Mastering the Nikon D810 (The Mastering Camera Guide Series)

I have used Nikon SLRs since the 1960s - Nikkormat, FA, F90, a couple of Fs and F2s, F4, and F100. Most recently I have used the D300 and D700. Last summer I rented a D800 for two weeks of shooting on a trip to Dartmoor and Cornwall. The results with the large image sensor were spectacular and significantly increased my flexibility in editing. To learn about the new features of the D800 I printed out a copy of the how to guide by a photographer with a prominent on-line presence who publishes reviews, how to stuff, etc. After reading repeated claims of his that all of the other pros he knows don't bother with RAW, but just shoot jpeg, that small jpegs are just fine, the the "P" mode on the camera stands for "Pro mode" (whereas in fact it stand for "programmed", i.e. camera choses aperture and speed, etc etc. I concluded that I could not rely on this person for advice. So I ended up using my intuition and familiarity with the D300 and 700 models. When I decided to get the D810 I needed a reference to fill me in on details, on differences, and perhaps some not obvious features to take advantage of. I picked Young's book based on other reader comments. This was a GREAT choice! It's well written, in so far as a book about how to use a camera can be, good interactions of humor, certainly doesn't talk down to you, and is WAY better than the manual. AN example of the humor: in contrast to the aforementioned web personality who equates "P" mode with "professional", David Young equates it with "Party" which is quite apt. I am about half way through it but already have found it to be exceptionally useful in learning about the camera, especially its many improvements over the D300 and 700 (and more since I never read anything about these). For example there is a clear and thorough discussion of focus and exposure and flash modes. If you are already familiar with previous DSLRs by Nikon you can quickly skip over parts of many chapters, but make sure that there are no hidden gems in there. A highlighter is very useful while reading to mark the new (to me) and relevant info. Young gives cross references to pages in the Nikon Manuel for the camera but when I bothered to look at them I found that all I needed to know was stated in a much clearer fashion in his book. My only minor quibbles are the ordering of chapters ( for example, why have the one on the Playback menu at the beginning of the book - there is no need to follow the order of the Nikon menus!) and a few (very few actually) garbled sentences. Also, I question the need for illustrating so many steps on how to choose each of the menu items. The words he gives would probably have sufficed. And I wish there were an e-version so that I could pull out the things I have highlighted and kept them with me on trips. None of these detract from my 5 star rating. Overall, though, it is a highly useful book and is teaching me how to take advantage of all of the camera's features. Finally, I looked through the negative, ie. 1-3 star reviews. One person was REALLY upset by the order of chapters, as I noted about the Playback discussion. Seems to me you just need to read the book in a non-linear fashion. Doesn't detract in any way from its usefulness. There were complaints about the print size - hmm. The font size is comparable to or larger than that in most quality paperbacks. I wear glasses with pretty strong corrections and actually found the size of font to be very good. Ditto for the physical size of the book - a bit larger than the typical quality PB but not so large that I could hold it with one hand and the camera in the other (and no, I do not have large hands!). There also was a comment that the book did not improve upon the manual that comes with the camera. Really?? Also, this is definitely NOT a how to take good pictures book, 'tho it does contain many pointers on taking advantage of the many capabilities of the D810. Rather it is a book on how to use the camera. Also, the author assumes some familiarity with photographic terms such as RAW, RGB, sRGB, etc. My guess is that given the backgrounds of most people who would buy this camera, the assumption is a good one.

Excellent book. Easy, clear and to the point. I'm a photographer who change recently to professional DSLRs and consider myself an "more than a intermediate but not yet amateur/professional photographer". This book bring all details and features of the D810 and help me understand all tricks and functions of the camera. I'm from the old school who prefer to shoot the perfect photo at first and not doing retouches and photoshop. So it is important to know every trick this camera have. The book provide with pictures and photos the workflow to change settings and getting the best picture at first. This book is not intended to teach you how to take photos. If you buy this book means that you know the basics and more about photography. This book teach you how to get the most of the D810 for make your life easy. I will recommend this book to any amateur to professional photographer who wants to get 100% knowledge of the $3K inversion.

Awesome book. Very well written with clear explanations and details. It's a D810 Bible.

Excellent companion to the Nikon User Guide. Well written and well organized. Step by step instructions regarding how to change settings. The author provides personal recommendations for most options and settings. The only reason I gave this book a 4-start rating is because it is just shy of being as informative as books written by Thom Hogan. I would highly recommend this book for beginners and intermediate users.

This book tells every nuance of the menu system in easy-to-read, fully-illustrated format, at least that is the case for the eBook which I bought. It also explains each control and its best uses, how to use them, when to use them and even recommends the best menu settings, at least in the opinion of the photographer writing this book, Darrell Young. It is quite handy but it is also quite a large volume. That is because it is packed with information. While the manual is referred to and cited often, this book contains a lot more information than what is contained in the Nikon D810 manual [which is very difficult to read unless you download the PDF version of the manual]. This is an excellent reference book.

Easily readable and very thorough. When the author tells you what settings he uses, he explains why those work for him, and why you might want to use different settings, depending on your own style. The other book Amazon has for about the same price has what I see as some major drawbacks (in the free sample section the other author recommended just setting the ISO at 200 and leaving it - thereby eliminating one of the best features of the camera, to wit: the 14.8 dynamic range available at ISO 64. The same guy recommended removing the covers to the HDMI, USB and one other port, which compromises the weatherproofing). Mr. Young brooks no such foolishness. I traded up from a D300 I'd been using for the last 8 years, and although the controls are similar, this book really does an excellent job of fleshing out just what you can do with each of the settings and controls. I still take it with me when I go on photo trips to use as a reference.

Once again Digital Darrell has done it. His easy to read and follow book so far outdoes the NIKON supplied User Manual that it renders that manual unnecessary. Functions, processes and options are discussed clearly with excellent illustrations. The complexity and flexibility of this amazing camera are made easy to understand and the relationships between the various options, e.g., bracketing and exposure mode are explained clearly. I have used Darrell's guide books for all my Nikon cameras from the D300 to this D810. And I would recommend that anyone seriously looking at owning the D810 should get this book.

I was looking forward for this book due to the fact I was quite impressed after reading "Mastering the Nikon D7000" written by the same author. I always found cameras manual quite boring, not enough detailed and often difficult to understand, but Darrell Young does a superb job explaining certain features of the camera, that otherwise you'll read over and over without being sure you really understood correctly..... In this book I like very much the "Retouch Menu" chapter; it explains all the functions that the camera allows you without using a computer. Another chapter I found really interesting and helpful is the "Video Recording" one. This book is a "MUST" if you want have 100% control of your Nikon D810 and getting the best out of it.