Mastering the Nikon D800 (The Mastering Camera Guide Series)

I’m rather embarrassed to say that I’ve owned my D800 since June 2012 and thought I had it setup for “me” but I was very wrong. Before the D800 I had the D3, D300, and the D700. Before that, I had the Fujifulm S1 Pro and S2 Pro. All amazing cameras. The D800 was the best of cameras, and the worst of cameras. Actually, mostly for the worst. In the past I used the D800 for landscapes, and weddings in conjunction with my D700 and all Nikon glass. In early 2013 I was so fed-up with the D800, and Nikon that I bought a Fuji system - starting with the X-E1, and now with the X-T1 and a bevy of lenses. What an amazing camera the Fuji’s are. The Fuji’s became my “go-to” system for just about everything. I seriously tried to love the D800. Honest. But it just “pissed” me off so much that I only broke it out whenever I needed to use my SB700’s flash units. With the D800, when it nailed the shot the files were glorious, but I found it just to heavy to be worth the trouble of hauling it around “just in case.” I have in my kindle library another D800 book by a very popular Nikon guy that goes by the initials TH. A very detailed book, and it helped me somewhat but really wasn’t what I needed even though I’ve read through it several times. Fast forward to just a few days ago; I’ve been considering selling my D800 and my Nikon glass as it sat unused in my safe . As we’ve all seen the price of the D800 plummet I was going to get about one half of what I originally paid for it so I decided to give the camera one more chance before auctioning it off and taking a bath. I browsed around Amazon looking for simple book on the D800. I found this book. THIS IS THE SINGLE BEST BOOK I’VE READ ON ANY CAMERA! Period. Check my other reviews, I don’t BS; I tell it like it is. I read the book on Friday as I was a day long meeting that was so boring I had my iPad on my lap reading. Unfortunately I did not have the D800 with me. When I got home Friday evening, and into Saturday afternoon I re-read the entire book starting with the first chapter! This time with the camera by my side. The book is a step by step instruction guide, easily read, beautifully written with clear, concise explanations and recommendations. The layout follows the menu on the D800. I’m an OCD type of person so this was very helpful to my way of thinking. I am just blown away by what I got out of this book. What a difference it has made in the overall performance of the camera, and my keepers. The day after I made all the modifications based on the recommendations in the book I put what I had learned into practice and was extremely pleased with the setup, and the results I was able to obtain. Now, I thought I had the D800 setup for “my style” over time since acquiring the camera. Uh - Uh. I was wrong. Here I’ve had the camera about three years and in just a couple of days learned so much more. I went along with the book and made many changes then tested the camera. What a difference. Listen, Just get the book! This was my last ditch effort before I got rid of this albatross of a camera (what it felt like to me) but after making the various changes I am actually happy with the results I’m getting now. I am now taking it with me on a week long stock/travel shooting trip I have planned. And yes, I read the manual, and as I mentioned early on in my review I’ve purchased the D800 guide from TH and it helped, but not to the extent of this book. Just get it! You won’t regret it.

If you have invested $3K in a Nikon D800, you owe it to yourself to get the most you can out of this excellent camera. The D800 is a feature-rich technical marvel that allows you to capture photographs like no other camera has before - I know because I own one. Darrell Young has done an outstanding job of providing a very readable book that digs into all the technical features that should be understood by a D800 user; and does so in a very logical, structured, and easy to follow manner. I learned a lot about this camera not found in the owner's manual.I could echo all of the other positive comments left by the previous reviewers, but I would only be duplicating what you have already read.I do want to point out one other aspect of the printed version of Darrell's book. At 600 pages, I was expecting the book to be physically very large, but it is not. The paper it's printed on is very high grade; the sheets are very thin but very durable; and the printing quality is excellent. As a result the size is perfect - it even fits into my camera bag. I have a lot of ebooks, but I am glad I bought the printed version of this one. I may be old-school, but I like holding a book and being able to flip through the pages. This is a very high quality paperback printing.Thanks Darrell and Nikonians.org for putting out such a great resource for my D800!

I recently upgraded my camera equipment to a Nikon D800 and very soon realized what a monster this camera was in comparison to what I had used before. I am a decent photographer but had not realized how advanced the D800 was until I tried to make sense of it using the manual Nikon had included in the box. Safe to say I was struggling making heads or tails of the thousands settings in this camera and I started thinking I just might had taken on a too big of a challenge when purchasing this camera.Finding Darrell Young's "Mastering the Nikon D800" was the help I so desperately needed to fully grasp and being able to utilize my new camera to the fullest. Darrell walks you through every nook and cranny of the Nikon D800, every setting and every knob and add some. The author takes you through the menus one by one, drilling down in each section and explains thoroughly what the different settings do and also for what kind of photography each setting is best suited for. Also, for each section there is a recommended setting explaining why the author prefers this, but also that for other types of photography the setting recommended might not suit all photographers.I have read through the whole book and I know have my camera setup exactly how I want it and my photos have improved accordingly, I also have the book always ready in my smartphone in case I want to go back to a setting and change it for a particular shoot.Nikon really should include this book as part of the package when you get this camera and pay the author for every camera sold, this should be mandatory reading for anyone buying the fantastic monster that is the Nikon D800.

