Nikon D800 & D800E Digital Field Guide

As a long term Nikon camera user, starting in 1968, I used to find the features of the film cameras easy to learn. With digital, the cameras are difficult to learn, at times confusing, and I say this as one who is gadget oriented and mechanically inclined (I fix my automobiles and build my own gadgets). So each time I get a new digital Nikon I read the Owner's Manual with a bit of fear as I find it hard going: the subject I want to learn is scattered throughout the Manual and insufficiently explained. Then I buy a book only to find it to be poorly written, unclear, repetitious and padded with baloney. And I had just experienced this learning frustration yet again with books on my D7000 and D7100, as both books I bought were next to useless, a waste of time, one even illustrated with awful photos of the author an his wife and children. I feared a repeat with my D800. But this time around I have been pleasantly surprised by the D800 Owners Manual, which is close to good, and more so by J Dennis Thomas' excellent Digital Field Guide. It is short, clear, well written and complete; anything more would be padding. Mr. Thomas does us learners the courtesy and favor of writing clearnly and succintly, and most importantly, he has obviously explained to himself what each bell and whistle on the D800 does, and has written the explanation in lucid prose. For example, this is the first time I have read a clear and immediately understandable explanation of what the Focus Selector Lock and the AE-L/AF-L controls do; I immediately felt my confusion lift.I them looked at the title page and saw the publisher is J. Wiley & Co. one of the very top scientific and technical book publishers. Should I need another camera guide, I shall look for a Digital Field Guide by Mr. Thomas, and/or a similar short book published by a highly reputable firm such as Wiley.

I purchased this book mostly because it was one of the first on the D800/E and I figured I could use some help after reading the 447-page manual on this complex camera. I found several errors but most of the info was spot-on and useful even if it often just rephrased what was in the manual. Here's a prime example of an omission that took up too much of my time. In live view, the info screen has two adjusters - left and right - displayed when you press and hold the negative zoom/thumbnail button. The left indicator adjusts screen hue (use with cmd wheel - another thing he got wrong) while the right displays a screen brightness gauge - used with the multi-selector up/down pointers. However, if you accidentally press the OK button while in live view, you'll find yourself in trouble. The right-side brightness gauge is replaced with an exposure preview scale (see manual page 46) and you cannot adjust screen brightness in this mode. The OK button is a toggle for screen brightness adjustment/exposure preview. The setting is retained until you press the OK button again and the camera won't reset itself even if you turn it on and off.Also: On page 182, he failed to mention that the tiny lever surrounding the live view button must be pointed to the movie camera icon in order to enter movie live view.Still, it's a better book than I could have written and has some good suggestions for camera settings. It also has useful info on lenses and general photography. I just wish the author had spent more time with the D800E before he published, as Busch and Young have done. Their books are coming out in August. I'm hopeful that they've done their homework as they usually do.

I was hoping the Digital Field Guide would have some insight about when to use a given combination of camera settings, but there is somewhat less information here than in the D800 manual, technical guide and Nikon Digi-Tutor. For instance, if I shoot only NEF, is there any advantage to using Active D-Lighting? Don't know. Does the HDR setting apply to NEF files? Probably not because the menu is grayed out for me. Should I expect that? Don't know. What flash sync speed should I use if I'm using studio strobes? Don't know. The guide is not consistent with following the camera menu tree, so you might read about setting, but have to hunt for it on the camera.There are boilerplate chapters for beginners that could be dropped into any camera book, like sections about lighting, shooting weddings and the stock photography business that have not been adapted to the D800's quirks. I doubt the D800 will be someone's first camera any time soon.

The field guides provide the information your manual left out. This explains the various menus and options available on your Nikon D800 in a methodical manner. Your manual explains what each selection does but leaves it to you determine when and how to use it. This provides the when and how. If you want to get the most out of this fantastic camera you must have this field guide. I was fortunate to spend 10 days in China with three pros who teach the Nikon School of Photography and learn how to use this camera to its fullest. This guide still provides additional information to help me get the most out of it.

The book is alright, not great but ok. The author makes many references to the d700 as if the book is written primarily for those migrating from that camera to a d800. Since I am new to Nikon that was distracting and at times confusing. This author also seems to jump around without always a good flow. Many times the same paragraph is repeated word for word a page or two later deja vu, and annoying. Also, several places the author makes a settings recommendation and in same area mentions his personal settings for that setting - different then the setting recommendation - confusing. And often I am unsure what the default settings are. My advise is to pass on this book - there are other books for the d800 camera that are much better, such as "Mastering the D800" by Darrell Young.

Basically an expanded view of the camera manual with some additional useful information. I like these books as they are clear, well explained and easy to use. Much moreso than the actual manual. There is also useful comment and opinion from the Author in his recommendations of what settings to use as a professional photographer. The additional information on lenses and other photography matters, whilst pretty basic is quite well put together. A very practical handbook.

Excellent book that covers the essential functions of D800 in a much more accessible way than the manual from Nikon, but then goes on to describe practical applications of the multitude of variables available. A practical guide to both the camera and how best to use it in sports, landscapes and in the studio.

Es una guía muy clara, que se ayuda de figuras bien elegidas. Los consejos y conceptos generales sobre fotografía son también interesantes. La única pega es que, a veces, se limita a describir los diferentes menús de la máquina.

Como todos estos libros se pierde en generalidades- a pesar de todo ayuda pero falta una lista completa de los parámetros según lo que vas a fotografiar

I had hoped that this book would expand on the information provided in the manual. It does not. It repeats the manual, leaving out a great deal of information, the only difference being that the font is larger. Very disappointed.