Magic Lantern Guides: Nikon D300 (Magic Lantern Guides) | 
| Author: Simon Stafford
Brand: Magic Lantern
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $9.36
You Save: $10.59 (53%)
New (27) Used (7) from $9.36
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 21203
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 4.9 x 1
MPN: 1600593054
ISBN: 1600593054
Dewey Decimal Number: 770
EAN: 9781600593055
Publication Date: August 5, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Simon Stafford, the Technical Editor to the Nikon Owners' Club International's Nikon Owner magazine, tells all about the company's new semi-pro camera, the D300. He explains how to make the most of the model's up-to-the-minute attributes, including the 12.3 effective megapixel Nikon DX-format CMOS image sensor with integrated A/D converter and the increased bit precision of selectable 14-bit NEF (RAW) output.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 incomplete update from D200 version of same book September 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Alas, this book reads like a hurried update of the D200 guide. In fact, there is at least one typo in the book that describes the "D200" instead of the D300 -- and not as a comparison.
The book also falls short in de-mystifying camera-specific D300 topics like long exposures. For example, I wanted to take some night shots and could not find any complete description of how to use the Bulb setting. I ended up going back to the Nikon D300 manual.
The book contains some useful photography tips, otherwise I would have rated it even lower.
Had I bought it from Amazon, I would have returned this book.
 GETS TO THE POINT September 29, 2008
Provided just what I was looking for - information for the beginner, but also info for the experienced dSLR (Nikon) user. Technical info available for those who need it. Not a book for beginners who need basic photography advice in addition to the nuts & bolts of the D300.
Easy to Understand August 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I found this book very easy to understand and explain the complicated workings of this camera. I'd recommend the Magic Lantern Guides for any of the products they have books for. This is my 2nd Magic Lantern book. The first one was for the Nikon D2H. Well worth the price.
Excellent reference for the non-beginning photographer August 20, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book contrasts with the D300 Digital Field Guide. The Field Guide is full of lessons about basic photography for the uninitiated (who probably should not have purchased a sophisticated camera like the D300 in the first place). But for everyone else this book is full of details that cover basic operation and then go beyond to in depth explanation of features and functions. The book assumes that you know the basics of photography and then shows you how to make the best use of your marvelously versatile D300. It even explains the "zen" of the Nikon Creative Lighting System by which Nikon has otherwise managed to confuse many a photographer! No it isn't written like story book or a travelogue. It is a no-nonsense, easilly understood operating guide that covers all the bases and more. Buy it!
Technical July 21, 2008
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
The Nikon D300 is a complicated piece of machinery, with at least 100 top-level options for how it will work, with many sub-options. All these choices mean that one can tailor the way the camera operates precisely to one's needs. It also means that getting exactly what's best for you requires a lot of research. This "Magic Lantern Guide" is designed to ease the process, but if you really want to get the D300 to fit your style of shooting, it still won't be easy.
The book starts with a general discussion and a quick start guide and then goes into detail on the various functions. There is a menu by menu review of each of the options, with the author's recommendation for each setting. The book finishes up with chapters on resolution, flash, lenses and processing.
This book is for the person who wants to understand all the technical aspects of using the D300. For example, almost every book I've read on the D300 tells you how to use long exposure noise reduction, and points out that the noise reduction process take as long as the exposure. But this is the first book that told me that the noise reduction process will terminate after 109 minutes, even if the exposure is longer. I never expect to take a 110 minute exposure, but I'm certain there is someone out there for whom this information will prove useful.
I never expect to print directly from a card, but I wondered why the DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) menu on my D300 was always grayed out. Stafford explained that it was because DPOF requires JPEG images, and I only shoot in the RAW/NEF format.
Stafford not only explains what each menu does and why, but gives his own reasoned recommendations. By the way, he generally recommends not using functions that can be controlled later in post processing, reasoning that one should not turn over blind control of an image to the machinery.
The book is small enough to fit into a gadget bag, but thick enough that one might not want the extra burden. To help photographers anxious to lighten the load, the book includes a quick reference card that can be slipped into a wallet, although it obviously doesn't cover everything in the book.
The book is not without faults. There are occasional typos, although none that would mislead. The photographs are all in black and white, and many of them have absolutely no relation to the topic to which they are attached, but rather seemed to be included because this is a book about photography.
The book inevitably invites comparison to the excellent "David Busch's Nikon D300 Guide to Digital SLR Photography" by David D. Busch. That book includes photography instruction, with subjects like the times when long exposures might be appropriate and an excellent discussion of the use of the histogram to control exposure. It is aimed at the photographer who wants to learn how to use his or her D300. Many of the options are not covered in detail of Busch's book. Stafford's book doesn't tell you anything about taking pictures. It presumes you know how to take pictures and just want to know how to set up your D300 to the nth degree. I don't see the books as competitors. Decide what you want to learn, and then choose (or buy both if you are as compulsive as me.)
|
|
|
|
