Customer Reviews

Mastering Your Digital SLR: How to Get the Most Out of Your Digital Camera

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

 

 

This book is an expansion on his book - '500 Digital Photography Hints, Tips, and Techniques: The Easy, All-in-One Guide to those Inside Secrets for Better Digital Photography (Paperback)'. This is the best digital photography book I bought. The writing is very clear and full of tips. I especially like the topic on exposure compensation and white balance and certainly benefit a lot from the book while exploring the features on my Canon 350D. The pictures are very good (beautiful). I strongly recommend it for those new in DSLR. The book is published on very high quality gloss papers and certain worth the price as it is a very durable hard cover book.

This book takes you through the terminology, meaning and use of the features of your digital SLR. Very easy read; been through it roughly twice myself. This is the book that got me from 'what is going on' to 'ah, I see' after purchasing a Canon 30D. After reading this book, I could at least understand the 30D manual!

The book stops at basic digital workflow. To pick up from there, have a look at the books by Scott Kelby about Photoshop. If you're looking to understand how to get sharp photos, have a look at "Digital Photography", also by Scott Kelby.

I think I would have purchased Chris Weston's MASTERING YOUR DIGITAL SLR simply for its photos. Just looking at the book makes the reader want to get up, get the camera, and begin shooting, but most how-to books on photography have beautiful pictures, and many times they can be sparse on content. I found that this book has both good content and inspiring shots.

The purpose of the book seems two-fold. First, it aims at convincing film users that the digital world is not as scary as many think and good, artistic photography is available using digital cameras. Throughout the book the author points out how the film and digital differ. The second purpose of this book is as an introduction to people who may be new at photography and shows the way a SLR differs from a point and shoot camera. For some of the information in the book, the information could apply to either a digital or film camera since the basics of photography are the same.

For me, the most helpful portion of the book is the third section on image processing. As a film user, primarily color prints and E-6 slides, processing meant dropping off film and visiting the lab to correct flawed but interesting photos. With digital, a home computer can become the lab. The book gives and introduction to how photos can be improved, the software and printers needed, and provides explanations of new terms. As I have started doing some repairs to images and trying to enhance others, I've found the book helpful as a beginner to using a computer to edit and enhance photos.

At one point, the author states that for many people, digital has helped rekindle their love of photography. I didn't think my love for photography needed a jump start until I purchased my new digital camera (the Nikon D70S. Now that I have, I can't wait to get out and get some shots or set up something just to use the camera. Digital is enjoyable, can be artistic, and is with considering and trying.

This book does not master anything, the author covers the basic controls of a DSLR and provides a short description of their function. The book is full of fillers to take up page space and towards the end you find yourself reading about the authors personal opinion on computer perihperals and Adobe photoshop which has nothing at all to do with mastering a DSLR.

The information is the book is excellent. I now understand how to take better pictures with my Olympus E-510 (especially the exposure controls!).

But, and this is a VERY BIG but, the font of the book is T-I-N-Y! I swear that it must be 8 point type! And the captions--they are in 6 point, light type. The colors do not contrast. How can anyone be expected to read 8 point THIN white type on a gray background?

The author should demand better treatment for his material. You literally have to get one of those magnifying sheets that the older people use in order to read this book.

The publisher should be forced to give every purchaser a link to a PDF version of the book so that it can at least be magnified on the computer.

This is the ABSOLUTE worst typographically-designed book that I have seen in 20 years. The material is great which is why I did give it 3 stars.

If you want to transition from a point and shoot to a DSLR, this book is great. It shows the differences between it, what type of camera to buy based on several different areas, lens lingo, exposure techniques and up to some editing. The book tells you how to get the pictures you want and then shows you the ending photo so that you can visualize it. It really made me want to get up and grab my camera and go!

Very concisely written with great charts!

I am reasonably happy with this book. Very informative on technical aspects of SLR photography. Realizing this is an evolving technology, some of the author's recommendations on equipment is a bit dated. Mainly in the computer & storage area. Otherwise good for an amateur wanting to gain knowledge of Digital SLR photography.

The pictures are nice. The quality of the book is superior.
The print is so small it is almost impossible to read and takes away from the reading experience