PCPhoto Digital SLR Handbook

This book is excellent. I've learned more from it than from any other book that I've read. The author gives expert advice on everything, from selecting a camera to taking pictures.

I found this particular book to be more user friendly than other SLR books. Color photos help as opposed to black and white. The information is easily understood and the book is not overwhelming. For a beginner using a SLR camera, I would recommend this book.

Digital SLR's offer two real advantages over the much more common point and shoot cameras. First, these cameras are the top of the line from the various companies. Here is where they put in all the new technology first. So any improvements in components such as the CCD's will be here first. While point and shoot cameras now usually have 3 to 4 megapixels of resolution, the digital SLRs start at about 6. The new Nikon D2X has 12. Do you need this much, maybe, maybe not, but Digital SLR's get this kind of thing first. Second, Digital SLR's have more controls, interchangable lenses, every accessory known to man and so on. More control give you more the ability to do things that you simply couldn't do with the earlier cameras. It also offers you more opportunity to screw up, but with the LCD viewer you can catch this faster. This book is a general introduction to the features you typically find on Digital SLR's and what you get with those features. It is not so much a description of what cameras are available with what features, there are magazines to do that -- and still they go out of date quickly. Here you will find more generalized information to help you decide what features you really need. This is the most complete generalized introduction to what these cameras do that I've ever seen. Buy it before you spend a lot of money on a camera, relatively speaking it's cheap.