Customer Reviews

Nikon D50 Digital Field Guide

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I recommend this book to those who felt the manual that came with the camera was not enough. It covers everything that is in the manual with more detail and every page is in color as well. Along with the information on how to use the camera, it also gives you simple and basic information on how to take pictures explaining exposure, metering and more. Nice book to have around for beginners.

The D50 is the Nikon Camera Company's entry level digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) and will appeal to folks wanting to upgrade from a point-and-shoot camera. Unfortunately, the number of controls on the camera can be daunting and the 100 plus-page, black and white instruction book can be equally daunting. It is to appeal to people intimidated by the manual that the "Nikon D50 Digital Field Guide" with its plentiful color graphics and generous use of white space is designed.

The book is divided into two parts. In the first part Busch describes the camera and various functions. The second part gives some instruction in photography basics, including a discussion of exposure, lenses and the downloading and editing of pictures. There is a chapter entitled "Photo Subjects" that is almost half of the pages in the book and that presents a variety of subjects from "Abstract Photography" to "Zoo and Animal Photography". Each of these sections gives a few general tips on photographing the particular subject matter and then presents one of the author's pictures with a discussion of the author's considerations with regard to setup, lighting, lens, camera settings, exposure and accessories. While the discussion doesn't go into great depth, it might be useful to a beginner encountering a new subject.

With regard to exposure, I was particularly pleased to see the explanation of histograms, since I consider this the most distinct advantage of photographing with a DSLR.

However most of the discussions of the camera were less than adequate. When the author discusses the program, shutter priority, aperture priority and manual modes he never tells the reader when each of these might be appropriate. The D50 offers the user a number of options in setup that are never even mentioned. The author also makes several references to the RAW format but never really suggests why or when it might be a useful format.

His discussion of technique is cursory and disjointed. For example, his discussion of how aperture adjustments affect depth of field comes several pages before any explanation of depth of field. He tells you how to set white balance many pages before explaining the function of white balance.

What particularly surprised me is that Busch has written a much better book on DSLR's called "Digital SLR Cameras and Photography for Dummies." .

You can read the "Nikon D50 Digital Field Guide" if you want a nicely designed book that lures you into reading just enough about the camera and photography to be able to capture a few pictures. For the serious new D50 owner, I would recommend reading the manual that comes with the camera, no matter how intimidating it might appear, and then reading Busch's "For Dummies" book.

This book is far more extensive than the manual that comes with the camera and it helps with the transition from point-and-shoot photography to SLR. It goes over the basics of SLR photography and can help you taylor your growth in the skills to what you need. Best of all it tells you specificly how to do it with the Nikon D50 rahter than being a general book on photography and SLR photography. Any one who is thinking of making the switch to SLR photography using a D50 will want this book.

Like many experienced photographers, I am often asked by friends to recommend a good, simple, camera for someone who has a nascent interest in taking pictures. Lately, I've been recommending the Nikon D50, and advising these neophyte photographers to add this book to their wish list. It's important not to overwhelm beginners with too much information, too soon, and the author of this field guide seems to understand the needs of D50 owners quite well.

It offers exactly the kind of information that someone new to D-SLR photography needs. These people are serious about taking pictures and have the time to spend doing the best job they can -- otherwise they would not have invested in a camera that's both easy to use, but which has a wealth of directions in which to grow creatively. They'll learn the essentials from this book in a simple to digest form -- everything from how to set up their D50, how to use the various settings and controls, and how to apply them in specific photo environments. It's remarkable how much information is packed into such a concise book, and equally surprising just how valuable this guidance is for photographers.

This Field Guide makes a good starting point. Read it, learn your camera, apply the lessons in this book and then go on with different books to learn even more.

The manual that comes with the Nikon D50 has good basic information, and it certainly is the authoritative source for reference information about the camera's menus and settings and controls. However, this book does a much better job of explaining how to use the camera within the greater context of SLR photography.

I recently purchased a Nikon D50 for my high-school-age son, who has a budding interest in photography. At the same time I got him this book as well as Busch's other digital SLR book, "Digital SLR Cameras and Photography for Dummies." They are complementary books. This one won't teach you photography, although it has some good basic information on fundamentals such as exposure and composition. It does show how to use the key controls of the camera, and it does that quickly in a few chapters with well-labeled photos.

The Nikon D50 Digital Field Guide also provides basic tips on common types of shooting situations, and is compact enough to go along with my son in his backpack. As he's ready to learn photography with a digital SLR from the ground up, he's got the information he needs for that in Busch's Dummies book. These two books cover all the bases, and I recommend them highly.

