Nikon D70 Digital Field Guide
by David D. Busch
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Book Reviews of Nikon D70 Digital Field Guide
Book Review: Less Than You Need
Summary: 3 Stars
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.
Book Review: A Helpful Guide to the D70 and D70S
Summary: 4 Stars
For the past three Nikon cameras I have owned: the N60, N70, and N80, I purchased the "Magic Lantern Guides" which became indispensable. As any Nikon owner will probably attest, the manufacture's guides are confusing at best, and if you call customer service with a technical question, the help wasn't much better. My guess is that experts rather than writers compile the manuals and what is self explanatory to someone who perhaps developed the camera is not so easy for the average reader to understand. With a good guide, understanding the manual is a snap.
I purchased the camera, began using it and got good results without understanding much of what is in the manual, but I've been a serious hobbyist for almost ten years, so I knew the basics. My first attempts were fine, and I thought "How hard can this be?" However, when I set the camera controls incorrectly, erased photos of my niece's birthday party, I knew I needed help. I could not find a "Magic Lantern Guide" so I decided to try this guide by David Busch. I noticed he also wrote guides for the D50 as well as the more sophisticated D200, so I figured he had to know about Nikon cameras and since I was in a pinch, I purchased it.
The book is user friendly and is one of those "how-to" guides that is easy to understand but not condescending like some of the "For Dummies" and "Idiot's Guide" books can be. He begins by explaining the basics of the camera, continues with how to set up the camera fro use, and concludes with downloading photos from the camera using Nikon's software. The remainder mid-portion of the book deals with the basics of photography. This is where I found the book rather interesting. Busch does give a few suggestions that would help digital users transitioning from film, but he also offers suggestions about lens selection, apertures and shutter speeds for specific subjects, and practice exercises. This makes the book ideal for people new to photography. For more experienced photographers, we have all taken shots that have had lackluster results because we forgot the basics and for me, this book provided a great review. It also made me a bit more determined to break bad habits I developed with my film cameras.
The overall photography tips are better than the information on the camera itself. Still it's a helpful guide and since most people who buy the camera will probably be anxious to get out and use it, the book will be a great help in getting to know the camera.
Book Review: It's a FIELD GUIDE, folks!
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't review many of the books I buy. (Click on the See All My Reviews Link for proof! LOL!) But I got this book a couple weeks ago and thought it deserved a review from someone who at least had read it thoroughly and understood what author Busch was trying to do here.
This is what this book is, and is not:
* It's a FIELD GUIDE, folks! It bought it specifically because it was a small format 250 page book that I could take along with me for guidance when I am out taking pictures. When I am unsure what menu settings to make, I take this book out of my backpack, look up the options, and make them quickly. When I see a photo opportunity, I can look up that kind of photo and read three or four pages of advice, illustrated with full color pictures.
* It's not a software manual. I don't take my laptop with me when I take pictures, so I don't really need lots of pages about Photoshop or Elements or Picture Project or Nikon Capture. It's silly to expect a photography field guide to waste 20-25 percent of its pages on software.
* It does include all the settings you need for the practice photos if you look carefully, including f/stop, shutter speed, ISO setting, saturation boost (if used), etc. Plus the lens used is listed, although most of the shots were made with the same two or three inexpensive lenses. I almost wish the author -had- used some exotic lenses for at least a few shots. I would have been interested to learn more about Vibration Reduction, for example.
* I agree with that this book is definitely NOT written for the advanced photographer. This book is cheap enough that the controls and functions part would be useful for any new owner of a D70, regarless of expertise level. I would have bought it just for that. The how-to sections are better suited for novice and intermediate photographers who need some ideas and tips. Sharp advanced photographers won't be looking for definitive photography tutorials in a 250-page field guide, in any case.
Overall, I liked this book a lot. I'm on the verge of graduating from intermediate to advanced photographer, but there was still a lot in this small book for me to learn from. It could have benefited from more coverage of VR, but nothing is perfect.
Book Review: Learn the Nikon D70 AND Photography for 15 bucks
Summary: 5 Stars
Before buying this book, I examined another D70 book by the Larks, and one from Peachpit that was only $5.00. I decided to pay $15 for this one. It was 50 times better for only 3X the cost. It's amazing how much useful information was put into such a small portable book.
It is much more than a guide to using the Nikon D70s camera. Yes there is lots of information that explain the features and use of the camera. Very good are the illustrations in full color that show what each button does clearly, while explaining menu commands that can be hard to understand. But then the book goes further to explain photographic concepts in clear 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 still 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 learnt your camera.
Chapter 1: Exploring the Nikon D70: This looks more in-depth at the features of the camera and their use.
Chapter 2: Setting Up Your D70: 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: A great Field Guide
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is designed as 30% how to operate the camera and 70% how to use the camera to take pictures in various situations. The first part of the book (the 30%) is a brief overview of things you would probably learn in the camera operators manual, with some tips that are a nice touch to help you understand practical applications of the camera settings. But the author notes that you need to go the Nikon user manual for more in-depth descriptions of the camera's operaton in some areas. This is probably true, but I found the book provided a fairly complete discussion of the camera operation and I could operate without the manual.
In the 70% of the book, as I see it, the author takes on other aspects of photography and using the camera to take "great photos". He begins with the basics of photography (aperature, shutter speed, ISO, etc.) Then he discusses things such as using different lenses and their effect, how to use the external flashes and how to set up lighting. He delves into things such as how to work with auto focus, and depth of field.
He then discusses the various types of photography (e.g.night photography, photographing children, photographing landscape, night scenes, on-line auction photography, etc) and gives some very practical tips for taking the pictures as well as specific things to do to set up the picture and ensure the camera is set properly; Things such as having help from a parent and sibling to help relax a child during a photo session. The author also takes you through the software that Nikon provides, and offers suggestions on other options (some less costly...free) for doing some of these same tasks. The author provides a candid snapshot of the software packages, telling you their capabilities and limitations. This includes the Nikon software. Finally, a glossary is provided that de-mystifies the language of photographers. I found the book to be unbiased, informative and properly named "Field Guide".