Magic Lantern Guides: Nikon D80

The new, mid-priced Nikon D80 replaces the Nikon D70s/D70—which was the subject of our best-selling Magic Lantern Guide ever! This model features a 10 megapixel sensor, up-sized 2.5” LCD monitor, and 4.5 fps capability.

Customer Reviews:

Just What I Needed

By BobbyJ "Technically challenged" - May 25, 2007

I am an advanced amateur just trasitioning from film to digital. I bought the D-80 because I wanted a camera I could grow into rather than out of, and all opinions/reviews seem to agree this is such a a camera. However Nikon's operating manual did not enable me to feel I was ever going to be able to understand and learn to harness the camera's potential. I wanted something that would help me get organized and feel I was on a path that would enable me to understand and become confident with the camera. This book turned it all around. It provides an organized, logical, tutorial that clearly explains what the D-80 does; how to make it work for me; and supplements this with just the right amount additional information which promotes the feeling of not only how but why as well. I now feel I am going to be able to learn to use the camera and has enabled me to relax and look forward with confidence to using this remarkable tool. The little wallet-sized cheat sheet enclosed with this... read more

a few flaws but an easy to use learning and reference guide

By Douglas H. Haden - May 24, 2007

Some of the value of this book lies in Nikon's lousy D80 manual. Nikon's manual is ill organized and printed in gray on toilet paper. Okay, maybe it is recycled paper.

Stafford's Guide is full of well-organized information. It is well printed. I can even recognize the small icons in the text (not true of all camera books). I wish publishers would not shrink icons a second time to place them in tables. However, even these tiniest of icons are recognizable in this Guide.

The author, Simon Stafford, is an experienced photographer and author. His Scottish education and UK roots show through in his language but are not distracting. Unfortunately, poor editing diminishes Stafford's excellent writing and technical presentation. Lesser typographical errors are just distracting but some errors get in the way of understanding. "...offers the photographer total control overexposure, ..." stumps the eye until you realize it should have been "...over exposure"... read more

Good content but needs an editor

By Alexander - April 23, 2007

I would give this book 5 stars for content and 0 stars for editing. Unfortunately, the poor editing spoils an otherwise great book. Others have commented on the poor index. Again, this is the fault of the publisher. Magic Lantern should be embarrassed to have done such a poor job in the editing and indexing department. They owe the author much more than an apology. In fact, in my opinion the author should look for a new publisher. He's much better than they are. I also agree with the comments of the other reviewers that the pictures should be in color. As far as the content is concerned, the book is fantastic. It is informative, helpful, and complete. The writing style would be easy to follow if it did not have so many errors. If you own the D80, this book will give you more information about how to use it. It is an excellent supplement to the manual. However, I would wait for the 2nd printing before buying it and hope that the errors will be corrected. Another good... read more