Nikon D70 Digital Field Guide

What makes this book useful to the Nikon D70s owner is that more than two-thirds of the material covers topics that aren't mentioned in the manual at all. The first three chapters describe use of the camera, its controls, and features in much more depth than you'll find in the Nikon manual, with clear explanations of each function and when and how to apply it. This approach alone makes this book a much better introduction to the D70s. The second two-thirds of the book goes beyond the manual with new material explaining the basics of digital photography with the D70s. It includes discussions of lenses, composing images with a DSLR, and several dozen different kinds of photographic situations and how to approach them. All in all a very satisfying book.

I've been a somewhat serious "prosumer" photographer since Photo Journalism 401 in college. I recently graduated from Sony DSC717 to Nikon D70S. After one glance at the D70S manual, I ordered this book, which also covers the D70S. What I think helps it a lot is the author is a photojournalist, but he takes it a step futher from the technology angle. He credits in the Acknowledgements the help from Mike Sullivan, "whose more than a decade of experience shooting Nikon-based digital cameras proved invaluable." It shows. He does a great job of bringing it all together, easy to understand, with NUMEROUS tips and techniques. He really know his stuff and covers the D70S as well.

I have wanted a DSLR camera since I first read about their existence but affording one was the main issue. Then along came the Nikon D-70. Once I purchased the D-70 I knew I needed something other than the manual that nikon provided. I have found the Nikon D-70 Digital Field Guide by David D. Busch a very helpful, well laid out step by step manual. Composition is not a problem with me it's figuring out the cool ways to make that composition look its best possible. That starts with becoming familiar with your camera. The Nikon D-70 is the most versatile camera I have owned. With the Digital Field Guide I am learning more about its potential every day and I am taking better pictures each time I push that shutter release. I highly recommend this guide to any owner of a D-70.

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.

Wow. I recently splurged on my new digital SLR, and this book is just what I needed to complete the kit. It's packed with useful information about the camera (way more understandable than the manual that Nikon supplied. It also has a central "mega-chapter" that is packed with professional shooting techniques in all kinds of situations, and plenty of other information on accessories, etc. Great color printing, too. I compared this with the Lark books out there, thought this one looked better, and happily I was correct. This one goes in my camera bag, as I'm sure I'll use it wherever I'm shooting!