ShaolinTiger
12-19-2007, 04:54 PM
Nikon Creative Lighting System Digital Field Guide
Author(s): J. Dennis Thomas
Publisher: Wiley (http://www.wiley.com/)
Book Specifications: Paperback, 201 Pages
Category: Lighting
User Level: Beginner
Suggested Publisher Price: $19.99 USA / RM63.80 (Borders)
ISBN: 978-0-470-04527-5
11218
Amazon.com: Nikon Creative Lighting System Digital Field Guide (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FNikon-Creative-Lighting-System-Digital%2Fdp%2F0470045272&tag=quitsmokstopn-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325)
Info from Back:
"Light is the essence of photography. The Nikon Creative Lighting System lets you create the same lighting patterns with a portable, detached, wireless system that professionals achieve using cumbersome and expensive studio equipment. This practical guide is like having an expert at your elbow. It's packed with information about the CLS as well as tips, tricks, and recommendations for lighting a dozen different shooting situations. Take it on every shoot and get the most from your CLS."
Introduction
This book is similar to the field guides available for various camera bodies such as the previously reviewed Nikon D200 Digital Field Guide (http://www.shutterasia.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2456). The difference is this one is aimed at speedlights or in particular the Nikon CLS or Creative Lighting System.
I bought this book shortly after I purchased my SB-800, never having used an external flash before I was a bit lost at first so I needed something to explain to me in simpler terms what the functions on the flash meant and how to use it in different situations.
The manual for the SB-800 isn't particularly useful.
I was really looking for specifics, what buttons to press, what settings to use and how to get the most out of the speedlight. For example what the little coloured strips of plastic were for (now I know they are gels), the 5th battery and so on.
Contents
The content is fairly broad and not particularly deep, it doesn't give many specifics and even tries to cover the basics of different types of classical lighting (Rembrandt, Butterfly, Split and so on).
Plus a whole range of other stuff like some basics on photography and flash photography - which I have other books for.
It covers the features and functions of the SB-600 and SB-800 fairly well along with some tips for portraits, how to use the commander mode on various cameras, choosing equipment (brollies, diffusion panels etc.) and some settings for different situations.
It's like a few very good books compressed into one which is supposed to be about a single subject.
There's hardly anything on using the SB-800 as a commander for multiple flashes or stuff on multiple flash setups and settings (which is the most interesting and exciting part of CLS for most people).
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments. Introduction.
Quick Tour.
Part I: Using the Creative Lighting System.
Chapter 1: Exploring the CLS.
Chapter 2: Setting Up the SB-600 and SB-800.
Part II: Creating Great Photos with the Creative Lighting System.
Chapter 3: Flash Photography Basics.
Chapter 4: Wireless Flash Photography with the CLS.
Chapter 5: Setting Up a Wireless Studio.
Chapter 6: Real-World Applications.
Chapter 7: Simple Posing for Great Portraits.
Part III: Appendixes.
Glossary.
Appendix A: Resources.
Style and Detail
The style of the book is good, the language is simple and easy to follow and there are plenty of fairly high quality photographs to illustrate both the equipment and the results of using it.
In some places it does drift off though and is a little inconsistent in terms of language.
The layout is easy to follow and it's pretty easy to locate the information you require with both a comprehensive table of contents and a glossary at the back.
Conclusion
Over all I wouldn't recommend this book unless you just want something a little more informative than the manual and you are already knowledgeable about portraits (it uses terms such as main and fill light but doesn't explain what they are for).
I find it rather padded and it doesn't really get into the guts of CLS, I was expecting to learn a whole lot more but I felt rather underwhelmed after reading the whole book. Too much on general portraiture without any info on how to get the most out of CLS.
I've learned far more from reading online and studying the manual than I did from this book and of course when it comes to portrait lighting there are far better books than this one...
I'll review more of those later.
I give it a not really worth it 4/10.
http://www.shutterasia.com/forum/../review_ranks/4.gif
keywords: photography, books, book review, photography books, nikon, flash, cls, creative lighting system, field guide
This review is copyright 2007 by the author, ShaolinTiger, and Shutter Asia (http://www.shutterasia.com/forum/../), and may not be reproduced in any form in any media without the express permission of the author or Shutter Asia (http://www.shutterasia.com/forum/../).
