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Reviews on this page are quoted directly from their sources and include the DSLR eBooks and prior Nikon and Sony compact camera eBooks.
--Nikon Executive (quoted from email)
From the Press: Quick Book Review: Until recently, it was popular for a book to include a CD with examples of images and software covered in the book. Publishers and retailers were not fond of this as it complicated the publishing process. Now, many technical computer and photo books include web addresses so readers can download the samples from the author’s or publisher’s websites. What’s more, the eBook ($49.95, available by mail-order from www.gmbooks.com) also includes over 600 Photoshop actions that iNova has created, many of them unique to the D200. The beauty of the book is that as one scrolls through the pages using Adobe Acrobat Reader, the photographs come alive and everything is interactive. For example, when he lists the different mode settings, one only has to move the computer mouse over the image for the effects to be immediately shown. It’s something that could not be demonstrated as effectively in a printed book. Each entry in the index is clickable, so one can go to the page in question immediately, and naturally, the links to relevant websites are also clickable. Although the book is aimed at the enthusiast rather than the pro photographer, there is still plenty of information to garner from the book as iNova, with co-author Uwe Steinmueller, delves into the camera’s capabilities and foibles in minute detail. Aside from not being able to read this book in areas where it’s not possible to use a computer, this eBook offers much greater value than an equivalent printed book. --John Rettle |
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From the Photographers:
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Imaging Resource's Review
Book Bag: DSLR: Nikon D70
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In our April 6, 2001 issue we called Peter iNova's Nikon Coolpix eBook a Mai Tai on Proverbial Island (the one where you get to take just one book). And, reading that early appreciation, we wouldn't mind quoting more from it in describing his latest edition: "DSLR: Nikon D70" by Peter iNova with Uwe Steinmueller.But in the intervening years, our appreciation has deepened.
We've noticed no camera manufacturer has ever bundled Peter's seminal works with their camera despite the universal high praise. Why? It's simple. Manufacturers never admit to any problems with either digital photography in general or their cameras in particular. With a chapter like Peter's "The Top 40 Photographic Problems," the book would never get through the first committee approval meeting.
And yet, anyone who's ever pressed a shutter button is relieved to hear there are 40 known solutions. It's encouraging.
That generic help is fleshed out with insider tips for particular camera models. But if you don't happen to own the specific model highlighted, you might take a pass. That would be a mistake. We said in 2001 and we'll repeat, "the eBook is worth having whether you own a Nikon or not. The Photoshop actions don't know what camera took the image they are working on. And the text of the book leaves no basic question unanswered. Sure, there's extra stuff about Nikons, but you can blink if that bothers you."
Incidentally, Nikon made this less of an issue by just announcing a $100 rebate through Dec. 31 on the D70 (with or without a lens).
ONE MORE REASON
We've been wearing out the floor trying to decide just which digicam we should invest in next. So we looked forward to some insight on the D70.
Frankly, after years of shooting digital, we're a lot less enamored of the SLR model than we thought we'd be. We've grown to appreciate using the LCD as a viewfinder, having a live histogram, shooting short video clips, swiveling the lens independently of the LCD, pocketing our camera. With a dSLR, you give all that up.
So we looked to Peter and Uwe for some insight. What could we do with a D70 that we couldn't do with, say, a Sony DSC-F828? When you're about to spend $1,000 on a camera you'll live with for a few years, a $50 book by a couple of guys who have been using one for a while is a good investment.
Let's see what you get for your money.
PACKAGE
"This eBook," Peter writes in the Preface, "is the product of two authors who each own and use the D70 to capture images of many sorts. Peter iNova shoots as creative director of Metavision. Uwe Steinmueller shoots fine art naturalist photography and is an expert in Raw image format gathering, processing and printing."
