Magic Lantern Guides: Sony DSLR A700 Paperback – March 4, 2008

While I read quite a bit of reviews before choosing this guide, I still half expected it to be more of a generic guide with the model number of the camera pasted occasionally to make it look like a book written for the specific camera on the cover. Boy, was I wrong! It was well thought out and written by someone who was very familar with the A700. While this camera model is no longer in production and a little heavy to carry around (you get used to it), It has given us spectacular results and for someone really into photography is, IMHO hard to beat. We were fortunate enough to have a Sony outlet store nearby and when we saw a refurburshed model come in, we grabbed it. The manual that came with the camera fell short (like the manual that comes with PaintShop Photo Pro X2 software which I also use), so a guide of this caliber is necessary to get the most use out of the camera. If all Magic Lantern Guides are written this well, I would suggest buying the guide for the camera you are considering purchasing before buying the actual camera itself.Bill

If you are looking for a straight forward and simple approach to appreciating and applying the intricacies of the Sony A700, this is an extremely useful tool. It fills in the always present user manual gaps and simplifies the complexities of the menus and many features into more comprehensible bits.For example, it clearly explains such essential functions as White Balance,ISO, Histograms, Drive Mode, light metering and focusing nuances, I was able to immediately begin applying lessons learned from this book with the camera in improving my results in low light situations.One could wish for more comparative photos and more detailed views of on-camera features, but that is a mere quibble compared to the useful information designed to quickly elevate one in mastering the many capabilities of this full-featured SLR.

This book is very informative. I was able to find the critical information necessary to start using my camera properly. This book will be a great deal of help especially if you do not have the users manual for the camera, but it is easier to follow than the users manual so may be a better reference source to use anyway. An excellent book, the author is able to explain processes in a very systematic manner resulting in quick comprehension and mastery of the Sony A700 camera.I learned a lot from the book and would recommend it to any user of the Sony A700 camera needing a clear and concise source for learning how to use it properly.

I found this book very helpful, it goes into far more detail than the owners handbook. If you can remember back far enough when there were vehicle handbooks for cars, then this is the equivalent for this camera. I was able to get right in and make useful changes from the start of the book. I am new to DSLR Cameras so this book is a good foundation with plenty of good explanations in it. I would recommend it to anyone with a Sony A700.

This is an informative, though somewhat rhetorical guide book. While it is informative it is slow and and very one sided. If I were going to have just one book on this camera, this wouldn't be it. But for a new owner and for a new person to any SLR usage, I would recomend it.

I just bought by Alpha 700 a few months ago. The manual is not complete. This book is. It has plenty of good tips on when to use different features such as the dynamic range feature. A camera like this is quite complex, it is nice to have a handy guide like this book to help guide you through the use of all of the camera's features.

I am an extreme novice, as in, I've never had a DSLR before and even I got absolutely zero useful information for this camera. The manual was more informative - thanks magic lantern!

it was what I needed. helped me do what I wanted to .do

Good manual

The only let down of this book all pictures are in black and white and because of this you can't see the color pictures that can be taken with the different settings used.

First class.