Thom Hogan

I bought my D500 in Oct 2016 as an upgrade prior to my trip of a lifetime to the Galápagos Islands. I wanted to make sure I understood the camera well enough so it would fade into the background and let me concentrate on my technique. I couldn’t have chosen a more perfect book. Thom provides a fair amount of technical detail, which I love. But, even if you’re not into the tech that much, it’s still valuable. These details make it much easier to understand how the camera behaves. Thom also provides great explanations of the camera’s features and when to consider using them. Combining these two aspects of the book, I found it very easy to understand how to set up for the best shots. When things didn’t come out as expected, it was easy to review what I had done and make corrections. As a result, I ended up getting far better pictures than I would have otherwise.… (més)

This is less a review than a perhaps-useful comment.

Ignoring a For Dummies guide, the currently-available (or soon to be available) Nikon 1 books are by David Busch (three books, all for sale through the usual channels) and this Thom Hogan book, which is available from the author's website. This is the usual case for any new Nikon camera with serious intentions; Hogan typically gets his out quickly as a self-published ebook, then Busch's book hits a few weeks later. Both authors produce books with much value, but their approaches--and their opinions--differ significantly.

Busch's books are for photographers who want instructions and advice about specific situations and are essentially tactical. David Busch typically tells you little about how the camera actually works, but gives detailed recommendations about specific settings and about the meanings of all those menu items. He does the same for any external controls which can be used by the photographer for creative control. There are many people for whom that is the correct approach, and his books address that need well.

Hogan, on the other hand, is strong about technique and strategies--the technical aspects of the hardware, and the strategic mindset required to be a professional photographer. His books, therefore, spend their first hundred or more pages exploring the camera's technical design and the impact specific design decisions might have upon photographs and photographers. And his explorations of the menues and other controls emphasize less what the "right" setting might be than the way the photographer should think about her options.

Both authors' approaches have value, and I've certainly learned from each of them. But if you only want to invest your fortune and time in one tome, they are different enough that you might well prefer one over the other.



This short review has also been published on a dabbler's journal.… (més)