David Busch's Quick Snap Guide to Using Digital SLR Lenses
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Photography & Video
David Busch's Quick Snap Guide to Using Digital SLR Lenses Details
About the Author With more than a million books in print, David D. Busch is the world's #1 selling digital camera guide author, and the originator of popular digital photography series like David Busch's Pro Secrets and David Busch's Quick Snap Guides. He has written more than a dozen hugely successful guidebooks for Canon and Canon digital SLR models, as well as many popular books devoted to dSLRs, including Mastering Digital SLR Photography, Second Edition, and Digital SLR Pro Secrets. As a roving photojournalist for more than twenty years, he illustrated his books, magazine articles, and newspaper reports with award-winning images. He's operated his own commercial studio, suffocated in formal dress while shooting weddings-for-hire, and shot sports for a daily newspaper and upstate New York college. His photos and articles have appeared in Popular Photography & Imaging, The Rangefinder, The Professional Photographer, and hundreds of other publications. He has also reviewed dozens of digital cameras for CNet and Computer Shopper, and his advice has been featured in National Public Radio's "All Tech Considered." When About.com named its top five books on Beginning Digital Photography, debuting at the #1 and #2 slots were Busch's Digital Photography All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies and Mastering Digital Photography. During the past year, he's had as many as five of his books listed in the Top 20 of Amazon.com's Digital Photography Bestseller list--simultaneously! Busch's 120-plus other books published since 1983 include bestsellers like David Busch's Quick Snap Guide to Digital SLR Lenses. Visit his website at http://www.dslrguides.com. Read more
Reviews
This is my first "Quick Snap Guide" and I have found it extremely well-organized and informative. It goes into just enough depth, not technical, but thorough and well-explained both in the text and in the many well-captioned photographs and illustrations. Not only does it describe each type of lens (its function, design, strength, and limitations) but it goes into detail about how the size and type of lens is a factor--but only one factor--for the qualities you might want in your photographs. So, for example, depending on the depth of field you want, you choose a certain type and size of lens, and then a certain aperture and shutter speed combination. The relationship between your choice of f stop, your ISO, your shutter speed, and available light are all as important as your choice of lens. So, with relatively few lenses you can cover just about any effect and any type of photograph.It should be noted that this book is aimed at owners on non-pro digital slr's (in other words, owners of cameras which don't have a full 35mm sensor) since, in his recommendations and guidelines for the lenses are already based on a multiplier of 1.5 or 1.6. This takes some adapting for those of us used to taking a lens labeled 50mm and automatically thinking of it as a 75mm lens, or that if we want 50mm we have to buy a lens marked 35mm. There is no need to do that, it is already factored in, which threw me at first.Lenses are also explained: their construction; all the little markings, scales, buttons, and controls usually found on lenses; filter types, uses, and threads; tripods; zoom and prime types and the benefits of each; optional controls such as vibration reduction; optional attachments for lenses such as adapters, close-up attachments, extension tubes, and bellows--regardless of manufacturer, if it has anything to do with lenses, it's here.Photography pointers are also given, both general in nature and specifically related to lenses. You will want to know general tips on how to get good bokeh (and what lens qualities contribute to it); how to avoid lens flare (which lenses are most likely to have it); what general camera settings are the most likely combinations when you want a specific feel; types of focusing; types of optical aberrations (chromatic, vignetting, barrel & pincushion distortions and what you can do about them); the difference between DX and FX lenses and crop factors (multipliers) of non-pro digital cameras.Really, almost everything is here. I say "almost" because there are a couple of things I would have found useful that weren't here. Speaking generally, I would have welcomed side-by-side comparison pictures in which the same scene was photographed with different lenses to give an even better feel of the strengths and limitations of different focal lengths. Yes, each focal length is illustrated in its own section, but not directly compared to other options. Speaking specifically for my needs, I would have welcomed a bit of information on which lenses would be best for photographing geometric subjects with strong edges (such as architecture, and two-dimensional artwork such as a painting), both of which are difficult to get "square". Portraits, sports, landscapes, closeups, candids, etc., are all well-covered, but no mention of architectural photography. From my own experience, I find a zoom lens with a focal length between 28mm and maybe 45mm (figuring full-frame) to give the best result, but I would have loved to have some professional guidance on the subject because my observations are hit-and-miss.On the whole, however, the book is outstanding. It is clear and pleasant reading as well as a well-indexed reference source. Not only is this book a definite keeper, I plan to get other David Busch books as well based on this experience, starting with his "Quick Snap Guide to Photo Gear".