Author(s): J. Dennis Thomas
Publisher: Wiley (http://www.wiley.com/)
Book Specifications: Paperback, 201 Pages
Category: Lighting
User Level: Beginner
Suggested Publisher Price: $19.99 USA / RM63.80 (Borders)
ISBN: 978-0-470-04527-5
11218
Amazon.com: Nikon Creative Lighting System Digital Field Guide (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FNikon-Creative-Lighting-System-Digital%2Fdp%2F0470045272&tag=quitsmokstopn-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325)
Info from Back:
"Light is the essence of photography. The Nikon Creative Lighting System lets you create the same lighting patterns with a portable, detached, wireless system that professionals achieve using cumbersome and expensive studio equipment. This practical guide is like having an expert at your elbow. It's packed with information about the CLS as well as tips, tricks, and recommendations for lighting a dozen different shooting situations. Take it on every shoot and get the most from your CLS."
Introduction
This book is similar to the field guides available for various camera bodies such as the previously reviewed Nikon D200 Digital Field Guide (http://www.shutterasia.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2456). The difference is this one is aimed at speedlights or in particular the Nikon CLS or Creative Lighting System.
I bought this book shortly after I purchased my SB-800, never having used an external flash before I was a bit lost at first so I needed something to explain to me in simpler terms what the functions on the flash meant and how to use it in different situations.
The manual for the SB-800 isn't particularly useful.
I was really looking for specifics, what buttons to press, what settings to use and how to get the most out of the speedlight. For example what the little coloured strips of plastic were for (now I know they are gels), the 5th battery and so on.
Contents
The content is fairly broad and not particularly deep, it doesn't give many specifics and even tries to cover the basics of different types of classical lighting (Rembrandt, Butterfly, Split and so on).
Plus a whole range of other stuff like some basics on photography and flash photography - which I have other books for.
It covers the features and functions of the SB-600 and SB-800 fairly well along with some tips for portraits, how to use the commander mode on various cameras, choosing equipment (brollies, diffusion panels etc.) and some settings for different situations.
It's like a few very good books compressed into one which is supposed to be about a single subject.
There's hardly anything on using the SB-800 as a commander for multiple flashes or stuff on multiple flash setups and settings (which is the most interesting and exciting part of CLS for most people).
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments. Introduction.
Quick Tour.
Part I: Using the Creative Lighting System.
Chapter 1: Exploring the CLS.
Chapter 2: Setting Up the SB-600 and SB-800.
Part II: Creating Great Photos with the Creative Lighting System.
Chapter 3: Flash Photography Basics.
Chapter 4: Wireless Flash Photography with the CLS.
Chapter 5: Setting Up a Wireless Studio.
Chapter 6: Real-World Applications.
Chapter 7: Simple Posing for Great Portraits.
Part III: Appendixes.
Glossary.
Appendix A: Resources.
Style and Detail
The style of the book is good, the language is simple and easy to follow and there are plenty of fairly high quality photographs to illustrate both the equipment and the results of using it.
In some places it does drift off though and is a little inconsistent in terms of language.
The layout is easy to follow and it's pretty easy to locate the information you require with both a comprehensive table of contents and a glossary at the back.
Conclusion
Over all I wouldn't recommend this book unless you just want something a little more informative than the manual and you are already knowledgeable about portraits (it uses terms such as main and fill light but doesn't explain what they are for).
I find it rather padded and it doesn't really get into the guts of CLS, I was expecting to learn a whole lot more but I felt rather underwhelmed after reading the whole book. Too much on general portraiture without any info on how to get the most out of CLS.
I've learned far more from reading online and studying the manual than I did from this book and of course when it comes to portrait lighting there are far better books than this one...
I'll review more of those later.
I give it a not really worth it 4/10.
http://www.shutterasia.com/forum/../review_ranks/4.gif
keywords: photography, books, book review, photography books, nikon, flash, cls, creative lighting system, field guide
This review is copyright 2007 by the author, ShaolinTiger, and Shutter Asia (http://www.shutterasia.com/forum/../), and may not be reproduced in any form in any media without the express permission of the author or Shutter Asia (http://www.shutterasia.com/forum/../).