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 enlarge | Author: Dennis Curtin
Publisher: ShortCourses.com
Category: Book
Buy New: $41.95
New (1) Used (4) from $36.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 89041
Media: Spiral-bound
Edition: 1st
Pages: 182
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 10.8 x 8.3 x 0.5
ISBN: 1928873839
EAN: 9781928873839
ASIN: 1928873839
Publication Date: February 18, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-8 of 8 | | « PREV | | |
 A Short Course in Nikon D300 Photography May 13, 2008
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
This is a "cookie cutter" copy of the book I purchased for my Nikon D80. All the author did was update the information from one camera to the other. Very dissapointing, not to mention overpriced. The features of the D300 were not covered very throughly and a lot were left out completely. A much, much better book is David Busch's "Nikon D300 Guide to Digital SLR Photography" and is also less expensive.
 Nikon D300 Handbook April 29, 2008
0 out of 10 found this review helpful
Since my husband has a new Nikon D300, I bought him this manual. It has been very informative for him.
 A New User's Guide to the D300 March 12, 2008
35 out of 46 found this review helpful
Every time a major new piece of camera equipment is introduced, books explaining how to use the equipment are a few months behind. The Nikon D300 is a marvelous new camera that was introduced in November. This book is one of the winners in the D300 camera book race.
The book itself is a nice combination of e-book in PDF form with a hard text copy. The PDF file includes the use of color and buttons one can press to connect to short animations on the publisher's web site. (You'd better have a high-speed connection to use this facility.) The text copy is in black and white, 8.5 by 11 inches form, with a spiral binding, similar to what you might get by taking the disk to your local print shop and having them print it out and bind it. There's may be no savings in cost by getting a disk and printed copy, but it's a lot more convenient, especially if you don't take to reading books on-line.
Curtin starts his book by getting the reader up and running with his camera by describing how to put the camera into program mode so you can just get out and shoot right away. The initial chapter then describes the buttons and dials of the camera. The book is particularly useful for individuals new to a digital SLR in all chapters because it explains the principles behind the settings, such as when the author explains what pixels and formats are before explaining the quality controls. He offers subsequent chapters on exposure, sharpness, color, lens selection and flash in which he first explains the relevant theory and then how one can apply it with the camera. A nice feature for beginners is that he often points out how to deal with problems that might appear to be caused by a broken camera, when all that has happened is that some wrong button has been pressed.
Although there is a lot of fundamental information here, there is nothing about how to apply the D300 to actual picture taking, and few recommendations on which options to select when offered by the camera. For example, Curtin mentions the continuous-servo auto focus mode, but does not describe the various options offered by that mode such as 9, 21 or 51 point focusing. (These options are mentioned in the chapter on menus but the material provided in that chapter is even more abbreviated than the Nikon D300 User's Manual.)
More advanced users who already understand exposure, focus, white balance and similar subjects will not find much information that will help them use their D300. For example, the D300 can be used as a part of the Nikon Creative Lighting System, but there is no mention of that in the chapter on flash. (Strangely enough, that chapter contains information on studio lighting systems but not with Nikon flashes.)
Occasional errors have crept into the book. Curtin says that the D300 viewfinder offers 95% coverage of the image area but the coverage is actually nearly 100%. (The D200 offered 95% coverage.) Similarly the description of the auto-focus area mode selector positions is reversed. However these errors are not substantial and should not interfere with the new user's ability to learn to use the camera.
The publisher offers a web site where materials dealing with other aspects of digital photography are available.
In summery, this a good book for the new digital single lens reflex camera owner who has purchased a D300. Advanced users will have to hope upcoming books will address their needs.
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