Together they've produced a package that covers everything from what a pixel is to how to process Raw images, going well beyond a single PDF. The package includes:
- The D70 PDF eBook itself, now a 378-page 48.9-MB high resolution publication and a 97.2-MB ultra-high resolution publication (whose profuse illustrations, many of which are animated, can be enlarged 400 percent)
- Uwe Steinmeuller's "Raw Materials, Working with Raw Converters", a 3.9-MB, 60-page PDF
- 466 iNovaFX Photoshop actions with Peter iNova's "Shooting for Effect", an eight-page printed piece explaining what to expect from his Photoshop actions
- A color test chart with an in-camera white balance chart and color filters chart printed on the inside of the cover
- Software [MW] including Panorama Tools 2.1, 20/20 MD trial version, a PhotoRescue demo, Acrobat Reader 6 and Photoshop 6.0 Tryout
- Example and practice images with model releases
- ReadMe files in HTML, text and Word formats, clearly the friendliest approach ever invented
- The Web site (http://www.digitalsecrets.net) with "updated information, links, special offers, new techniques and the latest information about these cameras"
That's quite a package for under $50 (and you can save $6.50 on shipping if you take advantage of our special deal at http://www.imaging-resource.com/cgi-bin/nl/pl.cgi?dgn).
EBOOK CONTENTS
Now that you know the table of contents is only a part of the package, let's see exactly what it includes.
The D70 eBook covers:
- Preface and Introduction, which includes a basic glossary of digital photography terms
- Basics and Not So Basics, a history of the development of digital photography that starts from sunrise in prehistory and continues into the science of color reproduction and image editing
- Digital Photo Myth Reduction discusses a baker's dozen commonly held assumptions about photography, some true and most not
- The Photoshop Connection reveals seven essential techniques for image manipulation of tone and color
- Using Photoshop Layers, written by Uwe, explains the concept of layers and how to effectively use adjustment layers
- D70 Operation provides 102 pages on the Nikon dSLR, including over 400 InfoBites (one-paragraph guides, notes, factoids or warnings)
- SB-800 Operation covers Nikon's new Creative Lighting System, as well as using older Nikon flash technology with the D70
- How Do I? The Top 40 Photographic Problems guides you through common issues like turning the camera on, balancing color, zooming the lens, making double exposures, shooting panoramas, handling fast action, using external flash and more
- Learning Digitography -- Self Help Course is a series of photographic exercises designed to improve your compositional and technical skills
- Printing Digital Photographs offers sound, practical advice from someone who has been through several generations of Canon, Epson and HP printers
- Special Effects introduces a number of image edits you'll actually come to rely on, from using blurs to creating multiple exposures
- Vexing FAQs answers general questions about memory cards, using flash, minimizing print fading, preferred lighting setups and D70 accessories
- InovaFX Action Operation describes the accompanying Photoshop actions, which include barrel distortion correction, chromatic aberration repair, push processing, noise reduction, glare enhancement, JPEG artifact reduction, dynamic range extension, color to black/white conversion, artistic effects and a lot more
- Appendix, Index, Gallery
Uwe's eBook is divided into two parts:
- *Raw Files Defined* includes What are Raw files, the Raw file advantage, Color aliasing/moires, What about using JPEG and not Raw, Capturing photos in the field, Using your camera's histogram, Color channel cupping, Optimal white balance, Object/subjective white balance and Selecting the right ISO.
- *Working with Raw Files* adds The Raw workflow, Principle workflow steps, Adobe Camera Raw ACR, Phase One's Capture One DSLR and Nikon Capture.
And Uwe has chimed in here and there throughout the larger eBook. We were particularly charmed by his note on why he only shoots in manual mode in Chapter 4.
CHAPTER FOUR
In fact, Chapter 4 is the part of the book that puts D70 in the title. But it's an enjoyable read, entertaining in a way manuals are not (you know, written by a "person").
It begins with a tour of the camera, its control layout, exposure modes, card recommendation, power options -- all spiced with tidbits like using the camera's Auto/Manual focus switch rather than the one on the lens, using CR2 lithiums to power the camera in a pinch, why the camera never shuts down.
Performance is highlighted along the way, as we learn how the camera powers up instantly and is always at the ready, unlike many digicams. Special attention is paid to explaining the design so you can take advantage of its efficiencies.
Peter considers the full range of typical setup decisions (focus mode, image size, compression setting), liberally sprinkling the discussion with practical advice. When you're ready to shoot, he gives you just enough of the D70 menu system to get to work before explaining each Scene mode.
"Instant response is the hallmark of the D70. It's the first dSLR to act and react this quickly," he writes in discussing the image review system. Snap the shot and it appears instantly on the LCD. Peter then explains how to evaluate the screen display, including the histogram.
