Canon EOS 60D For Dummies

Made learning how to get the best from my 60D so much easier. Well worth buying.

Have recently acquired a second hand EOS 60D to use for AstroPhotography and bought this book to learn more about what's 'under the hood'Overall, I'm finding it an informative and helpful guide, but it doesn't directly address AstroPhotography or give any hints for that particular use caseLost 1 star due to lack of information relating specifically to imaging night skies

I've been shooting SLR since 1976, and DSLR since I bought the original XTi/400D in 2007. But I've gotten way more serious about photography in the last few years, and finally decided that an upgrade to the 60D was in order. Although I'd spent a fair amount of time learning the basics of exposure with the XTi, there were things I wanted to do photographically that I either couldn't do with the old XTi, or had to do differently with the 60D. So, I bought the Dummies book. An excellent move on my part, as it turned out.The book is divided into 11 chapters. A few of them I skipped over, since they covered information I was already familiar with or subjects that really didn't apply to what I'm interested in (file types, automatic settings, movies, playback, etc.). But the remaining chapters were worth the price of admission all by themselves:Chapter 1: Covers all the controls and settings. There are a lot of things on the 60D that I didn't have on the XTi, and this chapter was invaluable in clearly laying out what all the buttons, dials, menus, and screens are all about. Everything is thoroughly and clearly explained.Chapter 7: Covers exposure and lighting. For me, this was a fantastic introduction to and explanation of exposure compensation and bracketing, which I knew I needed to learn about, but was sorely ignorant of. Great explanation of how to bracket automatically, and bracket beyond the automatic capabilities of the 60D. A stand-out chapter.Chapter 8: Covers focus and color. Although I was pretty comfortable with the concept and manipulation of depth of field, this chapter gave me some good additional information that will be helpful down the road. Good explanations of and tips on white balance adjustments and color space. Anyone shooting, viewing, and/or printing should be aware of the sRGB vs. Adobe RGB dichotomy and the implications of each.Chapters 10 and 11: Cover miscellaneous features and special circumstances. Information on making customized settings and menus, mirror lockup, and autofocus options is helpful and interesting.My issues with the book are few. I think a little more forethought would have reduced the frequency with which you are referred to figures that are on different pages. I found it inconvenient the number of times I had to flip pages forward or backward to look at a figure referred to in the text. I also found several editing errors, and there may be more in the chapters/sections I breezed over. Examples: On p. 35 it says that the Quick Control Dial is "labelled in Figure 1-11". It isn't. Although I was pretty sure I knew what the Quick Control Dial was, I had to do some digging to verify it. On p. 217, there is an explanation of evaluative vs. partial metering, comparing 2 pictures of the same car dashboard. In the text, it says "Switching to partial metering properly exposed the statue". That one had me looking real close for a statue on the dashboard until I realized it was a typo. And finally, on p. 270, in an explanation of crop factor, it refers to "the red outline" in the associated figure. There's a black one, but no red one. Yeah, these are nit-picky - and I wouldn't deduct anything from my 5-star rating for them - but I can see where they could throw a reader new to DSLR.Overall, my impression is that the book contains information that would be helpful to anyone moving up to the 60D from a simpler DSLR, and certainly for anyone whose 60D is their first DSLR. Especially if you're interested in getting away from the point-and-shoot approach, as I am, this book goes a long way. It covers pretty much everything mechanical about the camera, and offers a lot of creative advice as well.Well worth the money.

In the Dummies style, an excellent guide to an excellent camera, easy reading and full of tips and information. Good for quick reference, written in a clear and simple style, wonderful value.

very basic, good for beginners who want to understand the basics of the camera and photography. Great pictures to help along the way. User does not feel overwhelmed by the new information.