Customer Reviews

Magic Lantern Guides: Nikon AF Speedlight Flash System: Master the Creative Lighting System! (A Lark Photography Book)

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

 

 

Here's a book aimed at Nikon camera owners using the speedlights that make up the Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS). Perhaps the most innovative function of this system is the ability to exercise a new degree of control in the use of multiple lights.

The book starts out providing some basic flash concepts and explaining Nikon's nomenclature (which is often confusing because of the similarity of terms over the years) for its different flash modes. The author follows with a discussion of flash techniques, including direct flash, bounce flash, and repeating flash. The most practical chapters tell you how to use a single speedlight to take pictures, and how to use multiple speedlights. Finally, there are descriptions of both the early digital speedlights, i.e., the SB 28DX and the SB-80DX and then the components of the CLS. There is an addendum on the D80 which has a built-in speedlight that works with the CLS, and which probably was necessitated by Nikon bringing that camera to market as the book was going to press.

The book is aimed purely at the technical side of using these speedlights and does not touch on the artistic use of the lights. This book probably was in response to the difficulty that some people had in understanding the manuals that come with Nikon products, and integrating the manuals from several different products. But this effort at integration creates its own brand of confusion. The author tries to tell you how to use the products with both film and digital cameras, but since the automatic features of the CLS have to be handled differently for film and digital cameras, the instructions are somewhat confusing. I suggest you go through the book with a magic marker and highlight the sections applicable to your type of camera (and if you shoot both film and digital, you'd better use both a yellow and a blue marker!)

Moreover, don't think you can skip over any of the material, because important information may just have a passing reference in an unusual place. It took me several readings to understand that I could not use my SB-28DX with a digital camera for multiple speedlight use. (That's not altogether true - it's possible to shoot in manual mode, but if you are going to do that, you lose all the advantages of modern speedlights. You're better off junking your old SB-28DX and getting a new CLS speedlight).

There are several pictures included in the book but they are of a rather pedestrian nature and add nothing to one's understanding of Nikon speedlights. Additionally, except for the cover there is no color printing in the book. Finally, for a system that has been on the market for a couple of years, this book looks like it was rushed to market with many typographical errors.

The Nikon CLS system offers unprecedented opportunities for photographers to use flash for better pictures. However, if you are looking for ideas on increasing your creativity, look elsewhere. On the other hand, if you are still having a problem with the technical side of your speedlight, like how to set your SB-800 to control the lighting balance of a second flash, this book will prove useful to you.

I would really give this book 3.5 stars if such a rating was available. The book has a lot of helpful information that will allow you to understand the complexities of the Nikon Flash System. It is the first, and to my knowledge, only book claiming to be dedicated solely to the topic of using Nikon's new Creative Lighting System. However, I have a few gripes.

First, the book is sub-titled "Master the Creative Lighting System", so why is half the book spent on discussing non-CLS hardware (film bodies and non-CLS Speedlights)? While the people who still might be clinging desperately to film photography might find the information helpful, I felt it cluttered the book with irrelevant information that I had to sift through. I know this is a personal preference, but there are already plenty of books dedicated to the non-CLS flashes, so the information seemed superfluous. I got the impression the information on flashes such as the SB-24, SB-25, SB-26, SB-28, and SB-80DX or film bodies such as the FM2, FM10, N70, and N90 were added as filler to make the book "thicker"

Second, there are absolutely no color pictures save for the front and back cover. The book comes shrink-wrapped when sold in bookstores so you would have no idea of this until you "broke the seal". I know this helps keep the price of the book down by reducing printing costs, but in a book about photography, you really need color to illustrate your points when discussing topics such as White Balance. Many of the example pictures lost detail by being printed too dark and made it dificult to see the point the author was trying to make.

Third, and most importantly, the book is littered with dozens of spelling, copy/paste, and editorial mistakes. I came across places where placeholders said things like "put icon for TTL mode here" or text copied from a simlar section elsewhere told you to put the flash in wrong mode. I know that this is a first edition but shouldn't there be proof-readers checking for these type of mistakes? Some of the errors cast a shadow over the credibility of the subject matter. When the instructions for setting Rear Curtain Sync tell you to rotate the Main Command Dial until the word "Slow" is displayed (instead of "Rear"), you wonder what other things are being told erroneously.

Given the chance, I defintely would still buy this book. I learned a lot and it helped clear up some issues with the complexities of CLS. I just wish they weren't so sloppy in a rush to get a book to print.

I have been looking for help with the Speedlight system for over a year - since first purchasing my SB-800. There only ones I found were out-of-print and obviously too outdated to matter anyway! If you think figuring out how to access all the power of one model is difficult, just imagine trying to cover all the models Nikon has produced since it introduced TTL. Add to that the fact that Nikon bodies change the available features. (The current digital bodies like D200 are covered as well). A daunting prospect for any author. So the good news is that I found the book very helpful and it clears up a lot of my confusion. The bad news is that you must sort thru a lot of info about Speedlight models and film bodies that you are unlikely to own.

I have Simon Stafford's "The new Nikon compendium" and use it all the time as reference. I purchased the current book before purchasing a Nikon R1 flash kit. While Mr. Stafford mentions the compatibility problems between various camera bodies and this kit, no mention is made (in the book) of the fact that you CANNOT use the R1-kit, or the SB-R200 flash system, with a stack of Nikon LENSES - they are incompatible - and serious damage may result, esp when using AF. Nikon says "the weight of this Speedlight when attached to the front of the lens will cause excess strain on the barrel and helicoid, affecting lens performance". Whilst thankfully I have not damaged my lens (found the fine print in the manual before using the kit), I would have liked Mr. Stafford to have done his research, and I would have liked to have been warned! I have spent a lot of money on the R1-kit after reading this book. Not happy.

Then I tried to refer to the book on how to use the Nikon D200 camera in commander mode with the new Nikon CLS speedligths. And while I could find the info on how to set up the SU-800 controller, I just could not find any info on how to set up the camera itself to act as a commander, when not using the SU-800 commander. My camera does not need the SU-800 commander, so I don't own one. So I ended up refering back to the Nikon camera manual to find out which menu item to set and how. Hmmm. Shouldn't this info be in the book? Easily accessible and indexed?

Anyone want to buy a slightly used book about the Nikon AF Flash system?

I've been shooting a Nikon DSLR and using CLS for some time, but I had no idea how it actually worked.

This book should get 6 stars! It really is an amazing, detailed volume of information. It is the missing manual for CLS and when combined with the manuals for the SB-600 and SB-800 ... you'll never look at your flashes the same after you read this book.

You may also never want to use any non-Nikon equipment again. Be careful.

Great book and well written. I have the Magic Lantern Guides book for the Nikon D200 and needed a good book for Nikon's flash system so this was the best choice. Both books are excellent.

I have had this book on the shelf for several years and just opened it to figure out a problem with manual flash. In the absence of antecedents, the writing defies understanding. It's impossible to know when the subject is the flash or when the subject is the the camera. In the absence of useful illustration, I have no idea how to proceed. I haven't compared the book with the user's manual, but I suspect the author has done nothing more than put the user's manual into a more opaque format. Useless. Utterly useless.

I like this book. Unlike most of the book in this series that mostly written for people who lost a manual this one goes far beyond manufactures manual. Even if you a not a Nikon flash users it contains some information that could be interested for anyone in flash photography.

This book was WAY over my head. It was a struggle to understand and I did not finish but about half of it. If you are not an advanced lighting technician you should look for a more simple SB-800 guide. I wish I had known this before I purchased it. Nikon has a CD that I wish I had purchased instead. This book was too technical for me.