byThom
The first must have I’d recommend to anyone who just picked up a new Nikon, or who really wants to learn about the one they have, is to buy a copy of one of Thom Hogan’s Digital SLR eBooks. Lets face it as well designed as Nikon cameras are the user manuals leave a lot to be desired. Thom Hogan has been writing user guides for Nikon’s for a while now covering pretty much every Nikon SLR from the F5 on through the D90. The guides are only available from Thom’s website in the form of an eBook, essentially a CD with a PDF of the guide.
Nikon D700 guideThe Guide itself is divided into three main sections
- D700 Background
- Shooting Pictures with the D700
- After You’ve Taken Pictures with your D700
The first section covers the history of the D700 as well as providing an in depth explanation of the D700’s sensor, EXPEED processor, power, image storage and Camera Setup. While little in this first section is absolutely necessary to operating the D700 it does provide the user with an understanding of how the D700 works as well as providing the reader with sufficient background to make informed choices in the cameras settings. For example Thom explains the differences between JPEG, TIFF, and NEF, covers the options available within each format and detailed the typical file size each would generate.
The second section explains the location and use of the D700’s controls and displays. Image quality, metering and exposure methods, lenses and focusing, menus, and flash usage are all covered. Each of the cameras controls is illustrated in front, top, back, and side views of the camera. Illustrations and screen shots show the information and options available in the displays and menus. Thom takes time to spell out some of the gotcha’s that could otherwise have lead to user frustration. The discussion of the various menus while detailed is far easier to understand then Nikons manual. Thom helps out here by telling the reader which options he uses, why he chose these options, and under which conditions another option may be more useful.
The third section deals with the D700’s retouch menu, transferring images, and image playback. Since I shoot NEF, and use Aperture or Photoshop for processing, viewing and printing this last section was not as valuable to me as the fist two parts of the book. The Guide also has shorter sections on D700 accessories, specifications, servicing, and questions and answers.
Also included on the CD is an Introduction to DSLR’s PDF, an Introduction to Nikon Software PDF, several Excel worksheets covering depth of field, macro, camera card capacities, flash, focus adjustment, and D700 settings. Three videos on workflow are also included on the disk, as well as a number of Photoshop actions. The D700 Guide is part of Thom’s ”Digital SLR Complete Guides + To Go Guide” series meaning that the package includes a printed To-Go guide, basically a crib notes version of the complete guide, which as Thom explains “ contains only those things you need to know when out shooting.” This is a nice addition as his earlier series of guides (D-200, D2, D70) did not include this kind of field reference.
Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the D700 is available online from Thom’s website for $39.95 plus $6.50 shipping. There is no download option so you’ll need to wait for the guide to be delivered. Thom’s site say’s to allow four weeks for delivery, but I got mine in less then two. The CD can be read on Macs and Windows PC’s using Adobe Reader. Thom does grant the purchaser certain rites for printing a copy of the guide for personal use.
If you have a Nikon SLR then Thom’s guides are a great investment. At $40 something with shipping the Complete Guide to the Nikon D700 is not exactly cheap, but I feel the cost is offset by the greater insight I have into a $2700 DSLR. One final note, some of the tables are taken from Thom’s D3 users guide. As the D700 is basically a D3 in a D300 body this should not be an issue.
