Customer Reviews

Magic Lantern Guides: Canon EOS 40D

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have switched over to Canon from the Nikon world, and am eager to learn everything I can, so I bought this book, even though I purchased an earlier guidebook for the 40D in November. This book really adds nothing.

As with all Magic Lantern Guides, this one is comprehensive, going over everything you'll find in the official manual in a little more detail. The organization is better, too. If you want basic explanations of features and settings, this book is entirely adequate.

However, I think the day of the pocket-sized, black and white guidebook has come and gone. A much better approach is that taken by books like Canon EOS 40D Guide to Digital Photography. It's a full-sized book, with most of its 350 pages illustrated with full color example pictures and color representations of the most important menu screens, etc. The first three chapters explain the 40D features and set-up, like the Magic Lantern Guide, but the rest of the book deals with how to use the camera to take great photos with this camera.

If you need a pocket guide with all the basic information, this Magic Lantern Guide is probably your best bet (I have not seen the Digital Field Guide yet.) It should be much more convenient to use than any DVD tutorial.

Beware!Great book for Canon EOS 40D.Understandable and easy to read full of good tips.Then why only one star? Because all pictures inside the book are black and white!How can we see difference in camera shooting modes for example if all pictures in book are B&W?
One more time it is a great book but lack of color doesn't distinguish it much more than original manufacturer's instruction book.

Magic Lantern Guides: Canon EOS 40D (Magic Lantern Guides)

I am surpised by the less than enthusiastic reviews of this book. I have owned all the Digital Rebels to date and a few months back bought a 40D. This book has been an excellent description and discussion of the various features of the 40D. I especially like Rob Shepards approach of giving detailed descriptions often followed up by a clearly differentiated "insider view" opinion of where and when he finds a particular feature useful. True, a larger format and color might be prettier but I have found this to be the book that makes me comfortable with this excellent camera. This will be the book that travels with the camera.

Long story short: 1st Choice Charlotte K Lowrie, 2nd Choice David D Busch,
3rd Choice Rob Sheppard.
The long story: This is my second Black and White book from Magic Lantern
Guides and by Rob Sheppard having read his "Canon EOS 30D". Black and White what is Lark Books thinking, We'll save a nickle using black ink? Sheppard does a good job of explaining how to work the 40D, which is all we are looking for any way. He uses the actual icon image that matches the various dials and buttons on the camera. Included in the back of the book is a wallet size card to remind you of various menus and setting. On page 89 sRAW is listed as 12.4 instead of 7.1, no big deal, most people only care how many pictures you can get per GB, not how many MB in the sRAW file. The black & white pictures cost this book 2 stars. Will I buy Magic Lantern Guides again? No. Will I buy Rob Sheppard again? Only if he is in living color.

I returned the book fairly soon - very dry, poor written. It was not clear enough for a beginner as myself. I felt like reading a manual. Plus, b&w pictures - what a joke!

I wanted a book to learn how to use things like the C1-C3 modes, and how/why to change picture style settings. Nothing in the booked helped me. It looks like the book is wriiten for the person who is moving from a point-and-shoot to their first D-SLR. Relative to the pictures being black and white - I'm not buying a picture book, I'm buying a book to help me understand the camera and how its settings affect the picture. So even if they had been in color it would not have helped me understand the camera. I also bought Charlotte Lowrie's book and liked it better.

I purchased this book when I bought my 40D almost 2 years ago. I refer to it all the time. It is well-written, organized, indexed (many books are not) and I find the Insider View information very useful. I found one functional capability of the 40D not in the book, or at least I don't remember reading it. It is the ability to zoom in when in Live View on the LCD screen. When in Live View use the AF Point Selection/Enlarge function button to zoom in to 5X or 10X. This can be very useful when using manual focus. The book is small enough to take travelling, the front/back covers and pages are of high quality paper, and the information makes it well worth the price.

I buy this guide as soon as it becomes available for every 35mm camera I own. Great tips and instructions and easy to read. I havn't looked at an owners manual in years.

Awesome DVD! like having your own personal teacher in your living room. Easy to follow and understand with the ability to pause and review you will watch and learn step by step how to use your camera!

Whenever I have a question about some function of my Canon 40D, the first place I look is my Magic Lantern Guide, then the Canon manufacturer's manual. Anybody who has ever bought anything that requires CLEAR instructions knows that engineers and writing clear instructions are not a norm. (There! I'm so proud of myself for saying it nicely.)