This is what this book is, and is not:

* It's a FIELD GUIDE. I bought it specifically because it was a small format book that I could take along with me for guidance when I am out taking pictures. When I am unsure what menu settings to make, I take this book out of my backpack, look up the options, and make them quickly. When I see a photo opportunity, I can look up that kind of photo and read three or four pages of advice, illustrated with full color pictures.

* It doesn't duplicate the user's manual -- it expands on the information in the user's manual and provides more detail about the things you really need to know about the D50's controls.

* It's not a software manual. I don't take my laptop with me when I take pictures, so I don't really need lots of pages about Photoshop or Elements or Picture Project or Nikon Capture. It's silly to expect a photography field guide to waste 20-25 percent of its pages on software.

* It includes all the settings you need for the practice photos if you look carefully, including f/stop, shutter speed, ISO setting, saturation boost (if used), etc. Plus the lens used is listed, although most of the shots were made with the same two or three inexpensive lenses.

* This book is definitely NOT written for the advanced photographer. This book is cheap enough that the controls and functions part would be useful for any new owner of a D50, regarless of expertise level. I would have bought it just for that. The how-to sections are better suited for novice and intermediate photographers who need some ideas and tips. Sharp advanced photographers won't be looking for definitive photography tutorials in a 250-page field guide, in any case.

Overall, I liked this book a lot. I'm on the verge of graduating from intermediate to advanced photographer, but there was still a lot in this small book for me to learn from. It could have benefited from more coverage of VR, but nothing is perfect.

I'm so glad there is a decent book on using the D50 available, because there is certainly a serious need for such a book. This one has everything you need to get started shooting pictures, and it complements the user's manual perfectly.

It is divided into 7 chapters plus a Quick Tour that describes just the essentials to begin shooting immediately.

Chapter 1 -- Exploring the Nikon D50. This is a description of all the features of the camera, with close up photos showing the location of every control and what it's used for.
Chapter 2 -- Setting Up Your Nikon D50. Explains the important menu settings and why you'd want to use them and what for.
Chapter 3 -- Photographic Basics. This chapter explains all the terms like f-stop and shutter speed and depth-of-field.
Chapter 4 -- Working with Light. Very valuable advice on using the D50 internal flash and Nikon external flashes.
Chapter 5 -- All About Lenses. If interchangeable lenses are new to you, this chapter explains how to choose them, and what they do to improve your pictures.
Chapter 6 -- Photo Subjects. This is a 100 page chapter with dozens of photo shooting situations and descriptions of the settings you need to take good landscape or portrait or other kinds of photos.
Chapter 7 -- Downloading and Editing Pictures. This is more of a overview of what you can do and how to do it instead of a chapter on image editing, which would take a whole book. This chapter will get you started.

This book is a great tool for owners of the D50 camera.

I received a D50 as an early Christmas present and this book along with it, and both are excellent! This book has all the introduction I need to this great camera, including a Quick Start that got me up and shooting within minutes of opening the box! I also loved the full discriptions of each feature of the camera.

I expect I will learn all the features of the D50 within a few weeks, but will still find the Field Guide very useful because of the information on how to shoot different types of pictures such as fireworks (not till July 4) landscapes, sports, and other kinds. This is a great book for any new D50 camera owner.

This book should be included in the D50 package along with the vendor's user manual. Nikon's manual makes a good, if confusing reference, while this book fills in all the gaps that Nikon leaves out. For example, instead of just a couple views of the camera with all the parts labeled willy-nilly, the Digital Field Guide includes an overview photo, then close-ups from various angles, all
completely labeled with captions that show which control does what. The Quick Tour and first couple chapters will allow any new D50 owner to hit the ground running.

Because the D50 is more likely than, say, the D70 to be purchased by someone new to SLR photography, the basic chapters on photo fundamentals will help anyone who doesn't know what an f-stop or shutter speed is and how they work together to provide correct exposure. You can also learn about all the confusing options and when they should be used.

I loved the 100-page chapter on photography techniques, with several pages devoted to different types of photography situations, with advice on how to get good pictures in each setting.

I don't know why camera manufacturers don't include manuals this good with their cameras. I realize that it's necessary to include every single feature and every single menu item and every single specification in the "official" manual, but what a new user really wants to know is how to make the basic settings needed to take good pictures right out of the box. This book does that for you. There is a quick start chapter that tells you just the things needed to start taking pictures, and nothing more, and will be useful for anyone who is new to digital cameras or just new to digital SLR cameras. Then, a few chapters lead you through the features of the camera and its menus.

After that, it's off to the races! The author introduces basic photographic techniques, and then devotes a very long chapter to each of the most popular kinds of photography, with tips on how to set the camera, choose an appropriate lens, and arrange your subject. A book this portable can't include everything within it's pages, but the most important thing is that it has enough to serve you well in just about any situation. I really learned how to use my Nikon D50 from this book.