Customer Reviews

Mastering Digital SLR Photography

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's about time we had a book of techniques for using digital single lens reflex cameras. For a long time, only the pro photographers could afford a digital single lens reflex, and they mostly already knew everything they needed to about photography. But now that the Canon Digital Rebel is available for less than $1000, and the Nikon D70 costs only a few hundred dollars more, there are millions of serious amateur photographers who are moving up to a digital SLR and who need some tips on how to use them.

For example, I was completely in the dark about some funny spots on my photos, and I learned from this book that they are dust on the sensor and how to remove them. I also wondered about sports photography because shutter lag with my old Minolta digital camera made shooting action almost impossible. I got some great tips about action photography from this book and have already taken some great pictures at my son's basketball games.

I like that this book is aimed at the SLR owner, who is likely to be very serious about photography. It offers lots of tips and tricks that go beyond the mundane and show you how to use a digital SLR to take better pictures. Although the explanations are not complicated, the author goes into lots of depth, making this book very comprehensive. I purchased his previous book on Mastering Digital Photography, and found that this one had not much overlap, so I could enjoy both. It covers the topics with more of an SLR slant.

SLR photographers who are shooting digital must have this book to learn how to get the most from their cameras, and to pick up some valuable photography advice. I recommended it highly.

I know bad reviews get rated as "not helpful", but I'll put this in anyway in case it helps someone who is really trying to master digital SLR. I found this very repetitive and dull. The photographic reproductions are very poor. Too much "digital history" weighed this down and the author makes continuous references and plugs for his previous books. He should have started this one where his other books left off and not made continuous summaries and references to his previous book. It came across very "cut and paste". Very annoying. The glossary is the saving grace and why I gave it two, rather than no stars. Very disappointing because this genre needs a good bible. An attentive publisher and editor could have trimmed this into a useful reference.

First three comments on what this book is NOT.

1. This is NOT a book on using Photoshop to fix digital images to get what you want.
2. This is NOT a book on the do everything automatically point and shoot digital cameras.
3. This is NOT a feature comparison of all the different models of Digital SLRs.

This book IS a book on the general features and capabilities of digital SLRs as opposed to the point and shoot cameras. And it IS on how to use these features and capabilities to their best advantage so you can get the best possible picture in the camera rather than in the computer.

When I first looked at a "real" digital camera for the industrial pictures I was taking at the time, people were talking in terms of numbers starting at $5,000. And then there were the new lenses. I kept using film.

Now the situation has changed. New camera bodies, some of which can still use older lenses (although not quite as automatically), have come out to completely change the picture.

This book is very timely, and covers a subject that has been lacking.

The thing I liked best about this book was that the author focused tightly on digital single lens reflex photography, explaining exactly how to get good pictures with an SLR, and with lots of detail explaining the strengths and weaknesses of the digital SLR compared with electronic viewfinder cameras and other types. He really went into a great deal of depth on the topics and, unlike some of the other books I checked out, didn't try to make this a general digital photography book. It's DSLR all the way.

I've purchased some of the author's other books, and was glad that there was so little overlap among them. For some topics, he provides quick summaries with the most important, most essential information, then cross-references to his other books if the reader wants more detail on that topic. That's a great approach. We're never bogged down with too much detail on peripheral subjects.

But we do get lots of detail on the things we're really interested in, including how to use the power of the DSLR to shoot great sports photos, macro pictures, etc. There's a whole chapter on choosing lenses and another on special DSLR features and techniques like image stabilization, infrared photography, time lapse photography, using histograms and so forth. This is truly a meaty book, with absolutely gorgeous illustrations.

The author also didn't waste a lot of space comparing different digital SLR cameras like Canon or Nikon, or showing how to fix your photographic errors in Photoshop. He explains how to get good pictures the first time around, in your camera.

Recommended.

There aren't too many good D-SLR guidebooks out there -- and most of them appear to be written by this author. I checked out his "Quick Snap Guide to D-SLRs" and it was very good, but too basic for me. The same could be said for Busch's "Digital SLR Cameras and Photography for Dummies" although it did go into more detail. This book was just right, with lots of in-depth material about using digital SLRs, as well as tips and techniques I could apply right away. This author also has more advanced books on D-SLRs, and I will probably check them out after I've had a chance to learn everything in this book.

I am an amateur photographer and was into serious photography after buying my Digital SLR a year ago. Till then I was looking for a serious book on Digital SLR photography. Finally I got one.

I have spent several hours at Borders to find a good book. After refering several books, I chose this one as the best available.

David Busch is offering everything a Digital SLR photographer is looking for. The best thing I liked about this book is it is not spending too much time on explaining how to correct your pictures using Photoshop or other image tools, while most of the other books use several chapters in explaining it. The photoshop technic is available all over the web and it is not what a photographer is primarily looking for.

The following is important notes for this book.

