Nikon D50 Digital Field Guide
by David D. Busch
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Book Reviews of Nikon D50 Digital Field Guide
Book Review: Wonderful Nikon D50 reference
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is quite a bit more than a guide to using the Nikon D50 camera. Of course there is lots of information that explain the features and use of the camera. The full color illustrations that show what each button does clearly, while explaining menu commands that can be hard to understand are very good. But then the book goes further to explain photographic concepts in concise language. I finally know how to choose an F Stop or shutter speed and when to let the camera choose them for me!
While this book is pocket sized, the figures are in full color and large enough to evaluate easily. Nor is it all pictures with very little text.
The chapters include:
Quick Tour: This shows you just what is needed to begin taking pictures right out of the box, even before you have learned your camera well.
Chapter 1: Exploring the Nikon D50: This looks more in-depth at the features of the camera and their use.
Chapter 2: Setting Up Your D50: This chapter tells you how to make the essential settings both common and not so.
Chapter 3: Photography Basics: Explains exposure, using histogram, depth of field, etc.
Chapter 4: Working with Light. How to use lighting, multiple lighting, flash and so forth.
Chapter 5: Lenses. Choosing lenses and what to do with them.
Chapter 6: Photo Subjects: More than two dozen different photography situations with all the settings to get perfect photos of them.
Chapter 7: Downloading and Editing Pictures. This was not my favorite chapter as it was very basic, but still useful for the beginner.
Glossary: Big glossary with lots of definitions of words that you might not be familiar with.
I recommend this book.
Book Review: I love this book
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm so glad there is a decent book on using the D50 available, because there is certainly a serious need for such a book. This one has everything you need to get started shooting pictures, and it complements the user's manual perfectly.
It is divided into 7 chapters plus a Quick Tour that describes just the essentials to begin shooting immediately.
Chapter 1 -- Exploring the Nikon D50. This is a description of all the features of the camera, with close up photos showing the location of every control and what it's used for.
Chapter 2 -- Setting Up Your Nikon D50. Explains the important menu settings and why you'd want to use them and what for.
Chapter 3 -- Photographic Basics. This chapter explains all the terms like f-stop and shutter speed and depth-of-field.
Chapter 4 -- Working with Light. Very valuable advice on using the D50 internal flash and Nikon external flashes.
Chapter 5 -- All About Lenses. If interchangeable lenses are new to you, this chapter explains how to choose them, and what they do to improve your pictures.
Chapter 6 -- Photo Subjects. This is a 100 page chapter with dozens of photo shooting situations and descriptions of the settings you need to take good landscape or portrait or other kinds of photos.
Chapter 7 -- Downloading and Editing Pictures. This is more of a overview of what you can do and how to do it instead of a chapter on image editing, which would take a whole book. This chapter will get you started.
This book is a great tool for owners of the D50 camera.
Book Review: This is much better than the manual -- and not intimidating
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not sure I understand the advice to stick to the D50's original manual, "no matter how intimidating it might appear" when this clear and concise alternative is available. It even has a great deal more technical accuracy than some of the reviews (histograms are hardly the "most distinct advantage of photographing with a DSLR," as a huge number of non-DSLR cameras, including many point-and-shoots also have (surprise) histograms.
I do agree with the advice about reading the author's SLR/Dummies book, as I purchased it for myself shortly before I bought this guide for my daughter to use with her Nikon D50. I, at least, understood the purpose of this book, including the early chapters that provide lots of "get started" basics and settings that help get the beginner up and running prior to the more complete explanations that appear later in the book.
My daughter appreciated being told how to set white balance in the Quick Start section, and advised to use smaller f-stops to increase depth of field, even though both concepts were detailed later in the book (after she'd been able to rush out and shoot several hundred pictures based on the Quick Start.) She felt that the book is exceptionally well organized.
While this book is not a replacement for the camera's manual, it is a good basic guide for those who want to use their D50 quickly with minimal lengthy explanations up front. There's plenty of time to absorb the rest of the book, or read a more complete treatise on digital SLR photography if that's what you want.
Book Review: Overall, quite good as an introduction
Summary: 5 Stars
Like many experienced photographers, I am often asked by friends to recommend a good, simple, camera for someone who has a nascent interest in taking pictures. Lately, I've been recommending the Nikon D50, and advising these neophyte photographers to add this book to their wish list. It's important not to overwhelm beginners with too much information, too soon, and the author of this field guide seems to understand the needs of D50 owners quite well.
It offers exactly the kind of information that someone new to D-SLR photography needs. These people are serious about taking pictures and have the time to spend doing the best job they can -- otherwise they would not have invested in a camera that's both easy to use, but which has a wealth of directions in which to grow creatively. They'll learn the essentials from this book in a simple to digest form -- everything from how to set up their D50, how to use the various settings and controls, and how to apply them in specific photo environments. It's remarkable how much information is packed into such a concise book, and equally surprising just how valuable this guidance is for photographers.
This Field Guide makes a good starting point. Read it, learn your camera, apply the lessons in this book and then go on with different books to learn even more.
Book Review: Not intended to replace the user manual
Summary: 5 Stars
I like this book especially because it isn't intended to replace the user manual. Instead, the author clarifies the most confusing parts of set up and control of the D50 in a better written style, and suggests you go ahead and refer to the user's manual to discover the mundane things that user manuals are intended to do.
The real meat of this "field guide" (you should take it with you as you shoot) is the second two-thirds, which contains specific information on using the D50 in specific situations. There are reviews of basic photography techniques, followed by a thick chapter that covers two-dozen different typical shooting situations with guidelines for using the D50's features to take good pictures in those situations.
One thing I do appreciate in this compact guidebook is the lack of coverage of digital manipulation. No chapters on image editing (hooray!) If I wanted a Photoshop book I would buy one, and I am glad this book's 250 pages are filled with solid information I can use right away. I suppose if you leaf through the book quickly it's possible to miss the point and think that it's just a fancy user manual. But that's not the intent at all, as more than a cursory examination will reveal. This is a field guide that will help you take better pictures with your D50.