Nikon D70 Digital Field Guide (Paperback)

by David D. Busch (Author)
Key Phrases: telephoto zoom lens, metering mode, main command dial, Exposure Practice Picture, Lighting Practice Picture, Lens Practice Picture (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Congratulations! You have one of the most versatile, feature-rich digital SLRs on the market, and this full-color guide helps you make the most of it. Learn how to set up your Nikon D70 or D70s and adjust it for every subject and circumstance. Get professional advice on choosing lenses, composing more than twenty-five types of shots, even downloading and displaying your photos.

Wherever your imagination takes you, take this book along.

• Use the Quick Tour to get the feel of your camera right away
• Shift easily between semi-automatic and manual modes
• Work with flash and available lighting to achieve different effects
• Explore special lenses like macro, vibration reduction, and teleconverters
• Discover the secrets of perfect action, business, portrait, or nature photography
• Make downloading and editing problem-free

From the Back Cover
Congratulations! You have one of the most versatile, feature-rich digital SLRs on the market, and this full-color guide helps you make the most of it. Learn how to set up your Nikon D70 or D70s and adjust it for every subject and circumstance. Get professional advice on choosing lenses, composing more than twenty-five types of shots, even downloading and displaying your photos. Wherever your imagination takes you, take this book along.

• Use the Quick Tour to get the feel of your camera right away
• Shift easily between semi-automatic and manual modes
• Work with flash and available lighting to achieve different effects
• Explore special lenses like macro, vibration reduction, and teleconverters
• Discover the secrets of perfect action, business, portrait, or nature photography
• Make downloading and editing problem-free

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (August 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764596780
• ISBN-13: 978-0764596780
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #218,031 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 15 in The Digital Field Guide Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

105 of 110 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Less Than You Need, September 7, 2005

By	Conrad J. Obregon (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The manuals that accompany new digital cameras are packed with information on every single feature of the camera. Unfortunately, the feature by feature presentation doesn't do much to show you how to use the camera to take good pictures. This book aims at that target for the Nikon D70 digital camera.

The book provides a quick start up guide and then a more detailed list of the D70's features that is something like the presentation in the manual, i.e., descriptive without being too functional unless you know what you want to achieve. But once the introduction is over, there is information on photography basics like exposure, depth of field, the use of artificial light, focusing modes and lens selection.

The second half of the book discusses photo subjects, like architectural photography, flower and plant photography, and street life photography. Each of these sections offers some general ideas on the subject and presents a picture taken by the author. The author discusses his consideration of setup, lighting, lens, etc. in taking the picture.

This book aims at people who are converting from a point-and-shoot camera to a D70, and I suppose it may do as an introductory text. But no one should think that this book is going to make him or her a very competent digital photographer. This is because the discussion of the D70's features is superficial at best. For example the discussion of focusing indicates there are two autofocus modes, single servo and continuous servo, but never really explains when the photographer might select one over the other.

Similarly when the author describes the menu preferences, he never really tells you when each of the preferences might be useful. Moreover, he doesn't even discuss some of the critical menu items. While the D70 is not Nikon's most expensive camera it still is not inexpensive. Someone buying this camera will want to know how to get the most out of it. For example, most serious digital camera users will probably want to use the raw format occasionally. I expected a comparison of the raw format to the JPEG format. There was none. I also expected some discussion of the settings for sharpness, color mode, and similar settings available under the "optimize image" setting. Again there was none.

Occasionally I was confused by references by the author like "Adobe Elements 4.0". Busch is way ahead of Adobe on this one, since they are only selling Elements 3.0

If you are one of those photographers making the transition from a point and shoot camera to a D70, the book may help you ease the transition. But to really use the capabilities of this camera you will have to do a lot of other research.

62 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great reference for any D70 owner..., October 27, 2005

By	J. Howard (Paso Robles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is well written and full of color and is easy to read. It does rehash a lot of the same information from the owners manual, but it is very easy to follow and makes more sense than the owners manual. In fact, I haven't even looked at my owners manual that much and have learned most of what I know about the D70s from this book. It has some good tutorials on the different types of photography (i.e. portraits, landscapes, closeups, etc, etc) I would have rated it five stars if it was a little more indepth on some of the fuctions of the D70s, but all in all, this is a very handy book for a D70 owner.

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nikon D-70 Digital Field Guide = great, October 16, 2005

By	Hess "M.H." (Social Circle, GA) - See all my reviews

I have wanted a DSLR camera since I first read about their existence but affording one was the main issue. Then along came the Nikon D-70. Once I purchased the D-70 I knew I needed something other than the manual that nikon provided. I have found the Nikon D-70 Digital Field Guide by David D. Busch a very helpful, well laid out step by step manual. Composition is not a problem with me it's figuring out the cool ways to make that composition look its best possible. That starts with becoming familiar with your camera. The Nikon D-70 is the most versatile camera I have owned. With the Digital Field Guide I am learning more about its potential every day and I am taking better pictures each time I push that shutter release. I highly recommend this guide to any owner of a D-70.