Any books on the ISTDS ?

I am a new guy to this form, been taking photos for years and always a Pentax fan, but a rank beginner when it comes to digital photos. I just purchased an ISTDS have read the manual about 50 times, slowly learning and have taken some fair shots. I mostly need to take photos of knives with controled light, but take a lot of natural shots also.

Much of what is in the manual is over my head or somehow we do not communicate well. I ask does any one know of a book that will help me in my quest?

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

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Ed. Fowler

That's quite a difficult question as there is so much to learn not only about the camera but also about handling the digital images.

Are you a photographer coming to the *istDs from a film camera? If so, the photographic principles remain the same. If not, then a basic work on photography will offer the start you may need.

Are you familiar with Photoshop or some other imaging program? There are books and magazines by the hundred that deal with this.

I would suggest lots of reading, asking questions, perhaps joining a photographic society, maybe a digital course. All of these things would help.

Otherwise, use the camera, practice and practice and see for yourself what the results are. After all, you aren't wasting film, so you can shoot as many pictures as you like. Try all the shutter speeds and apertures, all the settings, don't hesitate to have a go.

Then when things need working on, ask more questions and someone will have the answers.

Above all, have fun!

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Best regards, John

look up techniques on using light tents.
knives are highly reflective and a couple pieces of black foam core and a tent made of white material along with an external flash unit and off camera adapter cord will serve you very well for reasonable cost.

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Fired many shots. Didn't kill anything.

oops looks to me that u were asking about camera controls....

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Fired many shots. Didn't kill anything.

I am not a professional photographer, Just for books and articles I write. My film cameras of choice were Pentax MX, I only went to digital when my favorite film developing outfit went out of business thanks to Wall Mart, they did not have the knowledge he devoted to his work and I decided to give Digital a try. Lenses run from 24 to 1000, favorite a 200 Macro. Most are manual so I am learning to work in the manual program.

John Sharp's books guided me, read them several times, I looked for similar books for the digital. Like you said I have found many similarities, and we are now getting into using Photoshop. There sure is a lot to learn, but the first few days were the toughest.

Thanks for your thoughts.

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Ed. Fowler

am also new to digital although have been into photography for many years. I purchased the book Digital SLR Cameras & Photography by David D. Bush at Amazon. This book was a real help in getting me over the hump into digital. They may have it at your local bookseller, photo shop or public library. It’s worth taking a look

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Bob

I know this is an old thread but...why start a new one!

I find the manual for the istD really sucks and at some point suggested Matt should have written the manual.

Anyway, repeating the question, is there a book specific to the D - cause even after a year, I still can't refer to the manual and books deal with other cameras.

Thanks

The principles are the same for all DSLRs. There are two different questions here. As regards camera handling, the manual does cover the basics, but apart from the different controls and menus (not much different) the methodology is very similar to the other marques.

The post-capture processing in Photoshop should be covered very well in books on PS. I suggest Martin Evening's books as being extensive and clear.

Any specific questions that remain can be posted here and someone should know the answer!

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Best regards, John