Sony Alpha SLT-A65 / A77 For Dummies

Years after using an old school 35mm film analog SLR camera I decided to get back into photography in my retirement. Soon after acquiring a Sony SLT A65 digital I realized the camera was smarter than me. This book is an immense help in learning how to use it, what does this button/control do, and oh-my-goodness can I really do this'n'that? I read a bit each evening with my camera nearby so I can try what I'm learning. It's a great source for learning about your Sony A65.

I would like to see more illustrations specific to the camera and fewer "cute" clip art graphics that don't really help in understanding it. The book uses text to describe a setting on the camera instead of showing an illustration / photo of how to set the setting. For example "To change the Drive mode, follow these steps: 1) . . . A77: a separate drive button is on top of the camera." (p.54) - the only graphic is a clip art of a cartoon guy holding a finger up. Well, there are 6 buttons on top of the camera and none of them are labeled 'drive' - a helpful graphic would have been the top of the camera with an arrow to the drive button. (made me want to show the cartoon guy a different finger - but I didn't cause I was in mixed company). I purchased this book because I need more than just text to describe its functions - the owners manual has plenty of text - I want something that shows me how to use it instead of describing how to use it.Clearly the author understands the camera and is a seasoned photographer - I think he assumes that the reader is smarter than me (or at least, has a better memory).

New to the DSLR but not to SLR this book is a great beginner manual easy to understand with great illustration. After a lay off of taking pictures using SLR I decided to get back in to it this time with the DSLR and I must say there is a big different but for the best. I once own Nikon 3100 and Sony a390 and now a57 and a77 soon to add the a99. This manual was useful in bring me up to date on some of the basic feature of my a77 not show in the user manual.

Not a bad book, but like so many other Technical Camera Books, they go over all the settings, but don't give you recommendations of what to set them to or why.Check out Gary Friedman's e-book, It's amazing and over 600 pages on the A65 / A77 Camera.This is reviewed on our website.

Explains all the little things that the excellent Sony manual ignores like: the mind-numbing design of the zoom options ( 3 different options for zooming); in automatic focus when to use single shot AF - S and when to "continuous" AF - C (or "automatic" ); when to use "continuous" AF - C in preference to "Object Tracking", and how you might use these options instead of the usual "focus lock" feature which is only available by a half-push on the shutter button. Also explains the big mystery left by the Sony manual : exactly what ISO setting is set when you choose the "Multi-frame Noise Reduction" feature.Good book, get it.

This is a pretty good book but it comes up short in two areas: 1. The Kindle version doesn't have an index. I shouldn't have to bookmark or go to the Contents to find something. 2. The layout/structure doesn't quite work for me. I got the print version of the Busch book for this camera today, and just looking at the Contents, I think it will be easier for me to find the answers to questions I have in that one.

Very helpful, especially since the manuals from Sony aren't much help. I would like to see more on use of the WiFi features, and more up-to-date information on the current version of the a77. (It's evidently changed since the book was written.)

If you ask the question, it is in this book! They go from menu to menu to help set up your camera for optimal settings! It is a stellar write up! If the Sony is a new purchase - GET THIS BOOK!

If you have just forked out a shed load for a nice shiny new A-65 or A-77 then a few quid more for a well thought out manual is an essential purchase. Even if you are already a bit of an expert, inevitably there will be things you won't know about your new camera and tricks that might help you with a photo.This book is easy to read, comprehensive and an ideal guide to the now empty wallet you have after plunging into the expensive world of DSLR cameras and their lenses. Whilst in all fairness the Sony on disc guide that comes with the camera has all the necessary information and is actually reasonable to read, this is far better.I read it all the way through once and now have it on my Kindle as a reference. For me, a very useful purchase.

This is a good guid book for the Sony cameras it's intended for. It is suitable for everyone from beginners to enthusiasts, but enthusiasts will have to wade through the beginners stuff to find the gold.The fact that it caters for two cameras, the A65 and the A77 is not really a drawback as functionality of both seems to be very similar. Illustrations are clear and not as space filling as in some books I've owned.The use of symbols to indicate tips, warnings etc is a bit of a gimmic, but this is common to most Dummies books.To be fair, I've not read the book from cover to cover yet, but it's not really that sort of book, I'll probably use it more as a reference.

I know a lot about photography but found the official Sony manual not that helpful and not intuitive. No other books seemed available so I went for 'Dummies'. It proved an excellent choice and decision. After skimming through to highlight what I needed to concentrate on & dismiss the more basic, I delved into the detail and found the instructions excellent & fully supported by the accompanying images. Had to buy my wife a new laptop with larger screen as her eye sight has, unfortunately, deteriorated & only Windows 8 models available so I have headed for a 'Dummies' manual to help her (and me!) acclimatise from previous Windows version

a bit wordy but then then this is what you have to expect when breaking down a camera's functions in easy to understand language. It assumes little to no previous knowledge. I consider myself to be reasonably competent technologically-wise but sometime you just need a simple approach. I got this as a kindle version for my nexus tablet to make it portable but also got a more advanced paper guide to compliment this

Books in this style are rarely fun to read - I got mine to allow me to delve deeper into the functions that were in the "unknown unknowns" - by showing me what the camera is capable of doing. The style was light (not to everyone's taste but suited me) And it was definitely worth the spend.