David Busch's Nikon D300 Guide to Digital SLR Photography [Paperback]

In Nov. 2006, I wrote a very negative review of David Busch's book on the Nikon D200. In fairness to him, I must now take the time to shout it from the rooftops: This is a great book doing justice to a great camera. The book is affordable and it is huge at 432 pages. It is also large format (7.25 x 9 in) when compared to the Magic Lantern books. The illustrations are among the best I have ever seen, especially when it comes to showing camera functions and menu items. This is not a rehash of other books telling you how to take sports or landscape pictures to add pages. Rather, pretty much all the pages are devoted to the camera and there is some useful info about Nikon lenses and speedlights. There are also a few tips (one of which has already saved me twice the price of the book). This book is almost a must to all those who have the chance to own the D300. Beginners and advanced amateurs will find plenty to be thankful for and I recommend it very highly.

As mentioned elsewhere, I am in the process of converting from film to digital photography and there are certain aspects which I have found quite daunting. Over the past few months I have studied several books and tutorial DVDs on the subject as that process of conversion continues. I have also attended courses run by Nikon (UK) and it was on the first of those I was introduced to this book. My fellow student insisted this was the best available on the subject and I have come to the conclusion he was right.

Of course, there are those whose expertise is already at a well advanced level who seem to delight in purchasing products such as this just to write a less than praiseworthy review. It's called showing off! Take it from someone who has studied the field, whatever you want or need to know about this camera, the answer really is found in this product.

Laid out in an easy-to-follow format with plenty of excellent illustrations this book begins at the BEGINNING by helping you set up your camera. Slowly, the author builds upon each item shown as we work our way through the book to learn all, there is to learn about the Nikon D300.

I always find it better to read a number of books on the same subject - if only because a different approach often helps to explain a difficult point in an alternative way. If, however, you can only afford one book on this subject, then "This" is the one to buy.

NM

Original review below- I am removing 1 star because as I re-read it more intensely I am discovering errors and omissions which are really inexcusable. The most glaring examples are where David says that a two-button reset will not affect your shooting bank presets which is incorrect- it does reset the currently selected shooting bank's Quality/file format to JPEG normal and WB to auto, sensitivity to ISO200 etc. Also in that section is an apparent contradiction on what the shooting menu reset does and doesn't affect. And top that off with a reference to a more in depth discussion of Picture Controls in Chapter 6 that doesn't exist- not even in adjacent chapters.....according to the book's own index doesn't exist period. And some important things really could be explained more thoroughly to save the user some massive confusion- like the important differences between default, optional and custom picture controls- nop vs ncp files.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

It's a really great book if you are new to the D300 and maybe even new to DSLRs/photography. Advanced photographers may not need a book like this. But it's easier to read than the manual, more colour photos, explains why particular settings may be desirable as opposed to just defining them. It was a much thicker book than I expected, and it goes into discussions of lenses and flash photography and other relevant things that the original manual wouldn't touch on. Very informative- I thought I would skim through a lot of it having owned a D70 and other (D)SLRs but I was surprised to learn a few things- and I've only made it halfway through the book at this point. And I get the confidence the author knows the product very well from first hand use and is passionate about photography-so to me his opinions are valuable. Say, for example, how he points out that buying a cheaper non-OEM battery as a spare is silly considering the risk vs savings...why spend $1700 on an Advanced DSLR then cheap out to save $20 or $30 on an important accessory like the battery (he reminds readers of the past Nikon EN-EL3 recall to drive the point home).