Nikon D200 Digital Field Guide
by David D. Busch
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Book Reviews of Nikon D200 Digital Field Guide
Book Review: The Book That Should Have Shipped With The D200!
Summary: 5 Stars
I normally don't write reviews, but this book is excellent! Being an avid film SLR enthusiast in my teens and early twenty's, I somehow ended up totally out of the SLR game for about 20 years. When my D200 came in, I was amazed at how bad the manual was and immediately went online to see if anyone had authored a book on the D200. The D200 Digital Field Guide was the first hit in Google and I preordered it immediately from Amazon.
Now I'm sure that for those who have been working with digital SLR cameras for a while, the manual was somewhat informative, but for me it was more of a pain. It explained how to set features, but not what they did or how they impacted the resulting photograph. For those who are just getting in (or back in) to photography and have the Nikon D200, this book is a must have. Look at it as a companion to, or better yet, an interpreter for the manual. Everything the manual left out is covered here in detail. And, for those few places the manual did cover things adequately, the author still touches on it for a bit of additional clarification. This book should have been shipped with the D200, as it provides clarity on how the camera handles things like metering, exposure, noise reduction and auto focus along with every other feature Nikon packed into the camera.
When book finally arrived from Amazon last week, I found that by the time I was a few pages in, the help I needed had arrived. By page 10, I was comparing the information presented in the book (which sat in the left hand) to the camera (which was in my right hand) as I was reading. Just a few chapters in and about an hour later, I was able to get much better results from the camera.
I really appreciate the author's comprehensive dedication to the subject. During the few months it took for the camera to arrive, I decided to evaluate current literature on the topic to prepare me for when the camera came in. I ended up buying Mastering Digital SLR Photography, also by David Busch. That was an easy, yet very informative read. When I purchased Adobe Photoshop CS2 recently, I headed back to the local bookstore and after sifting through the various books on the subject, settled on Photoshop CS 2.0: Photographers Guide, not realizing Busch had authored that book too. Busch presents the topics in each book in a great manner and I've been very pleased with all of them.
Book Review: Mostly excellent
Summary: 4 Stars
I did notice a couple errors in several of the figures, but I've read the book carefully, and I'd hardly say that a few mislabeled illustrations, and a couple typos qualify as "riddled." I prefer to have my informational glass 99 percent full, rather than claim it's partly empty, when the rest of the guide is so very good. I'm glad to see that the author accepts valid criticism with such good humor.
This book is extremely well organized. I like the way you're given just the information you need, when you need it, so you don't get overwhelmed with too much data when you're still learning to use a very complex camera. For example, in the brief Quick Tour, the author sums up everything you really must understand to get out and begin shooting with your D200.
Then, in the first chapter, he immerses you in a more complete examination of the camera and its controls, from every angle, top, front, back, and sides. I found the views of the D200 with the careful labeling of individual controls (except for the autofocus settings mixup) to be much more helpful than the coarse black and white drawings in the manual. As you progress through the book, you'll learn about metering, setting up your camera, and choosing from available lenses. (Only Nikon lenses are covered in any depth, but the guidelines apply to any other vendor's products, too.)
The last chapter provides discussions of shooting photos in various situations, with example photos and tips. There's enough detail to get you started, but the author obviously knows that the buyers of this camera won't need extensive hand-holding. The techniques are handy to have, and may even serve as a good reminder for more experienced D200 photographers.
All in all, I think this is a mostly excellent effort, with a surprising amount of information in a fairly brief book. There's a good attention to accuracy that easily makes up for minor lapses here and there. This is definitely a bargain.
Book Review: All jokes aside, this is a great resource for the D200
Summary: 5 Stars
I tend to actually read the books I review, and in this case, after doing so, I find that the vast majority of the content in this book deals directly with the D200. No fluff. No wasted space, just good, solid information about a camera that can be mightily confusing for the new owner.
In my copy, the first six chapters, Quick Tour, and the Troubleshooting appendix all concentrate on the D200, in much more detail than the Nikon manual, and much more clearly, too! Even the menu illustrations, which are in full color, are more informative than those in the tiny manual. Chapter 7 is the only general photography chapter. It provides guidelines for shooting photos in 20 common picture-taking situations. Although some of the information is basic to intermediate photography in this chapter, the included tips are all specific to the D200. There is no comparison between this full-color book and the owners' manual at all.
If you are a professional photographer, you probably don't need this book. But, if you're upgrading from the D70s or D50, or another brand camera, you'll want to jump start your journey up the learning curve by taking advantage of the sage advice found here. The chapter on general photography is good if you need to brush up on your skills, too. I can't make silly comparisons between this book the the Magic Lantern edition, because it hasn't even been released yet. However, I suspect that the D200 Digital Field Guide will stack up very well against other publishers' black and white guidebooks, and most of the DVDs, too.
Highly recommended.
Book Review: Great so great guide.
Summary: 2 Stars
When you buy a really good camera you need a manual or guide to match it. While the manual supplied by Nikon with the D200 is technically complete it leaves a lot to be desired in readability. The "Digital Field Guide" on the other hand is a dream to breeze through and see nicely managed illustrations of the camera. But at the end of the day the guide does not inform the reader in an effective way. One example is the constant use of the expression "in the next chapter you will see how to......" and in subsequent chapters you are surprised to see, once again, "in a previous chapter such and such was explained in greater detail." Sorry, you can't have it both ways Mr. Busch.
One specific technical detail in the guide that is treated inadequately is the interrelationship of ISO Menu Setting vs Auto ISO operation. What the manual should say quite clearly is that if you are going to manually set ISO but generally use Auto ISO you had better set the camera at ISO 100 so that all ISO's up to the max. set point will be available. This is because if ISO is set at say 400, and you later switch to Auto ISO the camera will not "automatically" select any ISO below 400 even when that makes sense. This is not a bad camera feature it is simply something that is underexplained in the guide.
What would be really nice for a guide to cover, and it isn't in this one, is "why" a user might use any one of the dozens of operating modes and features the D200 offers. This is a camera still waiting for a guide to match its excellence.
Book Review: Save your money
Summary: 2 Stars
Don't buy this book. The Magic Lantern Guide, late though it is, is a much more comprehensive book.
The book's title is misleading. It's not a "field guide." A field guide would be a book dedicated to fully categorizing and explaining each of the camera's operating modes, controls and menu selections. This book simply regurgitates what's in the manufacturer's manual and then goes to boilerplate on how to make better photos. The things unique to the Nikon D200 are largely done by page 72. The remaining 178 pages is largely a generic digital photography volume.
All of the current DSLR cameras are amazingly feature-rich. They have complex architecture and much hidden capability. They also have capabilities that can actually get in the way if not properly understood and they have gee-whiz features that are most often best left alone. The manual that comes in the box explains each feature as if that feature were co-equal in importance with every other feature.
The fact is, some of the camera's feautures are very important. Some are less so. And which ones often depend on the type of photography being done. A good book on this camera would offer real-world explanations and advice with respect to the long list of capabilities represented by this camera.
The reality is that there is little to be gained from this book that is not available from the camera manual and from the photography books that you probably already own.