Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #92040 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .75 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Customer Reviews

Good book for the beginner
I got this book to go with my new A200 DSLR, It's a great guide to the camera with detailed descriptions of all the modes and buttons on the camera. It also has a pop out guide in the back cover that you can pop in your camera bag to take out with you showing the basic modes on the camera.

It also go's more into depth than the sony manual about things such as exposure bracketing and the diffrent scene modes available to you.

All in an excellent book which is vital reading for any beginner to get the best of there new camera.

Nick

Nearly there
I bought this blind because there are at least 2 other guides to the A200. I was prepared to send it back if it went into 'here's where you put the battery...' mode, but after a quick flip through it I decided to keep it.
Layout is simple and logical. There's a very quick rundown of the differences between film and digital cameras, naturally pointing to the advantages of digital. This doesn't mean that I'll be throwing my 'chemical' cameras in the bin; the matter of grain size v pixels is still relevant.
It's probably best to lay out the sections of the book. Features and Functions; Digital Recording and In-camera Processing; Camera and Shooting Options; Flash Photography; Lenses and Accessories; Working With Images and Troubleshooting Guide.
Throughout, Burian explains the various options available with the camera but doesn't ever tell you that you must do something his way. In fact, he encourages you to try things out for yourself. The old saying is true: 'If I hear it, I forget it. If I read it, I remember it. If I do it, I understand it.' Burian stresses that the old drawback with film, that you can try something out but it can be weeks before you see the results, doesn't apply with digital images. You just explore different settings and see the results almost immediately. So he points you on the way, then leaves you to discover what things are like.
I was particularly interested in the section on White Balance and altering colour temperature. Photographing bluebells or flax flowers in bright sunlight always results in 'mauvebells' and lilac flax. This is because of 'refringence', a form of refraction caused by the flowers reflecting a lot of infra-red light. The solution to this with film is to use a green filter and hope you have the right amount of green filtration (if you actually have a green filter with you). With the A200, you simply go into White Balance, scroll down to Colour Temperature, then input green. A moment later, you can check whether you have the correct amount of green filtration. Couldn't be simpler...
The drawback for me was the pictures. These are all in black and white. I can understand the need to keep costs down but this is a let-down. Of 54, only 25 actually illustrate a point. Some of them are obviously from colour images and do nothing at all to put a point across.
I can't say that this is the only good guide to the A200, but I learned a lot from it. Enough to feel confident enough to take it and the A200 to Canada next month. Can't say fairer than that, can I?

It's ok.
I'm a complete noobie and have found this book rather useful. However, I'm not sure on what audience this book is aiming at. It's a bit technical so not really that good for beginers and probably isn't that good for experts as they will probably know it all already.

Aside from the above negative comment, I have found this usefull and even though it's technical it points me in the direction to learn more.