His discussion of Flexible Program Adjust, in which Program mode's default shutter and aperture settings can be adjusted using a command dial, is nicely illustrated with a shot of the D70 showing how to access that dial as well as the EV adjust dial with one hand. You appreciate the design that went into such details when you see exactly how to use them.
Both the 18-70mm AF-S Nikkor D70 kit lens and alternative Nikkor lenses are extensively covered, the discussion delving into slide copying and T-mounts for telescopes. The advantages of particular Nikkors are discussed in detail.
The discussion on focusing leads to white balance which leads to metering, wending its way naturally through all the menu options.
There's also a hefty section on dealing with the D70's "character traits," little peculiarities like the easily fogged monitor cover (and how to avoid it) or the safety switch on the focus-assist light that shuts it down for 10 minutes. Practical problems like standing the camera up, offloading images from the card and cleaning dust off the sensor are also covered. There's even a discussion on how to use the lid from a tin of smoked oysters to make a bounce flash reflector.
Then Peter tackles the new SB-800 flash and the advantages of Nikon's Creative Lighting System technology. After exhausting that topic, the chapter continues with a discussion of using older Nikon flashes (which ones work, which don't and what their limitations are). Peter lays out all your options.
Nikon Capture software is then compared to Photoshop. Nikon includes only a trial version of Capture, so the comparison helps you decide whether to spring $100 for a license. Perspective control and dust management are highlighted.
Finally, a number of accessories are discussed, including remote controls. And we say "finally" very lightly. We've skimmed over a lot of what this chapter covers.
RAW STUFF
Uwe's accompanying 60-page tome on Raw file workflow is also a very readable presentation, clearly explaining the difference between JPEG and Raw formats.
"In-camera JPEG is like shooting a Polaroid (where you just shoot and get your image processed immediately) and the RAW is like the film that can be developed and enhanced in the dark room," he writes. His PDF explains how to handle what your sensor captures, helping it evolve from a data file into an image file.
You'll learn why sharpening a Raw image is critical, how to evaluate a histogram, when to set white balance and how. But, like Peter, he gives you all your options, discussing how to optimize your camera settings if you decide you just want to shoot JPEGs.
After describing the Raw workflow, Uwe shows you how to use Adobe's Camera Raw plug-in, Phase One's Capture One DSLR (C1) and Nikon's Capture to achieve the optimal image from the sensor data.
CONCLUSION
After reading through these PDFs, we came to appreciate what the D70 can do. From small aides like viewfinder grid lines (which can be disabled) to major issues like power up and shutter lag and well beyond to how it behaves shooting Raw images, we learned in a few hours what it would have a taken a month and a thousand bucks to find out.
Even more, this one publication can literally take you off the street and make you conversant with what's going on today in digital imaging. It's like hanging out with a couple of pros who are so excited about what they're doing they can't stop talking about it. And showing you with illustrations exactly what they mean.
It remains the single best addition to any camera kit, providing an encyclopedic discussion of digital imaging with a specific discussion of your camera and a wealth of Photoshop actions to get you going with image editing magic.
TITLE: dSLR: Nikon D70 by Peter iNova with Uwe Steinmueller, Two volumes, 378+60 pages, on CD at $50 directly from the publisher at http://www.digitalsecrets.net/.
--Dave Etchells, Publisher, and Mike Pasini, Editor, Imaging Resource
Note: These eBooks are neither endorsed nor produced by Nikon Inc nor Canon Inc. nor any other equipment manufacturer. They are a private effort and present each subject camera, optics and accessories in an informative manner without editorial influence from the maker of these products.
Book Bag, Imaging-Resource, July 6, 2007
"(DSLR: Nikon D70) is done incredibly well. Better than anything we've seen. I'm asked to review a good deal of these (third party Nikon topic publications) and yours smokes them."
An alternative method of distribution is the eBook. On the whole, these have not been well accepted. They are not as easy to read as books made from dead trees. However, those who have taken the medium and developed it so it delivers a truly interactive experience that can only be accomplished on a website or on a CD have been successful with publishing eBooks. Peter iNova is one of these authors. He has published several incredibly detailed, in-depth eBooks on cameras. His latest is a 624-page eBook with over 2000 images covering usage of the Nikon D200.
"Three weeks ago I bought myself a D200 -- and one week ago I ordered your D200 eBook. I have now poured over it for a whole weekend, and just wanted to quickly compliment you for this truly excellent product!