Customer Reviews

A Short Course in Canon EOS Digital Rebel Photography (book/ebook)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dennis Curtin has written a great book for the beginning to low intermediate SLR user who wants the most from the Canon Digital Rebel. The Rebel is a serious digital camera that can use the full line of Canon EF lenses, and many new users may be overwhelmed by some its professional-like features. Curtin's book is a good guide to learning to use all the features.

Unlike the manual, which is small with tiny type, and often tells you how to use something but not why, Curtin's book has many photographic examples showing what happens when you vary some of the settings. While the book is black-and-white and the quality of the reproduced photos isn't first-rate (the book isn't printed on glossy paper that would have increased the resolution), the included CD has the same pictures in color, showing the differences far more clearly.

Curtin also discusses the many add-ons you can buy for the camera and why you might want to use them.

I can't give this book 5 stars because it is trying to be too much at once. It tries to teach basic photographic concepts at the same time as discussing digital photography, and the peculiarities of one particular camera, plus it goes into some highly professional add-ons that the beginner is unlikely to want to buy, let alone use. (A light tent for photographing small reflective objects?) And some basic information that was covered in the manual was left out that easily could have been included, such as explaining why the shutter speed priority mode is called Tv (because it stands for Time value). Also, some of the information is simply wrong, such as Curtin's statement that the user cannot update the firmware. New firmware is available for the Rebel on Canon's website, complete with directions on how to update it yourself. Finally, this book could have used one more edit cycle, as obvious typos are a little too frequent.

Still recommended for the new Rebel owner who wants to turn off the Idiot Mode button and start using the camera's full range of abilities.

What good is a book on photography that's printed on low quality b&w Xerox copies? If it weren't for the fact that there's a color copy of the book on CD, the book would be totally useless as far as their photo samples of what different settings on the camera do to affect exposure, lighting, DOF, etc. I agree that this book is way too expensive for what you get. Even the CD looks like it was made with a cheap printed label maker. As far as the content, there is some good information that expands on the manual as far as camera functionality. The Digital Rebel was my first digital SLR and I needed something that explains more about the creative and basic zones of this camera, exposure bracketing, metering, etc. This book does a great job at getting into more depth on those functions and features. So, thumbs up on content, thumbs down on the quality.

Here is a link from the Canon web site to the Canon digital learning center for the Digital Rebel (300E). It contains basic info about this camera. I found it helpful. Best of all, its free!

http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/lessons/

A good basic text on features of the camera. Easier to read and use than the manual. Good tid-bits here and there. Better for the beginner, but also useful in relaying the particulars of the camera. I'm a long time SLR user just converting to digital. Most was review but did teach some of the necessary adjustments. It is really a wonderful camera for the price, I found this book to be useful in this transition.
I agree with previous post regarding cost vs quality. For this price, I would have expected more, not basic photo copy type paper.
If you are experienced in SLR's or digital, than there are better books available. If just starting digital photography, than I found this book helpful.

Respectfully, I disagree with the negative reviews on this book. It probably is not a great book for the advanced photographer, but as an amateur trying to make the best use of a very versatile new camera, I found the book helpful. It is in 81/2 by 11 format, so the print and format are larger and easier to read than the manual. While it may not contain much information about the camera that is not in the manual (the manual is pretty good), it presents the information in a more helpful way. The cross-referencing within the book is also helpful (which the manual does not have). Moreover, I found the book helpful in describing the reasons why and situations in which I might find the various features the Digital Rebel has to be useful. For example, this book explains why the Av (Aperture-priority) would be useful and why types of situations would make it beneficial. The manual does a fine job of explaining the feature, but does not give examples of how it may be useful. I also found the complaint about the spiral binding of the book misplaced. I like the spiral binding because it allows me to lay the book flat and fold it over when I am reading it. While I agree that the book is probably somewhat overpriced, I found a lower price for the book on Amazon. I found the book valuable (remember, I am just a beginninng photographer) in helping me learn more about digital photography and the Canon Digital Rebel at the same time.

Disappointed, but should have been expected. The Canon manual was specifically written to cover every aspect and feature of the camera; otherwise it's not doing the company any justice. That being said, the only thing this book could have done was add a few tips, possibly better explanations of features (with illustrations) and add a bunch of non-essential photography basics.

While the visuals do help one understand what each feature can produce, it's nothing a good photography book couldn't provide. In fact if it's a photography primer you're after, you're better off searching for a dedicated book. The manual from Canon is more than adequate if supplemented with a good photography book (that is if you're new to photography).

Disappointing was the amount of errors I found. Not technical or theoretical errors but simple grammatical errors. Some of which could really confuse new photographers.

I've never been impressed with publishers who produce a series of "cookie-cutter" books. This book is no exception. It's a rough primer on photography with some good examples supplemented by some technical details easily found in the Canon manual.

Don

Disappointed, but should have been expected. The Canon manual was specifically written to cover every aspect and feature of the camera; otherwise it's not doing the company any justice. That being said, the only thing this book could have done was add a few tips, possibly better explanations of features (with illustrations) and add a bunch of non-essential photography basics.

While the visuals do help one understand what each feature can produce, it's nothing a good photography book couldn't provide. In fact if it's a photography primer you're after, you're better off searching for a dedicated book. The manual from Canon is more than adequate if supplemented with a good photography book (that is if you're new to photography).

Disappointing was the amount of errors I found. Not technical or theoretical errors but simple grammatical errors. Some of which could really confuse new photographers.

I've never been impressed with publishers who produce a series of "cookie-cutter" books. This book is no exception. It's a rough primer on photography with some good examples supplemented by some technical details easily found in the Canon manual.

Don

I bought this book after getting my rebel xt and couldn't wait for it to arrive. The user manual that came with the camera didn't help at all and I was looking forward to getting a book that could help get me started in the right direction.

Well, it took over 6 weeks for the book to arrive and when it did I found it to be nothing but a glorifed user manual. Very disappointing.

I have had better luck from Popular Photography magazine and learning from books written by professionals like John Shaw and Art Wolfe.

This book wasn't worth the price and wait for it to arrive.

Sorry but as mentioned before, this is just a tiny bit better then the manual that came with the rebel. I wish I would have read the reviews first as they are not very good. It has some content that is usefull but all in all, a real rip off.

I must disagree with most of the negative reviews of this book. The book is exactly what it claims to be. A short course for the Canon EOS Digital Rebel. It presents it's material as such. . . starting from knowing little or nothing about the camera or digital photography. The pictures in the book are presented in black and white and that seems to be the areas most people have a problem with. I went through the book and then reviewed the material on the CD(which has good color photos) which enhanced the book. I enjoyed it throughly and benefited from it but then I'm only a beginner in digital photography. It is not meant to be an "Advanced Course" and never claims to be. It takes little for granted about what a person knows about photography and builds a good foundation. I have read several other digital photography books and I always ended up with more questions than answers. . . . I now feel comfortable in using my camera . . . which is what I bought the book for. I still have a lot to learn but the book never promised I'd know it all when I finished. . .