Covers all aspects of the camera

Como todos estos libros se pierde en generalidades- a pesar de todo ayuda pero falta una lista completa de los parámetros según lo que vas a fotografiar

I don't usually leave reviews, but the fact that I use other customers reviews to make my final decision on a potential purchase has prompted me to finally give something back.Ok, we need to first get some facts straight:1. I am a Nikon user.... which makes me a Nikon fan.... that's just the way it is I'm affraid. But this aside, I'm not going to lie to you. I give an honest review.2. I am a member of Nikonians, the non-profit making, Nikon enthusiast organisation who are behind this book together with the publisher Rocky Nook.3. The Nikon D800 is an AWESOME camera.....Yes, the Nikon D800 is an AWESOME camera... I know the D810 has replaced it now and I know the long awaited replacement to the much loved D700... the D750, has arrived, but the D800 is still miles ahead of its other rivals..Having such an awesome camera is though no use if you only know the basics of what it REALLY can do for you.Yes the camera ships with a manual, which is ok, and there are oceans of user sites, set-up guides and feature run-throughs on-line... But none of these replace a single, go-to book.... And this is here in the form of "Mastering the Nikon D800".The book is a beefy 560-pages, but dont let that put you off. Darrell Young has an amazing way with words and writes in a very easy going style that is easy to understand.The book is divided up logically with sections on camera set-up and controls, the various menus are described and gone through in depth, the custom settings menus are described and the authors own preferences are explained.The book goes further than the actual camera itself with excellent section explaining White Balance and how Nikons cameras deal with this. The Auto Focus system is explained and metering options are discussed and described and there is another very good chapter on Flash Photography and a look into Nikons Creative Lighting Suite (CLS).I bought the book when I got the camera a few years ago and didn't read it all at once. I have instead read it as and when needed as my photography advances and I try new stuff out...I thoroughly recommend this book....

Complément indispensable pour une utilisation rapide et fonctionnelle de cet appareil. Difficile de faire mieux pour un appareil aussi sophistiqué.

I am no stranger to Darrell Young, having purchased "Mastering the Nikon D90" a couple of years ago. That was an excellent book that greatly improved my knowledge of my Nikon D90. Mr Young's newest book, "Mastering the Nikon D800", is no different."Mastering the Nikon D800" is crammed with detailed information on all the features the D800 has to offer. In fact, 600 pages worth of information, in 13 chapters. My first area of curiosity to read up on was Histograms. I looked in the manual that comes with the D800 and it was pathetically weak and provided little if no information of value. When I received "Mastering the Nikon D800" from Amazon, I opened it and thumbed through the book and immediately found the Histogram section, 12 plus pages of it! Full of colour examples, sample photographs with histograms over-layed, all with very detailed explanations describing what you see and how to interpret this extremely useful tool. This alone was worth the price of the book.Mr Young also goes into the same depth of detail on White Balance, Flash Bracketing, Metering, ISO Sensitivity and more. The Nikon Manual has been relegated to the box the camera came in and will most likely never see the light of day again until I some day, sell the camera. When I want to look some feature of the camera up in the manual, I expect to read not only how to find the feature, but an explanation of what it does and how it works. No so, in the manual, so I am extremely grateful for this book, which clearly has all the information I am looking for.The Movie Camera feature in the D800 is incredible, a full 1080p, coupled with the 36mp image quality, the D800 is without a doubt, the King of Multi-Media. The Nikon manual, with its smaller format and footprint, offers 19 pages of description on how to use this key feature. "Mastering the D800" has approximately 40 pages, spread out over two chapters on Live View and Preparing to Make Movies. All rich with descriptions, actual step by step Menu Screens and images to guide you through and understand the process.Chapters 1, 2 and 3 are 160 pages of descriptions, charts, menus and suggestions on simply setting up your camera, painstakingly described to make your quest for knowledge on how to get the most out of your D800 as easy as it can possibly be. This book is one of the best reads on mastering your D800 because it not only tells you what the manual offers, but it does so in full colour, that is rich in text and examples. You not only know where the buttons are and how to turn on the feature, but you also get a broader scoped lesson on how to use them properly to get the best image or move clip as a result. Good luck trying to glean this information from the manual.On many pages through out the book, Mr Young will also provide you with a tips on how he personally sets his D800 up and why, for optimal picture taking results. I found these extremely helpful and in many instances, I set my D800 up the way he recommends. I especially enjoyed the read on Active-D Lighting and the settings recommended by Mr. Young have not disappointed!"Mastering the Nikon D800" is a high quality paperback, printed on good quality paper full of colour menus, images and examples. It is a substantial book at an amazingly low price and if you want to get more out of your D800, this is the book to get. Amazon's service is also amazing, from the time you order it, you will be reading it in just a few days. Do yourself a favour to get the most out of your investment in the best camera on the market, treat yourself to "Mastering the Nikon D800", you won't be disappointed.