got my camera, I didn't know what to do with it.

This book cleared everything up for me. It provided a clear explanation of the advantages of digital SLR cameras, plus it listed some of the drawbacks I was not aware of at first, such as the inability to shoot movies. Then it told me about all the different controls and how to use them. There were great sections in this book on how to take specific kinds of pictures and how to choose an image editor. The editing portion got me started and inspired me to buy a Dummies book on Photoshop Elements so I can learn more.

As I said, this book really told me what I could do with my new camera. There was even a section in the Parts of Tens that listed things you'd never thought of doing with a digital SLR and I certainly hadn't. Thank you for a great introduction to my new camera.