Mastering the Nikon D800

Covers all aspects of the camera

I don't usually leave reviews, but the fact that I use other customers reviews to make my final decision on a potential purchase has prompted me to finally give something back.Ok, we need to first get some facts straight:1. I am a Nikon user.... which makes me a Nikon fan.... that's just the way it is I'm affraid. But this aside, I'm not going to lie to you. I give an honest review.2. I am a member of Nikonians, the non-profit making, Nikon enthusiast organisation who are behind this book together with the publisher Rocky Nook.3. The Nikon D800 is an AWESOME camera.....Yes, the Nikon D800 is an AWESOME camera... I know the D810 has replaced it now and I know the long awaited replacement to the much loved D700... the D750, has arrived, but the D800 is still miles ahead of its other rivals..Having such an awesome camera is though no use if you only know the basics of what it REALLY can do for you.Yes the camera ships with a manual, which is ok, and there are oceans of user sites, set-up guides and feature run-throughs on-line... But none of these replace a single, go-to book.... And this is here in the form of "Mastering the Nikon D800".The book is a beefy 560-pages, but dont let that put you off. Darrell Young has an amazing way with words and writes in a very easy going style that is easy to understand.The book is divided up logically with sections on camera set-up and controls, the various menus are described and gone through in depth, the custom settings menus are described and the authors own preferences are explained.The book goes further than the actual camera itself with excellent section explaining White Balance and how Nikons cameras deal with this. The Auto Focus system is explained and metering options are discussed and described and there is another very good chapter on Flash Photography and a look into Nikons Creative Lighting Suite (CLS).I bought the book when I got the camera a few years ago and didn't read it all at once. I have instead read it as and when needed as my photography advances and I try new stuff out...I thoroughly recommend this book....

Complément indispensable pour une utilisation rapide et fonctionnelle de cet appareil. Difficile de faire mieux pour un appareil aussi sophistiqué.

I am no stranger to Darrell Young, having purchased "Mastering the Nikon D90" a couple of years ago. That was an excellent book that greatly improved my knowledge of my Nikon D90. Mr Young's newest book, "Mastering the Nikon D800", is no different."Mastering the Nikon D800" is crammed with detailed information on all the features the D800 has to offer. In fact, 600 pages worth of information, in 13 chapters. My first area of curiosity to read up on was Histograms. I looked in the manual that comes with the D800 and it was pathetically weak and provided little if no information of value. When I received "Mastering the Nikon D800" from Amazon, I opened it and thumbed through the book and immediately found the Histogram section, 12 plus pages of it! Full of colour examples, sample photographs with histograms over-layed, all with very detailed explanations describing what you see and how to interpret this extremely useful tool. This alone was worth the price of the book.Mr Young also goes into the same depth of detail on White Balance, Flash Bracketing, Metering, ISO Sensitivity and more. The Nikon Manual has been relegated to the box the camera came in and will most likely never see the light of day again until I some day, sell the camera. When I want to look some feature of the camera up in the manual, I expect to read not only how to find the feature, but an explanation of what it does and how it works. No so, in the manual, so I am extremely grateful for this book, which clearly has all the information I am looking for.The Movie Camera feature in the D800 is incredible, a full 1080p, coupled with the 36mp image quality, the D800 is without a doubt, the King of Multi-Media. The Nikon manual, with its smaller format and footprint, offers 19 pages of description on how to use this key feature. "Mastering the D800" has approximately 40 pages, spread out over two chapters on Live View and Preparing to Make Movies. All rich with descriptions, actual step by step Menu Screens and images to guide you through and understand the process.Chapters 1, 2 and 3 are 160 pages of descriptions, charts, menus and suggestions on simply setting up your camera, painstakingly described to make your quest for knowledge on how to get the most out of your D800 as easy as it can possibly be. This book is one of the best reads on mastering your D800 because it not only tells you what the manual offers, but it does so in full colour, that is rich in text and examples. You not only know where the buttons are and how to turn on the feature, but you also get a broader scoped lesson on how to use them properly to get the best image or move clip as a result. Good luck trying to glean this information from the manual.On many pages through out the book, Mr Young will also provide you with a tips on how he personally sets his D800 up and why, for optimal picture taking results. I found these extremely helpful and in many instances, I set my D800 up the way he recommends. I especially enjoyed the read on Active-D Lighting and the settings recommended by Mr. Young have not disappointed!"Mastering the Nikon D800" is a high quality paperback, printed on good quality paper full of colour menus, images and examples. It is a substantial book at an amazingly low price and if you want to get more out of your D800, this is the book to get. Amazon's service is also amazing, from the time you order it, you will be reading it in just a few days. Do yourself a favour to get the most out of your investment in the best camera on the market, treat yourself to "Mastering the Nikon D800", you won't be disappointed.

Dieses Buch kann jedem Benützer vieles vereinfacht erklären. Zudem bring der Autor viele Erfahrung mit entsprechenden Vorschlägen und Tipps. Der Aufbau ist logisch und einfacher zu lesen als die offizielle Gebrauchsanweisung. Wenn man englisch einigermassen versteht ist es keine Kunst dieses Buch zu verstehen und seine Kenntnisse der Kamera auszubauen. Ab und zu das Wörterbuch beziehen und alles ist mehr als verständlich genug geschrieben. Manche Dinge die mit der Gebrauchsanweisung unklar blieben, werden hier begreiflich. Wie Vielversprechen die Kamera ist, kann man gleich aus dem Umfang des Buches ersehen. Es ist sehr umfangreich geworden und einiges ist sogar nur sehr kurz gefasst oder gar mit Verweis behandelt. Echt empfehlenswert.