Magic Lantern Guides: Nikon D80 [Paperback]

Simon Stafford (Author)

Book Description

Series: Magic Lantern Guides | Publication Date: April 1, 2007

The new, mid-priced Nikon D80 replaces the Nikon D70s/D70—which was the subject of our best-selling Magic Lantern Guide ever! This model features a 10 megapixel sensor, up-sized 2.5” LCD monitor, and 4.5 fps capability.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Lark Books (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600591124
• ISBN-13: 978-1600591129
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #331,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > Professional & Technical > Transportation > Reference

More About the Author

Stafford is technical editor of Nikon Owner magazine, lifelong Nikon shooter, contributor to several photography magazines, and author of more than 13 Magic Lantern Guides.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just What I Needed, May 25, 2007

By 

BobbyJ "Technically challenged" (Near Saint Louis) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magic Lantern Guides: Nikon D80 (Paperback)

I am an advanced amateur just trasitioning from film to digital. I bought the D-80 because I wanted a camera I could grow into rather than out of, and all opinions/reviews seem to agree this is such a a camera. However Nikon's operating manual did not enable me to feel I was ever going to be able to understand and learn to harness the camera's potential. I wanted something that would help me get organized and feel I was on a path that would enable me to understand and become confident with the camera. This book turned it all around. It provides an organized, logical, tutorial that clearly explains what the D-80 does; how to make it work for me; and supplements this with just the right amount additional information which promotes the feeling of not only how but why as well. I now feel I am going to be able to learn to use the camera and has enabled me to relax and look forward with confidence to using this remarkable tool. The little wallet-sized cheat sheet enclosed with this book is like training wheels that will prevent me from crashing and feeling I am never going to successfully master and fully enjoy this fine machine. The book's clarity and organization have enabled me to overcome my anxiety. It is "Just what I neededd". I think most new owners of the D-80 will agree it is just what is needed.

53 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a few flaws but an easy to use learning and reference guide, May 24, 2007

By 

Douglas H. Haden (Ridgecrest, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Magic Lantern Guides: Nikon D80 (Paperback)

Some of the value of this book lies in Nikon's lousy D80 manual. Nikon's manual is ill organized and printed in gray on toilet paper. Okay, maybe it is recycled paper.

Stafford's Guide is full of well-organized information. It is well printed. I can even recognize the small icons in the text (not true of all camera books). I wish publishers would not shrink icons a second time to place them in tables. However, even these tiniest of icons are recognizable in this Guide.

The author, Simon Stafford, is an experienced photographer and author. His Scottish education and UK roots show through in his language but are not distracting. Unfortunately, poor editing diminishes Stafford's excellent writing and technical presentation. Lesser typographical errors are just distracting but some errors get in the way of understanding. "...offers the photographer total control overexposure, ..." stumps the eye until you realize it should have been "...over exposure".

That said, Magic Lantern/Lark Books printed the book on decent paper (except the covers curl) and with black ink. Vastly better than Nikon's manual. The photos, especially the super-close-up photos of the D80's anatomy, are very clear. The rich typography is excellent: headings are bold, bullets are well used to structure lists, captions are set off and readable, and on and on. Point being, the production folk have done about all that can be done to make the printed material easy to read and understand. It is as if this book was well conceived, well designed, well written, and well printed, but the publisher skipped the final steps of preprinting production: the editing and index are not up to the quality of the rest of the book. The index should be five times its skimpy two pages of large print. I go on about the index because we are reading this book not for pleasure but to learn something: to understand how to use the D80's features. Especially, I want to be able to quickly locate how to change camera settings. Fortunately, the Table of Contents is nine pages of compact, structured, easy-to-scan print and stands in for the unusable index.

I seldom find book glossaries useful. This book is an exception. The sixty-plus terms are well selected and the several-to-many-sentence descriptions contain just the right amount and level of information.

So why five stars after all the griping and groaning? You can get past the inadequate final editing and the printing keeps the content from turning to mush; in fact, the printing lifts Stafford's excellent writing up and makes its content quick and easy to understand and retain. The book is 334 pages not counting the index (and you should not count the index). I can't believe the low price. Content, printing, and price offset the editing. For its few flaws, it really is an excellent book.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good content but needs an editor, April 23, 2007

By 

Alexander (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magic Lantern Guides: Nikon D80 (Paperback)

I would give this book 5 stars for content and 0 stars for editing. Unfortunately, the poor editing spoils an otherwise great book. Others have commented on the poor index. Again, this is the fault of the publisher. Magic Lantern should be embarrassed to have done such a poor job in the editing and indexing department. They owe the author much more than an apology. In fact, in my opinion the author should look for a new publisher. He's much better than they are. I also agree with the comments of the other reviewers that the pictures should be in color. As far as the content is concerned, the book is fantastic. It is informative, helpful, and complete. The writing style would be easy to follow if it did not have so many errors. If you own the D80, this book will give you more information about how to use it. It is an excellent supplement to the manual. However, I would wait for the 2nd printing before buying it and hope that the errors will be corrected. Another good option would be the "Nikon D80 Digital Field Guide" by David Busch. It's in the same price range, is well written, has color pictures, and has been better edited.