Charlotte K. Lowrie's Field Guide for the Canon XTi now travels in my camera bag wherever I go. It is an easily accesible introductory guide to the world of digital photography with a DSLR.

I found the Canon manuals that came with my camera to be technical in their approach - but the Field Guide takes you by the hand and explains it all like a patient mentor.

I am new to this. But thanks to this book, I am no longer confused or frustrated by the many controls and options on my new camera. The highest praise I can give this book is that after reading it, I am having more fun with my camera and I am taking much better photographs.

As a new Canon Rebel camera owner, Charlotte K. Lowrie's Digital Rebel guide was the best $14 and change I've ever spent on a book. Her clear concise explanations, helpful charts and photo illustrations, as well as the excellent organization and layout of the book, make this guide a must buy for new owners. I would have been lost without it!

This book is not inspiring - some of the photos are absolutely terrible (just look at the flash photography section) - AND is word-for-word the Canon manual that comes with the camera. Does Canon know about this???

This book is a big step up from the user manual. I like it because it is XTi specific. The descriptions of the different settings are very useful. The pictures and the aperture/shutter speed settings examples really help too.

Well, with my original manual stolen along with a backpack of other personal belongings, I opted to purchase this guide book and was happy that my expectations were met. It is a great guide that afforded me (and still does upon reference) a better insight into my 400D and its inner workings. Imagining what I could do with my camera has been very exciting and this instructional book thoroughly and clearly explains the capabilities of the camera and aides me in realizing my photographic wishes. Great start to getting into digital photography exposures.

This book is very good, and teach too many pictures technics, in a easy way

This book is really, really good. Since I purchased my camera, I have struggled with all the features. The book explains things very clearly. This book is great to read, has simple explainations with very good detail, and really good examples photos and illustrations.

Wow! I am so impressed with this camera! I did quite a bit of research before making a decision, and I am pleased with my final selection. The images are stunning, and the camera itself is so user-friendly.

The only thing that I would recommend for Canon is that they revamp their included software and guides. The guides assume a certain knowledge and are not well designed; and the software includes so many extras as to reduce efficient and thorough functionality.

I am relatively new to "real" digital photography. I had looked around at many other field guides and instructional DVDs (many of which left something to be desired). I ended up choosing this book, and it has not disappointed. It covers all of the functions of the Rebel XTi and also the photography concepts that you need to understand in order to use those functions. It's well organized, full-color pages are easy to navigate and read. The sample images they provide are very helpful because they also include the camera settings used to capture those images.

The XTi was my first digital camera, and while I loved my Canon EOS rebel 35mm, I thought it was time to update. So, I'm obviously not a seasoned photographer and thought I'd better learn all the possibilities available with my new camera. I bought this book based on all the positive reviews and was not disappointed. I could go to a specific topic, based on what type of setting I wanted to try, walk through the steps in the book, try it out myself, and see the results immediately! It is well written and has great photo examples of what you should expect to see when you try various settings. I highly recommend this book to any XTi owner.

This is a great addition for my camera. The book is easy to read, written in plain English a learner can understand. A definite "must have" if you've purchased a new camera!

More lengthy discussion of the manual. Half of it is actually in the manual, but the other half makes it worth buying. I have a bit of trouble reading the small print in the original manual, so this larger book is nice.

I first purchased the Canon EOS Digital rebel XTi 400D by David D Busch. I find Davids book much more compelling in understanding the workings of the REBEL XTi. His format I find was easier to follow and use from a technical format. Charlotte's book is more of a narrative.

This book really helps you understand the use of the 400D, something missing from most camera manuals. Worth every penny!

I purchased this book along with my new Rebel XTI. I am SO glad I did. I like to think of it as an "upgrade" of the manual. All the information in the book is helpful and I love that examples are given of different lighting situations. I would be LOST without this book!! I just wish it were smaller so I could keep it in my camera bag!!

I bought this book when I got my Xti and I have to say:
So easy to read....its written in such a way that anyone can read it and understand it! It has been an awesome help while getting acquainted with my new camera!

Well worth the money!

I am a complete novice to digital SLR photography and found the book very helpful. It explained the elements of exposure well and gives some useful hints on how to set up your camera for different styles of photgraphy. The book is easy to read and logically set out.

This book is written in an easily understandable way. Which is great for arookie like me. I like the way the book is set up so you can just look up a topic and not have to necessarily read the whole book cover to cover. You can jump around and read what you are interested in at the moment. Highly recommend!

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D Digital Field Guide
I AM STILL READING THE BOOK AND AM ABOUT HALF WAY THROUGH IT. IT IS VERY HELPFUL AND HAS TAUGHT ME ALOT THAT THE MANUEL DOES NOT EXPLAIN WELL. IT GIVES GOOD EXAMPLES WITH PICTURES AND CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS. I GO BACK AND REVIEW CHAPTERS TILL I HAVE IT DOWN. WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND IT. JOAN

I've read nearly every page of this book. It's so handy, I store it in my camera bag. As I novice photographer, I've come to think of the book as my "training wheeles." I would definitely recommend it to anyone!

At last, a book on digital photography that makes it easy to take great pictures. This book is written in such a way as to assume you know nothing, yet not offend you, as some books do. The author knows that beginners can buy good equipment, yet be at a loss as to how to get the best from it. I know I was most comfortable just setting my Canon XTi to auto before reading this book. Now, I may never use it again. A must read for all beginners!!

