Sony Alpha SLT-A65/A77 For Dummies

Has anybody got this book? Seems to be a much cheaper option than the Friedman books. You at least have a hard copy.
I am just about to purchase the A77 and want a good guide on how to use it.

Just looked on Amazon its only on pre release purchase so nobody has got this book, so what is the Friedman book like?

Friedman's book is a must have and available now, you can have it in hard copy, also I cannot imagine a better book about these camera's.

+1 to Gary Freidman's book. I'm a relative novice (at least compared to most of the members of this forum - at home where camera phones rule, I'm the expert! - it's all relative). I got the A100 when it first came out and wish that I knew about Gary's book then. I'd be much better than I am now. I bought the A77 a couple of months ago at Berger Brothers (thanks to those forum members who pointed out Berger Brothers, it was a great experience buying there as I live on Long Island and went to one of their locations). I then bought Gary's book and have been learning a lot about the camera and photography. Again, as a novice, it's taking me a while to get through all the info that's in the book since not only am I learning what the camera can do, but also a lot of photography concepts.

I just downloaded the free update v1.2 last night, which incorporates the 1.5 firmware change as well as some additional edits. In my haste to download the update, I didn't read through the entire email that he had sent to me informing me of the update and entered an old password from my original download of the book. Because of my mistake I couldn't download the update. I sent Gary an email requesting some help. Almost immediately I realized my mistake and was able to download it. I then sent him a "oops never mind" email. Within a couple of hours Gary emailed back with another link. Clearly Gary works to make sure his product and service is top notch.

Buy it - you won't be sorry. And as I've read a few weeks ago in another thread here, the cost of the equipment is so much more and Gary's relatively cheap book will help you get the most out of it.
Bob

bump

I too have a new shiny A57 and would like a good book (the manual explains what everything is, but includes no whys ) so I'm curious if I should aim for an a65 book? an a55 book? or hang tight for an imminent one specific to the a57...?

There is some overlapping material that applies to all alpha cameras, but I'd hang tight for an A-57 book to get Gary's insights on this particular model. However, the e-versions are not that expensive. I have the A700 e-book for my A700 and bought the A77/A65 version just to check out the A65 before deciding whether to get the A57 or the A65. (Decision still pending!)

I would give publishers a little to come out with a printed book for the A57 users. The A65/A77 camera itself was delayed quite awhile when first announced and did not become largely available until the March time frame. Luckily we have great writers like Gary who published the ebook for A65/A77 fairly early on. Ebooks are a lot easier to get out to the market place before the printed books especially with all the publisher costs over and above the writer's. Saying this keep a lookout for an excellent ebook by Gary Friedman before a mainstream printed book. If it is like his other books it will be worth the wait. In another post in this forum I believe he said the A57 ebook will come out in June for forum users interested for that camera.