Customer Reviews

The Nikon D200 Dbook: Your Interactive Guide to DSLR Photography

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

 

 

I love my Nikon D200 and am always on the lookout for a book that will help me to get more out of this expensive collection of hardware and glass. I own several D-200 books that are, at best, annotated, paraphrased, and rehashed versions of the existing Nikon User Guide. So it was with some degree of doubt that I approached the Nikon D200 Dbook. My first surprise was it was not just a manual on a CD. It is truly an interactive reference guide. For example, when I read the section that covered menu settings for saturation, the book not only made recommendations for the settings, but when you clicked on the menu setting (which looks exactly like the one in the camera) the photo in the book changed to reflect what change was produced. Too cool. They also include some step-by-step solutions to common setups. I especially enjoyed the section on flash photography in which they showed examples of the effects of different different flash settings and the effects that could be created. In addition to covering what appears to be all aspects of the D200, they have also included a fairly detailed course on digital photography in general. The printed book (about 30 pages) provides a snap summary of how to use the Dbook, an overview of the camera controls, and the menus.
As both an author and a photographer I think this is an excellent book that should serve as a model for all books of this genre. The only limitation is that you must have a computer to read it but if you are a serious digital photographer you already have one or more notebooks. If you are shooting with a D200 you need to get this book. Eat beans for a week or put off buying your next camera accessory, whatever it takes. This book, if you read it, will make you a better D200 photographer period.

The idea of an interactive manual is a good one but I think this one got a bit lost along the way. The use of tables, pictures, and sidebars is a normal practice in printed books where you can see two pages at a time but on screen when you can only see one page at a time interruptions to the text in mid-sentence can be disconcerting. Also, buyers should be aware that the photoshop actions have to be downloaded from the publisher's website since they were left off of the cd.

I am normally too lazy to write reviews, but there is one intolerable flaw that lounges out at me. In section 24, "The Shooting Menu", where he describes the settings for the camera, I find it reprehensible that he tells you that you should only shoot with Adobe RGB instead of sRGB "color space". No surprise that no explanation is given and the author automatically assumes that with Adobe's larger color space it is superior to sRGB. The actual answer depends on the situation. Although Adobe RGB has a larger color space than sRGB, most monitors and printers can't reproduce the extra colors from Adobe. This can cause images that appears color shifted or colors that come out too dull.

The book has an abundance of text but is cumbersom to find anything, especially if you don't know exactly what to ask. Brousing doesn't work so good.

Rockynook was of great help in solving a problem initially caused by an incomplete Adobe Reader download. I can now make full use of the Interactive Guide Manual. It's an outstanding publication, revealing every aspect and all functions of Nikon's D200 in a very special way. In comparison, other publications previously purchased, do not come close.
Udo Koch - Stuart, FL

'The Nikon D200 Dbook: Your Interactive Guide to DSLR Photography' is more like a book that comes with a disc. Yes there is a hardcover 50 page book that has bright, nice pictures, but the content of how to use your camera and what it can do for you is all found on the enclosed CD with the book. Does this type of 'book' work for everyone? Probably not. It's a very niche way to teach and learn. If you are the type that likes thumbing through a book and book only to learn how to use things, this will NOT be for you. If you are the interactive type of person that wants to sit in front of the computer and flip through pictures and learn in an interactive way, the content on the CD is thorough and usable.

Recommended for those that don't care about how the information is presented and want to learn how to use their Nikon in a good way. Also recommended for those that prefer to learn on the computer. Not for those the want to do it "old school" and sit with a huge reference manual on their lap.

**** RECOMMENDED

I can not get this CD to work on my system. Maybe your experience will be different, but for me this purchase is just a loss.