Customer Reviews

Kodak Guide to 35mm Photography: Techniques for Better Pictures

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a rather serious photography hobbyist and semi-pro, shooting 35mm, medium format and large format, so I have little to gain from an introductory text like this one, but was searching for a book to give a friend who was having questions about working her 35mm SLR. I discovered a myriad of books purporting to be the one complete guide to photography. Some were as fun as, and laid out like, a dictionary - a disjointed collection of topics. Some were too technical. Some were too fluffy, and were little more than a collection of the author's photographs. I was looking for a book that was complete, fun, and just technical enough. After all, to get good photographs with an adjustable camera, you must know something about f-stops, shutter speeds, depth-of-field, etc.

When I picked up this book, I knew that I found exactly what I was looking for. The book is well-written, and is profusely illustrated with color photos that not only show the results of photographic techniques, but also illustrate the techniques themselves, such as loading the camera. I found the book so engaging that I had a difficult time putting it down even though there was nothing new to me that I hadn't glean over years of reading about, and practicing, photography. It was fun to just look at the pictures. Had I had this book when I began, I would have known much more much sooner.

I think my friend, Cathy, will enjoy it. She can read the parts right now that she needs to accomplish her purposes - proper exposure and using a flash - but will probably look through the rest of the book just to see the photos.

If there were one book I would get as someone taking up photography as a hobby, this would be it. From there, I would get "The Camera" and "The Print" by Ansel Adams, and if you want to complete the collection or do your own printing, "The Print." Someone looking for even more technical information and/or interested in large format photography, would be interested in "View Camera Technique" by Leslie Stroebel.

The Kodak guide to 35mm Photography is probably one of the best basic books on photography on the market. Although I photograph free lance for Today's Photographer Magazine and American Image Press, I consider myself an advanced amateur. I wish that I had had this book in my hands when I started photographing. It would have saved me countless dollars of development expense and time on photographs that were not at all what I wanted.
The book covers all the basics of photography: exposure, shutter speeds, apertures, light metering, composition, depth of field, etc. It covers the subjects in a very easy to understand writing style. And when it comes to pictures, the book is literally filled with pictures, excellent pictures, showing the effect of various changes to camera settings. After reading the book (or any chapter in the book) you will better understand what you need to do to take those beautiful and moving pictures that elude the basic "snapshot" photographer.

For a new photographer this is the place to start. After you understand the concepts in this book and have a good handle on them then it would make sense to move up to a good book on the zone system or learn developing or something similar. I've not encountered any other basic book that is as filled with good information and so many, many excellent pictures as examples of the concepts.

First off, I bought this book after reading the review written by Mr. John H. Henderson, from Melbourne, Fl.

I was exactly in the same situation he described about his friend. I gave it a try and I was not dissapointed. The book is just right for me as a beginner looking for the most appropriate foundation in Photography before becoming a more serious shutterbug.

I needed to take good pics and avoid the Auto-Exposure traps and its unpredictable results. I wanted to have control over what I want from my camera and avoid my 35mm camera to end its life in the darkest corner of my room and replaced by a Point and Shoot. I bought this book to avoid that. Now I'm not afraid when pulling out my camera to shoot. The camera is now my allied, not my Pandora's box, and "Burning films" NOW makes sense to me.

Shooting is now giving me satisfactions, not blurring frustations. This book will jump start yourself in photography. It will do for you the same it did for me.

It is written in a "digestible" language, with a very practical approach. It is simple, well organized, generously illustrated and quite straight-forward. It will teach you how to get the pics you want, as a beginner, and it will set grounds for you to grow further in your hobby.

Even though this book is not intended for the "Pros" and the Amateurs of the world, trust me, they probably have it always handy to brush up! . A word of caution: buy it before it goes out of print ! Good stuff doesn't last too long. Thank you, Mr. Henderson, for your advise about this book!

I was getting an average of 20 decent quality pictures developed from a 36 shot roll of film. I always used program modes (shutter priority, aperture priority, and all automatic). I have a Nikon N70 and have owned it for 2 years now.

After going halfway through the book and applying the techniques and rules of thumb in it I generated 34 good pics from a 36 shot roll of film -- using full manual settings. Need I say more?

Well, if you are looking for a book to get you started in understanding the basics of how to manually work and understand your SLR 35mm camera this could be the guide. It succeeds in explaining lenses, composition tips, exposure and choosing aperture and shutter speed and a discussion about lenses. This is all very basic. Hence if this is the first guide that you pick up it is a good start.

I had already taken a photography class at the local community college and we discussed and experimented with aperture and shutter speed to help us with exposure. I found that after this class, I had a good understanding of what to do to manipulate exposure.

I was kind of put off by one thing in particular in this book. I know that it is put out by Kodak so they are going to endorse their products, however I thought that an entire chapter which is devoted to choosing a film is solely about their film was taking it pretty far. There are other brands on the market that are different and will produce different coloring. So, I suggest you try different brands (and speeds) of film to see what you like best. Fuji has come great films. And because of this, I feel as though there are some better guides out there.

I like that this book has colored photos throughout, however it does not show what settings the photographer used. That is sometimes just as important as you can learn as an amateur what the pros do.

I have been enjoying the National Geographic Photography Field Guide and see my review on it for details. And for a great book which covers a lot of ground I would recommend getting The Basic Book of Photography by Grimm. Their only drawback is that the pictures are in black and white, but the information is clear and easy to access.

Overall, this guide is a very basic overview and I would recommend getting it if you have the interest in photography and you are just starting to understand how to use manual settings. But, think about taking a class or checking out another guide in conjunction with this book by Kodak.

An excellent book for any photographer. a great choice for those just getting started in photograhy. Goes into detail about Lenses, Flash photography, action pictures and light just to name a few. The beginner should not be without this book

I purchased the Kodak Guide To 35mm Photography for a friend, and being a
professional photographer, I thought that the National Geographic Photography Field Guide: Secrets to Making Great Pictures would be a perfect source of advanced knowledge for me...but I was wrong. The National Geographic book is good, but the Kodak Guide is much better. Both books start with the basics, but Kodak fills its book with much more information and far more (and usually better) photographs. This is a great book for amateurs and professionals alike. I've just sent the NG book back, and I'll soon order the Kodak Guide for myself!

I thought I knew my way around a 35mm camera but after reading this book I found out how wrong I was. This is the best thing to happen to my photographic technique. All my pictures come out great now instead of just a couple and now I realize why certain pictures were coming out the way they were. Buy this book now if you are at all serious about your art.

If you are a beginner or intermediate photographer, this book will tell you what you need to know to get the results you want in your photography. It covers the topics of film, exposure, and flash photography, from the basics to intermediate technique. It also has chapters that give advice on specific types of photography: action, existing-light, and close-up. There are also chapters on lenses and filters and a short chapter on digital manipulation. Most of the information in this book would be appropriate for digital as well as film photography. If you just bought your first SLR, or if you would like to better understand what your camera can do, this is the perfect book for you. It also makes a great gift for the young or relatively inexperienced photographer. Advanced amateurs may find it useful as a refresher or reference to keep for those occasions when you forget some technique that you haven't used in a while. But the book's intended audience is novice to intermediate photographers, and it does a very good job of addressing the needs of those photographers.

This book is under $20.00 and it isn't like those books that show you TONS of pictures and have no information. I like photography, but need those technical things explained to me. This book is a WONDEFUL reference and has a million diagrams and charts and tons of explainations. If you need to know how to take different pictures than the ones you are taking currently, this book will show you how. It will teach you all about shutter speeds and how to use your lenses.