David Busch's Nikon D300s Guide to Digital SLR Photography [Paperback]

This book was so much more than I expected. As an amateur photographer I must say that this book points you to the right direction. Everything is clearly explained. I also appreciate that the author included suggested settings and advise on lenses etc... All the information you need to make the most of your Nikon D300S is in here :) It's also a pleasure to look at. I have bought many instructional books in the past and although they had great reviews the quality of paper they were printed on and the basic drawings did not help. Everything was very technical and difficult for an amateur like me to understand; however in this book nothing has been taken for granted. All the little details are explained and many colored photographs are included. I am very happy with this purchase and I highly recommend David Busch's Guide.

I want to be able to use all of the best features of the Nikon D300s and have read every book on the camera. This one is the best because: 1. The author not only goes through how every feature and menu operates, but more importantly, he give you his suggestions and reasons on why you'd want to use each feature (and more importantly, how the various menu options work in conjunction with each other to achieve very specific situations). 2. The illustrations are all large and in color - while this may seem a minor thing, the author goes the extra step in color coding various areas of the screens so you can identify the information easily. 3. Not a re-write of the Nikon manual - this is my major complaint about most of the other books on the market - this one goes "deep" into the workings of the camera. 4. The author identifies various features which he feels are not in your best interest to use - and gives his reasons why he feels that way. 5. Best of all the author has a very detailed section on his best suggestions on setting up parameters in the menus to use for very specific shooting situations.

I have several Post-it notes on various sections of this book - this is a manual that you should keep in your camera bag!

This is definitely one of the best (if not the best) camera specific books out there. It does go beyond the manual that comes with the camera - which is large itself!

However, I'm always leery when any book starts off in detail on things like how to install the battery or put a lens on. You would assume the book is intended for the beginner but it never works out that way. The advanced items are usually skimmed over. And, unfortunately, that is true with this book. I'm still confused on several items.

One problem is he goes through every menu and button with minimal detail always stating it will be explained further in chapter such and such. There are two problems with that. Since I have no use of the item at the time I can't really try it out expecting to wait until chapter... But then I forget what menu it was and have to go back and find it. And in most cases the extra detailed explanations are very brief or just a repeat. For instance, interval timing on page 311 provides no additional (useful) information. In fact, there is an entire paragraph on an "affordable add-on" but he doesn't explain what it is exactly. There is information left out or too difficult to find. For instance, I couldn't access the interval menu item. Turns out I had the release mode dial in a setting that turns it off but I couldn't find that in the book.

The book is over 500 pages including the index. It could have been cut down significantly without the repeat of why his books are better and the references to different cameras - I guess he is trying to appeal to previous Nikon owners but that limits his audience. Another example, he spends a great deal of space explaining why he thinks the built-in level is a toy because his tripod has a level and it doesn't do fore/back leveling. But not all of us have a level and how often is one concerned about leveling fore/back? As has been said, just stick to the facts please.

He has done a terrific job with providing a wealth of information and has provided lots of pictures to show which item he is referring to. I think along with cutting it down a bit, the format would be better off including the detail along with each menu/button setting and provide suggested settings instead of referring to later chapters. Then put how to get different shots in additional chapters using the various settings together.

I like the book it just takes a bit of effort finding what I need.