1. If you are a regular photographer not wanted to go too much into technical, donot buy this book

2. If you are looking for enhancing your pictures using imaging tools, do not buy this book

3. If you do not have a Digital SLR do not buy this book. This is not for point and shoot digital camera owners.

4. If you do not understand the technical terms in the field of photography, you better understand them before reading the book.

5. Several Technical references are available in this book.
So you will experience a technical reference book while reading.

6. The author seemed to be a master in his art and a veteran in photography.

7. It gives you an idea about accesseries of SLR with a cost effective comparison.

8. It tells you about Sports photgraphy, exposures, taking protraits.

I am planning to read this book at least three times before reading any other books in this area. It gives me the pain of being too technical at times, but it is worth.

Nandu

This is a great book for the techno-savvy non-professional, someone who probably enjoyed a 35mm SLR for years, and is now moving up to a digital SLR after suffering with a digital point-and-shoot for a few years. If you're the sort of person who actually read the instruction manual that came with your new digital SLR, you'll love this book.

The book is a great refresher on SLR photography, and provides a detailed but not overwhelming technical description on the mechanics of digital photography. Having read the book, I now feel I have a pretty good grasp on how my new digital SLR works, how it differs from my 35mm SLR and point-and-shoot cameras, and what its strengths and limitations are. The book will take you to a level far beyond what the camera's instruction manual did.

I also like the fact that the book essentially excluded any discussion of photo-processing software. It really focussed on all the issues up to and through the actual picture taking process.

I've been frustrated with the digital photography books that have been available for two reasons. First, most of them cover only point/shoot cameras, with perhaps a token chapter or a few mentions of digital SLR cameras. Second, the vast majority of digital photography books spend more time discussing software like Photoshop than explaining PHOTOGRAPHY as it relates to digital cameras. I don't want to know how to add special effects to my digital pictures in Photoshop. I want to know how to get interesting looks with my camera. Instead of telling me how to retouch and fix my pictures in an image editor, show me how to get good results with the camera and lenses that I have.

This book is the perfect combination of background information and photographic techniques from a DSLR perspective. It has the kind of detail that serious photographers crave -- from the very beginnings of photography we've wanted to know enough about how our equipment worked that we could use its capabilities to the fullest. You'll find that here.

Also included are practical, working techniques you can apply immediately to improve your photos dramatically. Serious photography is a lot of work to master the ideas that let you translate your vision into images, but this book makes that work easy and fun.

I liked its innovative approach to digital SLR photography. There are chapters that cover special features like image stabilization, night photography and noise reduction, infrared photography, and time lapse photography. There's an entire chapter on Close-Up photography and another on capturing action. I especially liked the one that explained how to choose lenses. And, for those of you who like to be tied to your computer, there is even a chapter on RAW, TIFF, and JPEG formats and the utilities you can use with them. Overall, a very good book.

My only complaint about this book was after I finished reading it, I was inspired to learn even more about using my digital SLR camera. Busch makes delving deeply into the features and capabilities of these cameras very compelling. I loved the level of detail, and learning things about digital SLRs that I never even suspected. For example, I'd heard the term "bokeh" before, but wasn't quite sure what it meant. Busch explains this effect and uses photographic examples so you'll know exactly what he is talking about. I also learned more than I expected about macro photography, and why close-up lenses are offered in several different focal lengths, and when to use each type of macro lens. For someone like me who has a kid playing high school baseball, the sports photography chapter alone was worth the price.

I was very pleased that this wasn't just a general purpose digital photography book with some SLR lore grafted on. It's D-SLR all the way for this excellent book. Recommended.

The thing I like best about this book is that all the techniques deal with the special needs, strengths, and weaknesses of the digital SLR camera. Other digital photography books I've checked out are too general, and don't cover DSLRs in much detail. This one is written specifically for the digital SLR owner.

For example, in Chapter 2, the author describes eight things you can do with DSLRs that aren't possible or as easy with other types of camera. I put this information to work right away to improve my pictures! In Chapter 4, he explains some pitfalls to avoid with digital SLR viewfinders, as well as how to determine whether your sensor has dust or dead pixels (and how to fix both.)

There's a whole chapter on working with DSLR RAW files, including recommendations for RAW converters for each of the major DSLR brands. I found the chapter on working with SLR lenses particularly valuable, including the clear explanation of "bokeh", the difficulty of obtaining wide-angle coverage, use of image stabilization, and other digital SLR topics. I haven't seen such comprehensive coverage of night, infrared, and ultraviolet photography elsewhere, either.

I recommend this book over other digital photography books that don't emphasize single lens reflex techniques as much as this one does. Most of the coverage is aimed at the most recent Nikon and Canon digital SLRs, but there is lots of information of use to owners of Konica Minolta, Pentax, and Olympus DSLRs, too. If you're moving up from a point and shoot digital camera and want to learn the specifics of DSLR work, this is the book you need.