D70 Book (CD) Review

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

I just purchased Thom Hogan's "Complete Guide to the Nikon D70. I haven't
finished it yet (over 500 pages in pdf format), but it's well written and
explains the ins and outs of the D70 far better than the manual that comes
with the camera.

I"m not associated with Hogan or his operation, but just thought if you were
thinking about really learning more about your D70 this book (CD) might just
be the ticket. I was going to get that popular D70 book in print, but when
I checked the Amazon.com reviews, a lot of people thought this was much
better so I went for it, and I think it's worth it. www.bythom.com

Also comes with some "curves" and a few other goodies.

Sheldon

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

PS... Please be sure to provide us with a more thorough review of
this book after you've had a chance to read through it a bit more...

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

"Brett Wheeler" <spam_dumpster@comcast.net> wrote in message
news4s821lb9uiet4b66cmfocfgrou4t3k9gk@4ax.com...
> >I was going to get that popular D70 book in print, but when
>>I checked the Amazon.com reviews, a lot of people thought this was much
>>better
>
> What book did you avoid?
>
> I picked up Magic Lantern Guides - Nikon D70 by Simon Stafford last
> weekend. It was packaged in shrinkwrap at the store so I was hesitant
> but the description on the back cover made it sound like there would
> be a lot of practical advise to go along with the operation of the
> camera. Turns out it's little more than the Nikon manual rewritten in
> the author's own words. There are hints dispersed throughout the book
> but the only person I would recommend it to is someone who is new both
> to the D70 and to photography. There's very little here for the
> advanced amatuer.

This is what I've read about most D70 books out there. They don't offer
much more than what the manual offers, and what they do offer above that is
very basic. This book (CD) assumes you know something about photography,
actually a lot about photography, and need to know how your knowledge
applies to digital photography by way of the D70, and pretty much all the
software you would use to "develop" an image.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

"Brett Wheeler" <spam_dumpster@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:1ju821t96uv5lo2qkni2dmmpp98215b26u@4ax.com...
> PS... Please be sure to provide us with a more thorough review of
> this book after you've had a chance to read through it a bit more...

I finally finished the book, and found it to be the perfect compliment to
the manual. He takes every function and control and explains them in great
depth, with his own recommendations as to how to setup the D70 -- and why.

He also get heavily into the "workflow" and uses examples of both Nikon View
and Capture to take a NEF/RAW image from start to finish. And he gets into
and explains each function of both programs in great detail, and how to use
each. He uses his own images to explain how and what he is doing to take
what already looked like a great photo and make it better. He explains
curves and the histogram, and lots of other stuff in plain English so just
about anybody can understand it.

He also get into flash photography quite heavily, so if you have any of the
Nikon flashes it's a great source of information.

Included are some sample curves you can download, and a few other things --
lots of charts in Excel. He even reviews other software programs, besides
Photoshop, and what they can do for you.

If the D70 has any weaknesses he brings them out, so you don't have to find
out on your own, and gives you ways to work around them.

The only drawback to the book is I really wish it was in print form.
However, being on a CD it makes an excellent reference since you can easily
search for anything you want.

I definitely learned a lot more about my camera and its functions, and will
hopefully be taking better images for it. Again, he does not tell you how
to take a great photo. He tells you how to capture a great photo with your
D70 and make it the best image it can be. Just read a good book on
Photoshop and you're pretty much covered, however it was surprising what he
was able to do with Capture.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

"Brett Wheeler" <spam_dumpster@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:hdvb21tt3jjfi8js517nh83qsdfka352i2@4ax.com...
> Thank-you for the review. That sounds like what I was after when I
> got the book I referred to. I'm especially interested in his
> discussion on flash photography. I got the SB800 and a SB600 and plan
> on getting one more 600. The interaction between the flash and the
> camera is so flexible as to be a little confusing. I'm getting it on
> my own (slowly) but would like to read some discussion on practical
> application.

I don't have either flash, so I kinda breezed over the info, but there sure
was a lot of info there, from using the internal flash to setting off banks
of external flashes.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

On 9 Mar 2005 01:50:25 -0800, in rec.photo.digital.slr-systems
hein.dejager@gmail.com (Hein) wrote:

>What's the name of this book and where can I get hold of it?

http://www.bythom.com/d70guide.htm
----------
Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 (Usenet@EdwardG.Ruf.com)
See images taken with my CP-990/5700 & D70 at
http://edwardgruf.com/Digital_Phot [...] index.html