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Best D50 Instruction Book?

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melyssagriffin

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I recently bought a D50 and would like to buy a good book, besides the manual, that explains each of its features in an easy to read and very helpful style. Also, that explains when I would use these features and what they'd do.

A title and author would be great. Thank you!!
 
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I have and use both Busch's book and Hogans book. Hogans is more about the technical aspects and operation of the camera which you won't get anywhere else and Busch'e is a warm and fuzzy "here's what your camera can do" book. Get both.
gk

--
'I'm not as smart today as I will be tomorrow.'
 
Mine's intended as a field guide, like the title says. Throw it in your bag and take it with you for quick reference. If you want to sit down and study and really learn the innards of your camera, Thom can't be beat. The two books are more complementary than anything else.

Dave Busch
garyking said:
I have and use both Busch's book and Hogans book. Hogans is more
about the technical aspects and operation of the camera which you
won't get anywhere else and Busch'e is a warm and fuzzy "here's
what your camera can do" book. Get both.
gk

--
'I'm not as smart today as I will be tomorrow.'
Click to expand...
 
well i was at barnes and noble so i bought david busch's digital field guide, but thom hogan's sounds like it will be a good addition once i finish reading this one. thanks for all of your input!
 
Dave,

I have your guide, but it is full of errors which may confuse the beginner. Seems like a quick update of the D70 guide. It has incorrect information on the use of the up/down buttons in reviewing pictures (should be left/right), a mention of the DOF preview button!, and I think something about the bracketing button (I dont have the book with me at the moment). I needs a update/revision to fix these errors. It would also be more useful if it had a review of the use of various functions (specifically focussing modes and AE-L/AF-L options) with various examples of their use and the first chapter doesn't add anything to the basic description in the manual. I was hoping for a useful field guide to put in the camera bag, but only found it useful as a guide to what equipment is used for various occasions (so used for making my purchase wishlist). I only have a background in P&S cameras, but unfortunately didn't find your guide as useful as I hoped. Are there plans for an update?
 
David;

Thank you for adding to my comment. I don't always quite get what I want to say down the way I .....well you know.

I found the section on the picutures and how to take them to be an excellent primer. It had been a long time since I had focused (no pun intended) on how to take a good picture and I was also deep into lens lust at that time because I was new back to photography after a 20 year hiatus and wanted to be "equipped". It was very helpful to have pictures put into the categories you did and then provide detail about the specs of the picture including which lens you used. I had not seen that done before, but I haven't actually looked for a photo book either. Thank you for doing it that way.

Anyway, I did enjoy your book and still refer to it. I have but one real criticism. It seems to be too heavy (and thick) if it is actually to be carried out into the "feild" as we say.
gk

--
'I'm not as smart today as I will be tomorrow.'
 
It's already been updated in the second printing, with all the errors that were noted fixed. Sorry you got one of the bad ones! The revised version has proved to be a lot more useful to people.

I'll keep your other comments in mind, too, for a more extensively-revised second edition, and as I write my upcoming D80 Digital Field Guide. I've asked for extra time to be tacked onto the schedule for that one so we can avoid the errors that resulted in trying to get the D50 guide out only two months after the camera appeared.

Dave
blaggers said:
Dave,

I have your guide, but it is full of errors which may confuse the
beginner. Seems like a quick update of the D70 guide. It has
incorrect information on the use of the up/down buttons in
reviewing pictures (should be left/right), a mention of the DOF
preview button!, and I think something about the bracketing button
(I dont have the book with me at the moment). I needs a
update/revision to fix these errors. It would also be more useful
if it had a review of the use of various functions (specifically
focussing modes and AE-L/AF-L options) with various examples of
their use and the first chapter doesn't add anything to the basic
description in the manual. I was hoping for a useful field guide to
put in the camera bag, but only found it useful as a guide to what
equipment is used for various occasions (so used for making my
purchase wishlist). I only have a background in P&S cameras, but
unfortunately didn't find your guide as useful as I hoped. Are
there plans for an update?
Click to expand...
 
Field Guides are funny. I get notes that mine don't have enough information (one reader complained that there was no coverage of image editing; I guess he takes his laptop out into the field), and others that the guide is too bulky to carry into the field. We tried to avoid teensy print, concentrated on settings that you'd actually want to change in the field, and attempted to fit as much information usable in a shooting environment as possible. The book fits fine in my LowePro AW Nova 5, but there is no way I could cram it into my LowePro MiniMag AW. This is one case where one size, does not fit all!

Dave
garyking said:
David;
Thank you for adding to my comment. I don't always quite get what
I want to say down the way I .....well you know.

I found the section on the picutures and how to take them to be an
excellent primer. It had been a long time since I had focused (no
pun intended) on how to take a good picture and I was also deep
into lens lust at that time because I was new back to photography
after a 20 year hiatus and wanted to be "equipped". It was very
helpful to have pictures put into the categories you did and then
provide detail about the specs of the picture including which lens
you used. I had not seen that done before, but I haven't actually
looked for a photo book either. Thank you for doing it that way.

Anyway, I did enjoy your book and still refer to it. I have but
one real criticism. It seems to be too heavy (and thick) if it is
actually to be carried out into the "feild" as we say.
gk

--
'I'm not as smart today as I will be tomorrow.'
Click to expand...
 
Well, you are not going to please everyone that's for sure.

My thought would have been to make the pages thinner and less glossy but I am sure you thought about that too. I also have the Lowepro AW 5 but it holds my holds my film camera and lenses. My daughter got it for me but I don't fnd it easy to lug around. I got the Tamarak TEK, which was $50, for the digital camera and lenses but I have 4 lenses now and the owners manual barely fits much less your book.
AAh, its all about trade offs. Thank you for responding to my post.

gk
--
'I'm not as smart today as I will be tomorrow.'
 
I prefer Thom's. Thom's gives a lot more information on not just how things work, but WHY they work that way, and how they relate to the bigger picture.

That's not to say that this book is not good: I have read it, too, and to be honest, it's one of my bathroom readers. But for SERIOUS info on the D50, I prefer Thom's book.

And no... I'm not paid or otherwise compensated for this statement.

--

 
I own both, and I have read both and enjoyed both.

Better answer than my previous two: get both! I never quite considered that people new to photography as a whole would benefit a lot from Mr. Busch's book while people with a bit more salt on their brow may find more of that "Behind the scenes" info in Mr. Hogan's book.

With both, you get the "full" picture.

--

 
All the ones being sold now should be the latest version. All bear a 2006 publication date, even those printed in 2005.

Check the Copyright page of the D50 Digital Field Guide, and look at the line under "Manufactured in the United States of America." If you see:

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

you have the first printing with some ridiculous typos. One number is removed from the left end of the line for every printing. I believe the typos were removed by the second printing. Another way to check is to look at the first line of the Quick Tour chapter. If it mentions the D50s, it's from a printing before the corrections were made.

Dave Busch
bopeltzman said:
Dave B. How can we tell we are getting the latest version of your
book? Can you give us publication date?
Thanks!
Bob
Click to expand...
 
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