Friedman’s book...opinions...Please

In a word. Yes.

I bought it back in January. It was and is an incredible publication. I am still reading it, but that is simply how I am. He has laid it out in easy to read chapters explaining what he needs to and worthwhile to read.

If you download the book you can print it out.

What I've done is I've printed a few chapters at a time and then take the document to work to read in my breaks (I'm a professional driver). It is also handy to have the camera around you when reading so you can have an "ooh" and "ahh" whilst going through it ;)

I've a 5D. I've got as far as Appature Priority and the bits before it. I'm not a genius, but will plod along at my own pace. I reckon I'll finish the book in Summer :D :D

One more thing...Does Friedman explain each and every dial,knob,and button...What they do and how they work?
The manual does such a bad job...First you start reading one page which tells you to go to pg 58...pg 58 points you to pg 24 and on and on...Poorly written imo!

Sorry Saratoga and Mr Friedman...I wae referring to the Minolta Manual. No slam about Friedman's book intended.

Edited by ybsane - 12 March 2006 at 09:09

I would also like to praise the book (although I've only read a third of it so far). Mr. Friedman does not hesitate to indicate his preferences for settings and his reasoning. He also shares relevent experiences.

The first part deals with the basics with later chapters dealing with the more complex subjects.

How much is that book?? Sounds like kinda expensive?? :p

Ohh US19.95 isnt expensive at all. I got mine earlier. :D

Thx bret for the reminder. ;)

I purchased the book (B&W print version) after having had my 7D for about six months. I didn't gain too much new information from it, having read the manual and lurked here and on the KM forum on dpreview, but even so it's worthwhile to have all of that information in one place. Gary also gives some useful reminders about basic photographic skills (composition, etc.). In short it will be tremendously useful if you're not too familiar with your camera yet, and is still a good buy even if you've got the camera pretty well figured out.

About the only complaint I'd level at it is that I think Gary spends a bit too much time being a Minolta cheerleader. It's good that he's enthusiastic about the cameras, but for me the number of times he says how wonderful Minolta gear is and what a good choice you made gets a bit excessive.

There's much I need to learn about the 7D, and I might buy a book to lead the way. There seem to be at least two choices. How does Gary's book compare to the Magic Lantern Guide? Class, compare and contrast.

What I wouldn't want to spend money on is page after page of basic information that explains how Aperture Priority works, or how to set the self-timer (as I saw in other Magic Lantern Guides). For me, there are several magic/mystery features on the KM Ds that are completely unique, and poorly documented. AntiShake and Zone Matching are my biggest realms of uncertainty. I'm appreciate as many details and results on these camera-specific features as possible, but from Gary's contents table, they seem to get no more ink than most features and settings that are shared with other cameras.

So far, my alternative to buying these books has been to scan the archives here and at dpreview on topics of interest. That gives a democratic, grassroots perspective that I enjoy, with a few bad answers thrown in with the good. Given the cost of printer supplies, I'll probably spend as much as buying the book.