How to Do Everything: Digital Camera (How to Do Everything Series)

Nice, simple explanations, with clear diagrams of: why shutter speed makes a difference; what an Aperture is; and so on. The example shots are more 'my kids in the yard' than 'snows over Kathmandu'. But then, that's the kind of shots most of us are going to take, so it makes sense in this context.

It is very useful to have a book which covers editing images using PaintShopPro, which I suspect is much more commonly used among amateur photographers that the PhotoShop that other books assume you have. I think I will be referring to this section of the book more than any other.

The absence of colour illustration seems odd in a book about photography, though the black-and-white examples are clear enough to show what is being explained.

(I have the 2001 edition of this book, the later reprint may vary.)


Not quiet everything   July 4, 2005
Mr. Russell C. Toft (England)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

This is the second book in the series of 'How to do everything with your' that I have. The other book is Paint Shop Pro 8. I need not have bought that book as over half the Digital Camera book is devoted to manipulating images in Paint Shop Pro 8. As with most digital photography books, this one seems to follow suit, in that only part of the book is devoted to taking pictures. The rest is about memory cards, scanning, manipulation of images ect.

All very good stuff, but if you purely want to know how to take good pictures then this book may not be as comprehensive as you would like. If you have PSP8 and want to know how to combine the basics of photography with image manipulation, then this is the book for you.


An excellent read for a novice with ambition   August 11, 2004
John K
110 out of 111 found this review helpful

I recently purchased my first digital camera. In the end it came down to a choice of 2. I could either buy the teeny-weeny Pentax Optio with its sleek sexy look, or the big and heavy Canon A80 with knobs, dials and wonderful geeky bits. Option 1 meant buying a camera, option 2 meant buying a hobby. I chose option 2.

At first I was a little disappointed with my new camera, it was fine in its automatic mode but I only ever got rubbish photos from the plethora of manual settings. Having read the user guide I was able to understand what the buttons did mechanically, but I had no idea why or when to use them. In the end I decided to buy 'How to do Everything with Your Digital Camera'. The name filled me with fears of a rubbish 'Idiots Guide' style book, but I was spurred on by the positive reviews on Amazon, and I have now decided to add one of my own.

For some reason I expected the book to be in colour so I was a shade disappointed that it's all black and white, except for a small colour insert. But when I actually sat down and read it, it was like somebody had been listening to all the questions I'd been asking myself about my new camera and provided all the answers (I'm currently checking for bugs so be warned Mr Johnson).

Going back to the days before I read this book I'm ashamed to say that I genuinely thought my camera was broken. When taking macro photos I could only ever get a wafer thin portion of my subject in focus. Having read this book I realise that by decreasing my aperture size I can fix the problem completely. It's absolutely packed with these little facts and it seemed like every page had me thinking "Oooooh, so THAT'S what I've been doing wrong".

If you read the beginning of the last paragraph and thought to yourself "Duh! That's sooo obvious". Then this book is probably too basic for you. But, if you thought "Macro? Is that the button with the tulip on it?" I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I have read it through from cover to cover and I feel that I now have the correct foundations in place to not only take significantly better pictures right away, but also to build a real understanding of the subject in the future.