Nikon D90 For Dummies

I had to return the copy I purchased from Amazon (direct, not a marketplace seller) late in 2020 because as other recent reviewers have stated, the copy which arrived was 'In Full Color!' outside but only grey scale throughout inside. Having returned the copy I got from Amazon, I then ordered a replacement from the publishers (Wiley) and when it arrived I was amazed to find that copy was also only colour on the outside, with no colour content on the inside. On engaging with the publisher about this I was informed that they would do a new print run of the book in colour from January 2021. They have proved as good as their word: I now (end of January 2021) have a newly printed full colour copy of the book, which came directly from the publisher.Unfortunately, a batch of them were printed in 2020 with only grey scale illustrations inside despite having 'In Full Color!' on the outside so for the forseeable future you will have to seek clarification from any seller as to whether the copy they are selling is in full colour inside, or not.Many others have reviewed the book from the point of view of its content so I won't cover that ground again, suffice to say that it is a decent book when it is printed in colour, as it should be. Most of the reviewers who gave this a low star rating understandably did so because they received a black and white copy of a supposedly colour book.

My experience with many "after-market" guides has almost always been that you get a book with the first couple of chapters dedicated to product that you have purchased, whilst the remaining 80% book is a generic guide on the relevant subject - in this case digital photography. I suppose that, in this way, the publishers and author can use the vast majority of the material for a range of different products.What has impressed me with this book is that it is 326 pages dedicated solely to the Nikon D90. The illustrations are in large clear colour throughout, it contains frequent "screen dumps" from the information displays on the camera, and all is explained in everyday language. This book starts where the manufacturer's hand book leaves off, and whilst the handbook tells you "what the camera does" this book shows you "how to do it". I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone from beginner to serious amateur level (which is after all the sector of the DSLR market the D90 aims to capture).I also have this guide on my Kindle, In fairness I found the Kindle version less readable, so on that basis I suppose it must be the clear layout and and colour printing of the paperback version that sets it apart from the competition, for me at least.For my money this book is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition, I am very pleased with it.

King's book is an excellent, lucid guide to the D90 which complements very well Ken Rockwell's more opinionated, but thoroughly informative on-line guide. King's book is comprehensive and should appeal equally to those who are new to contemporary SLR digital photography and the very experienced photographer. For instance, King treats the 'point and shoot' modes seriously and shows their posssibilities in a positive and non-patronising light. By this she encourages the beginner to become confident in using these settings as ones which which are valuable in themselves and as a way of gradually seeing the point and possibilities of the advanced modes.King writes well. She is clear, uses simple language and combines her text with the copious illustrations in a tight fashion. In other words you don't have to keep flipping three or four pages which separate the words from the pics.I highly recommend the book but I also recommend Rockwell's on-line guide as well to be read side by side King's. He sometimes makes strong recommendations about settings. I like this because he is never domineering and it can be a real help if you are new to digital SLR photography; but it can sometimes get in the way of exporing the camera's possibilities for yourself. King's book is more 'neutral' in this respect and so in some ways frees you up to try things out a bit more than Rockwell's guide does. I shouldn't, but sometimes when I don't follow one of Rockwell's strong suggestions, I feel worried that I am going against the expert's grain. Of course, that's my fault not Rockwell's, but I liked King's book especially because it told me what the camera is capable of and freed me up 'to play'.After all, if you don't like your results you can scrub them out in a twinkling.

As always these reference books are great value and so is this one, but this time there is a but. It's not with the content that's fine too. The nag is on the front cover it says IN FULL COLOUR in caps in bright red. The only thing is, IT'S NOT, its in full black and white throughout the book. My other D3500 reference book makes no reference to full colour, and that's in full colour throughout. Still as the pics are the same in both books you can check them out.

A very nice, simple introduction to the use of the camera.Personally I would have preferred to have seen some of the earlier chapters truncated somewhat (A Pre-Dummies Guide?) and a little more emphasis on using the camera.However I lower my score for this book somewhat as large portions of the book as direct cut and paste from the Dummies Guide to the D40/D40X - considering that the D90 is a rather more complicated camera I would have expected more effort here.Overall a good replacement for the poorly written manual but considering the capabilities of the Camera, nothing more.