Customer Reviews

Canon EOS 60D Digital Field Guide

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

By the end of Chapter One, the number of technical errors I spotted led me to the conclusion I was wasting my time with this book (example page 4: the built-in microphone is labelled as a speaker in the photo!). This is not really a field guide at all, rather it seems like a collection of the author's personal opinions and a showcase for her own work. The technical details have not been properly checked and the book is way too bulky for use 'in the field'. Maybe the author should stick to what she does best - taking photographs! Book returned for refund and instead I bought David Busch's Compact Field Guide for the Canon EOS 60D, which is excellent.

The Canon 60D comes with a 300-page, well-written instruction manual in the box; so, what this "Field Guide" aims to do is to supplement Canon's efforts with additional explanation and discussion and it's generally successful in doing that (eg good sections on alternative lenses and on the advantages/disadvantages of RAW shooting) but if what you really want is just the crucial "how-to" bits then Canon's own manual will probably do that perfectly well. The level of advice (eg color space, histograms,Speedlites etc) is very thorough and aimed at experienced photographers - although the video section seems less well grounded. The photographs used as illustrations are rather a disappointment: functional rather than inspiring (it seemed to me there was an undue concentration on close-ups of flowers). Overall, the instruction manual supplied with the 60D may lessen this Guide's usefulness but it is still a worthwhile buy for the detail of explanation and discussion and one I will be dipping into for years.

Canon provide an excellent and authoritive manual for this camera, so it was not obvious why you would want another source of info.

I think this book is a bit more readable, and less experienced photographers would welcome browsing through this to get an outline view of the facilities, and then perhaps refer to the Canon manual to confirm the detail. It is also very useful to have another book around the house - in the dining room or loo, perhaps? I guess I am not the only one who oftens misfiles a manual and waste time trying to find it - in most cases this book would have answered my question easily.

So whilst not essential, if you are a keen user, well worth having this around.

This book did not match expectations. It started well with a good description of the camera controls then went rapidly downhill. I became increasingly irritated by proof reading errors and got the feeling that whole chunks had been transferred from her previous books then grafted in. This I believe has led to some minor errors and so I lost confidence in the rest. The author clearly knows her subject and there is a good deal of information in the book but I would not recommend it .

I'll admit that I'm a fan of this series of camera guides, and this is a good addition to the range. I'm a dedicated Canon user, and have always found that the main weakness with buying one of their very fine cameras is that there's far too much to know about the camera than you can possibly know without a good guide. Even the most basic "amateur" or "pro-sumer" models are feature-packed bits of technology these days, and you've got to be working with it everyday to get to know all the little tricks. Enter this guide to the 60D. This is a fairly advanced camera, and the guide does a good job of bringing out all the features you'll need. The only drawback is that it doesn't make for an amazing quick reference guide - yes the features are in there, but you might find yourself leafing back and forwards through it looking for that half-remembered bit of how-to knowledge, while that perfect shot is slipping away from you. So it loses a star for that, but gains four for the depth of information it provides. A fair deal overall.

Ordered this through Vine and it was perfect timing as I'd just received a Canon at Christmas. The book is, overall, excellent, and doesn't get too technical, overall. It's a little dry in places and the index is a little obstructive, but the advice is simple, easy to follow and has certainly helped me understand just how many features I never knew existed! Certainly far better than Canon's own documentation and, when you've spent that much on a camera, a few extra pounds on e decent guide is more than worthwhile. Recommended.

I wanted a book that I could quickly look up a feature and read a simple way of accessing it until I was familiar with the camera. I found the book a mixture of general photographic advice and a parody of the instruction manual supplied with the camera. It is not a book you can quickly find a reference and solution to a problem in.

This book is going to be a constant friend. It explained everything you ever want to know about this terrific camera. All it's functions are clearly explained and how to and when to use them. It's also enjoyable to read, in fact your camera skills can only improve. I brought the Kindle version and it was downloaded in about a minute. You just can't do better than that.

its a book. i just bought it from them, they just posted it. they didnt write it so i can only give so much credit. decent book though. some well spelt words and colour pictures throughout, plus its in a handy book size, so fits on a standard book shelf.

Got me up and running very quickly , easy to follow, picture grabs of menu's allow a quick understanding of how to set up your camera to suite your needs. Excellent guide for new Canon users. I bought this same time as the camera and I'm glad I did.

Gotta a Canon, get a guide