Simon StaffordNikon D80 (Magic Lantern Guides)

In common I am sure with many other D80 users the camera was brought as an upgrade from using a 35mm film SLR and a reasonably advanced digital compact. Given the background of many D80 users, the DVD assumes that you understand concepts such as depth of field, f Stop, and bracketing - so quickly moves into how to "drive" the camera.The key areas such as exposure, auto-focusing, white balance etc. are covered in a logical order and you can skip to specific topics if you need to grasp the concepts of a particular aspect of operation.I am sure in comparison with sitting down with the manual for the same duration as watching the video you quickly grasp the basics of operation to allow you to focus on composition and picture creation rather than adjusting settings.However one you have viewed it a couple of times certainly for me it left me wanting to know more yet have exhausted the material offered on the DVDIf you view it as fast track into to the D80 it will serve you well, but provides little beyond that.

Had this camera for about 3 years, no problems with it. I then gave it to my son when he went to University and he has been using it for 4 years without any problems. It is still going strong now and my eldest son is using it to take macro/micro pictures using an adapter which allows the camera to be attached to his microscope!! VFM, most certainly. Quality, speaks for itself. 3 generations & still in use!!

If you have the camera then you will appreciate this book. this is much more that an instruction manual. it explains how to use the camera in an easy to understand manner and why you need all of the various 'bells & hooters' I have both this book andthe 'Nikon D80 Digital Field Guide'

The Nikon Guide which comes with the D80 is nothing compared to the Magic Lantern Guide. The Magic Lantern illuminates the finer points and when reading the book with your camera alongside, you will learn more than you thought possible. I'm cerftainly very pleased that I bought it.

I found this book extremely useful, not only in explaining, in depth, how to get the best out of the Nikon D80, but also in demystifying much of the terminology that surrounds digital photography and photography in general.If I were thinking about buying the D80 reading this book first would help in the making of the decision as it explains where how the internal "guts" of the D80 work in comparison to other dSLRs.If there is a downside to the book it is that as a photographic book, many of the photos of the camera showing controls could be a lot clearer. (Maybe they didn't use a D80 to take them!) Perhaps colour would be good, but then I suppose the price would be higher.All in all I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone with or contemplating the Nikon D80.