Customer Reviews

Magic Lantern Guides: Pentax K20D

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a small-sized book, 7.5 x 4.9 x 0.7 inches, and the only color in the whole shebang is the cover. I'll admit, that I was put off by the totally black-and-white format. For instance, the author (p85) is making a point about the sRGB color space with a black-and-white photo. On the other hand, the book is printed on a heavy (probably 28lb) paper stock, so there is no bleed-through from the backing page. It gives the book a nice heft. The book is perfect bound, which is hugely annoying for a reference book. It should have a wire binding so the pages stay open. Nevertheless, I'll admit that I've been rough on my copy and I haven't lost a page, yet. There is also a "Quick Reference Wallet Card." The wallet card is a nice idea, but I don't think it's that useful in the overall scheme of things.

I've been teaching Digital Photography for five years. When I started, very few of my students had DSLRs. Now, the DSLR students outnumber the point-and-shoot owners. If I thought the point-and-shooters were dazed and confused by their new gadgets, the DSLR folks are generally wading in much deeper water.

A DSLR is a marvelously complex and expensive camera that is like a boat; you can just spend and spend on it and the end is never in sight. DSLR owners desperately want to learn how to use this new camera well, without killing the poor thing.

Enter the DSLR instruction book. I was especially happy to find "Magic Lantern Guides: Pentax K20D." Pentax, compared to Canon, is a sad little orphan. Personally I love the camera, but I'll admit the learning curve was steep for the first for weeks.

The book has grown on me. I carry it with the camera and I've decided it's both useful and entertaining. The writing style is smooth and comprehensible and subjects are well covered in 272 pages. The price, $14-$20, is certainly reasonable.

The book has a comprehensive Table of Contents. The main headings are: Digital Photography, Features and Functions, Digital Recording and In-Camera Process, The Menus, Camera and Shooting Operations, Flash Photography, Lenses and Accessories, and Working with Images. There is a good Troubleshooting Guide, a Glossary and an Index.

I recommend this book to K20D owners. The beauty of a book like this is that when you first get your camera everything seems overwhelming, especially if you weren't an SLR user in your past camera life. The whole process can seem overwhelming. Fortunately, the more you learn, the easier it is to learn more. You can read and reread the "Magic Lantern Guides: Pentax K20D" book. As your knowledge base grows, passages that you read previously suddenly make sense and encourage you to explore new techniques and options.

Peter Burian wrote a grand guide on the K10D forerunner, with 5 full index pages to help you through unfamiliar terrain. So I was looking forward to learning about 'dynamic range' and 'burst mode' (movie-like rapid shooting of small frames); certainly not referenced in the pitiful page-and-a-half index. Not even a mention of the helpful 'green button' there. The D-range text repeats the user guide without leaving you any the wiser. The burst mode is skipped, as are pixel mapping and dust repair. Very little more is covered than found in the bare manual's robust index, execept for the translation from Japlish to English.

This appears to be a hurried meet the deadline and page-count quota, rather than a well-organized--filled with tips--field guide of the quality this author is eminently capable of. A not recommended exercise in frustration.

This book is better than the one that comes with the camera because it gets right to point. If you need to know something it is easy to find.You do not have to go back and forth to find out how to make a setting.

This book is a must have for anyone who purchases the Pentax K20D. While it is a near mirror of the actual manual, it is written in such a manner that can be understood by any and all.

Again, A must have.

The book would benefit from using information that actually applies to the subject camera; instead it is a quick update of past Pentax cameras. The result is that much of the information is simply wrong or misleading, e.g. catch-in focus. The book says you need a wired remote. You don't; it works beautifuly with the normal shutter release or with a $20 wireless remote. The book is a quick effort to get a book published with previous non-applicable information. The real tragedy is they didn't even bother to include a useful index. The index is an index to itself: for manual mode they say see hyper manual mode with no page number. This book was written by lazy people. Sorry, but there is no excuse for this kind of rip off.

I've been locked into the Pentax SLR system for going on 40 years. Some Pentaxes were good, some not so good. The Pentax ist*D was the worst so it was with trepidation that I upgraded to the K20D. After hard use for almost a year, I cans say: 1. the K20D is a superb camera and that 2. I am delighted with mine. True, the manual is complete and quite adequate, however it volunteers nothing. I purchased Peter Burian's book on a whim. Despite the quibbles of some of the reviewers, I found it to be an excellent companion to the camera. It is well written and a pleasure to read. It provides a brief review of photography written with the K20D's capabilities in mind. The book tells you what the camera can do, and how--and when--to make full use of all of its many features. Recommended.

This book goes step by step into every single feature, function and adjustment possible in this camera, but nothing else. I does explain most in layman's terms.

I would have liked practical examples being showed as illustration for certain features or settings. I think a book of this matter should have them, as is the only practical way to show what this or that does to your pictures and what to expect from every setting and function available.

no additional information than the manual that came with the camera, you should not waste time on reading thsi book, rather than buying it

it was made for commercial purposes, buying a professional photography book is a better decision, because there is no addtional information in this book

The manual for the K20D thoroughly lists its features, this book explains how to use them. The detailed chapter on menus allowed me to customize the camera's settings with explanations far more complete than those in the manual. It covers not just the what and how, but the why. That alone was worth the price.

This book will be useful for both beginners and experienced photographers who are learning about a new, to them, camera.

Most books could stand a better index. This is no exception. However, when used along with the table of Contents I find it quite easy to find what I'm looking for. Of course it helps that I've read the book from cover to cover. I will read it all again.

I would have liked a more thorough explanation of how to use the old M type lenses with this camera, but that is a rather obscure point that will only be useful to a relative handful of users. How many people have Pentax primes from the '70s laying around to use? (Don't you wish.) This book does touch on setup, and will be helpful with using the older lenses once the camera is set up for them. There are online tutorials for the few who need more detailed manual lens setup info.

This book lives right alongside my K20D manual. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to get the most out of their camera.

So far, I've read only a little, but it seems to cover a little more than the essentials listed in the Pentax book that comes with the camera. This book also fits nicely in the camera bag in the top compartment that is too small for the Pentax book.