Nikon D200 Digital Field Guide Paperback – July 19, 2006

I normally don't write reviews, but this book is excellent! Being an avid film SLR enthusiast in my teens and early twenty's, I somehow ended up totally out of the SLR game for about 20 years. When my D200 came in, I was amazed at how bad the manual was and immediately went online to see if anyone had authored a book on the D200. The D200 Digital Field Guide was the first hit in Google and I preordered it immediately from Amazon.Now I'm sure that for those who have been working with digital SLR cameras for a while, the manual was somewhat informative, but for me it was more of a pain. It explained how to set features, but not what they did or how they impacted the resulting photograph. For those who are just getting in (or back in) to photography and have the Nikon D200, this book is a must have. Look at it as a companion to, or better yet, an interpreter for the manual. Everything the manual left out is covered here in detail. And, for those few places the manual did cover things adequately, the author still touches on it for a bit of additional clarification. This book should have been shipped with the D200, as it provides clarity on how the camera handles things like metering, exposure, noise reduction and auto focus along with every other feature Nikon packed into the camera.When book finally arrived from Amazon last week, I found that by the time I was a few pages in, the help I needed had arrived. By page 10, I was comparing the information presented in the book (which sat in the left hand) to the camera (which was in my right hand) as I was reading. Just a few chapters in and about an hour later, I was able to get much better results from the camera.I really appreciate the author's comprehensive dedication to the subject. During the few months it took for the camera to arrive, I decided to evaluate current literature on the topic to prepare me for when the camera came in. I ended up buying Mastering Digital SLR Photography, also by David Busch. That was an easy, yet very informative read. When I purchased Adobe Photoshop CS2 recently, I headed back to the local bookstore and after sifting through the various books on the subject, settled on Photoshop CS 2.0: Photographers Guide, not realizing Busch had authored that book too. Busch presents the topics in each book in a great manner and I've been very pleased with all of them.

I'm not a professional, my D200 was my second digital - my first D-SLR. I was lost with the manual - it was hard to read, hard to understand, and way too small of print. I even printed a 81/2x11 copy of the owner's manual from Nikon. That helped - BUT, when I started reading this book, I was so glad I bought it. It not only goes through everything in the manual in a more concise way - it also gives you practice ideas to help you put your knowledge to work. I give it 5 stars! I've bought more books and more DVD's in the 1 1/2 years I've had my D200, but this is the only book I carry with me everywhere! That's proof to me that it has what I look for!

With any new camera, it becomes difficult to try and understand all of the features and functions. The manual that comes with the camera just does not seem sufficient to give all of the details. The Nikon D200 Field Guild is a great companion to the owners manual as it provides details and real world examples of how features should be set or at a minimum what they do. After a few frustrating picture taking experiences, I decided to purchase this book. Since reading it, I feel my understanding of how the camera should be set has been dramatically enhanced as has my confidence. If you are new to the Nikon D200 or if you are just not sure what all the capabilities are for this camera I would suggest picking up a copy of the Field Guide. I think you will appreciate the ease of reading and the depth of content it provides. Ultimately it will increase your confidence in using the camera which should result in better pictures.

I bought this book along with the magic lantern guide for D200 because reviews were very confusing and I wanted to find out for myself which book is better. I am an amateur photographer so I want to know more about the camera and the tricks it can do. Right from its presentation of the camera's format I find this book more appealing to read. I find the tips on various shooting modes and events much more interesting. The Magic Lantern guide book to me was like a better version of the manual that comes with the camera. Overall, I would suggest this book as better than the magic lantern. While I am interested to know how to use the camera I also wanted to know how best to use it in different situations and this book has a good balance of both! If you are an amateur photographer GET THIS BOOK!

With an important shoot looming and the camera in shipping I was panicking. I received this book on Mon. Read furiously. Unpacked the camera Tues. evening and was on the shoot Wed. at 6AM. Backed it up the first day with film cameras. I got such good results that by Thurs. I had abandoned the film backup. This was all due to the answeres I got from this book every time I looked up something I didn't understand. The manual is thorough but in fine print and very complex. This book will give you a detailed overview in a logically organized manner.

You guys!This book is a MUST have for all D200 owners that are new to the dslr game. Even if you are familiar with dslr's, it still would be an asset to have this book. The manual that came with my D200 might as well have been in chinese..........it is very hard to understand and very confusing unless you have had an extensive education in photography and know all of the lingo. I carry this book wherever I go. The reason I bought it is because of the reviews here on amazon.com. You HAVE to buy this book. No ifs and or buts......I bought it used and it came to me looking brand new. This is the second book by David Busch I bought about the dslr game, and I reccomend "Quick Snap Guide to Digital SLR Photography" by David Busch. Both books are a MUST if you don't know, but want to know about DSLR photography.

Excellent practical guide on the use of the Nikon D200. Very clear language, illustrated by excellent imagesVery useful for me

It all sounds good, and it does look good, but the content was disappointing. I think I learned one new thing about my D200, which I did not already know from the manual or playing with it (the fact that I can load custom curves; it does not tell you how, just that you can). This is clearly a book for a beginning photographer who somehow got themselves in too deep with a D200. Most of the material on the D200 is perfectly available in the documentation (which fits much more easily in my camera bag as a "field guide"). There is very little insight into how to best use the features or what workflow will make your life easier in various situations. About half the book is general photography info, which is covered by numerous other authors in a more complete fashion.If you are a new photographer and you happen to have gotten yourself a D200, this book might help. Otherwise, save your money. I have the D200 Lantern guide coming later this week. I hope it will be better (certainly my other Lantern guides are).

At last a very readable book that clearly describes how to get the best out of the D200. Much better than the official Nikon hand book, and in my opinion streets ahead of any other books I have come across on this subject. I also have his book on the D40 which is equally good. My constant companion!

an excellent book but not for beginners ,. Gives examples of settings for every type of photographic situation . Well illustrated i recommend it to any D200 user

I recently bought the D200 and read the instruction book (included) cover to cover and found it easy to read and understand and had the camera working in no time at all. A few years ago I purchased the F5 and for the fun of it bought a Magic Lantern guide, it didn't really cover any more than I had learnt in the F5 manual.So it was with trepidation that I ventured down the path of an other guide dedicated to a specific camera! I am of mixed mind...Part 1 covers nothing really new, that I didn't know in the manufacturers guide! It is printed better and clearer to read, but that is as should be...Part 1 continues to cover a little more, but again nothing that can't be read between the lines of the manual!So I am at Part 2 on page 75 and I haven't learnt much that I didn't know before! Part 2 has info on Essentials, exposure DofF and HISTOGRAMS, helpful! All about lenses, ok, Working with light, prob have that in another book, and Photo Subjects. Again this is probably in other photo books but it is useful here and has over 100 pages dedicated to this subject!Part 3 is troubleshooting and is only a few pages, so that is a plus point really!! It mentions dust removal and equipment to use!There is a glossary at the back!I will keep this book on the 100 pages of photo subjects and it has a few pages of useful info here and there, but I won't get another guide of its kind because I don't see the point! All the additional info is most probably available in other books and the included guide covers pretty much everything this does, shame.....I have read other books by Busch and plan to check out some others, so the author can't be criticized, he knows his cameras!