This is indeed an awesome book.. I give it six stars out of five...
Very nicely illustrated and indeed gives you tips about Digital SLR photography in general.
May not be very useful if you are already a pro and are just looking at the camera information per se.. I suggest if this is the case, the Canon Rebel XTI manual may be enough..
But if you are an amateur like me graduating from a point and shoot to DSLR, this is a must have book..
Great book for the price..

Purchased for a friend with little or no camera experience. He needed a starting point so playing with the controls would make some sense and hopefully would become familiar with and comfortable with what he was doing. Buying a DSLR and not knowing about f/stops, aperture and ISO will be less rewarding than using a P&S. Why spend the extra money if not to take advantage of it. It is helping him and he does have some questions, but it is a help.

This 263-page handbook is far more useful than the small manual that is delivered with the camera. The features of the camera are described in a logical fashion to guide either the neophyte or a more experienced photographer into a full understanding of the myriad capabilities of the very popular digital SLR.

The first section, Quick Tour, allows you the satisfaction of taking pictures immediately. Then Chapter 1 explores each of the controls and displays. Chapter 2 describes the use of each of the manual and automatic photography modes.

The remaining chapters guide you through making good photos, including exposure, ISO, depth of field, color, light, lens choice, composition basics, and techniques for great photos. The final section covers downloading and editing images.

The book is well laid out with many charts, tables and color illustrations. Appendixes and a comprehensive index allow you to find answers to your questions quickly.

Whether you start at the beginning and work your way through methodically or just pick it up and look for guidance on a particular topic, you're going to learn something every time you refer to the book. Well worth the small investment to unlock the potential of your highly capable Canon SLR.

One thing I cannot get past is how this book is organized. There is a lot of "more on this in chapter X" among the lessons. It makes it sort of difficult to learn much because the information is scattered around the book. I feel as though I should sit down and prepare an outline as to the nonlinear manner in which the book should actually be read.
I can't say I've found it to be too useful. Perhaps, if I read it several times, I will feel differently.
The explanations of the elements and principles of photography are lacking along with the detail provided for the camera's functions. In other words, the entire book. I feel like it is more of a supplement than a definitive guide.
Whether you are a complete beginner or a seasoned professional, this is probably not the book for you.

The book is awesome, I was given a Canon Rebel XTi/400D for a Xmas gift. I ordered this book and it was here in 3 days...unlike other items ordered from Amazon...this one actually was sent to me. That rocks in my book! Oh the book...informative, easy to read, a great reference book...a must have if you have a new toy and want immediate results in the shortest time!

This book is nothing more than an Intro to Photography. I find little useful information specific to the Canon XTi. Although there are a few pages dedicated to the XTi, the majority of the book is about VERY basic photograpy. It is a shame, the book has nice photo illustrations and is easy to read, it just does not provide useful information for the intermediate photographer wanting to master the XTi.

This is an essential tool for 400d owners as it is VASTLY superior to the information that comes with the body/camera set. It covers all the basics and gets you out there in the field in no time!

got this book to learn about taking pics w my new canon digital rebel xti. great book. i learn a lot from this book. i still go back to this book occasionally to get tips.

I cannot believe this book has so many good reviews. Like other reviewers pointed out, only the first third of the book is specific to XTi and it is substantially mirrors the Canon User Manual which comes with the camera. When discussing flash usage, besides being vague about flash-sync speed, it completely omits the important "fill flash" subject and the differences between P and Av/Tv modes in this respect. I had to go online to find this important information. I guess there is some value in the rest of the book about basic general photography principles (probably largely shared with her other books), enough to give it two stars.

this book was very useful. it had alot of great advice for a novice to a professional photographer to use. made it very easy to understand and learn how to work the different settings on the camera.

Literally, I took a class and this book is definitely better than the class... its not a "For Dummies" style book so you have to have some idea of how to use a dSLR before you can follow along.

You know that little instruction book that came with your Canon Digital Rebel XTi 400D? Well put it in your round file and get this book. This book comes packed with visual examples and easy to understand instructions for how to set up your camera, how to take the best pictures, and it even takes the guess work out of storing, exporting, and editing your images using Canon software. You will quickly find it to be as valuable as your favorite lens.

This book completes the user manual that comes with the 400D, with a few additional tips that are quite basic indeed and that are common to many other photography books. It would be a nice tool indeed to include in the gear for a novice user of the EOS.

This book is absolutely wonderful! It explains everything that you ever need to know about your Canon Rebel XTi DSLR. The photo examples and detailed instructions make it so easy to understand. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about their camera!

This book is not that usefull for the user of the Canon XTi digital camera. Anything that you can find in this book is easily found in the little user's manual included with the camera. Do not waste your money on this book, rather take the money that you would spend on this book, add a few more bucks to that figure,and get yourself a remote control for your camera, so that when you need to take a slow shutter tripod shot, that you will not cause camera shake.

This book is a waste of paper.

ADT

It's like an in-depth and extended version of the camera's manual. Very thorough, feels pretty complete. A great value, and very strongly recommended for any XTi owners.

When I say that this should be the product manual, I'm serious and mean that in a good way. This really is the book that SHOULD come with the product when you purchase a $600+ digital SLR camera. With a level of detail that consumers should expect from the product company, Charlotte Lowrie delivers a great manual for learning the ins and outs of the Rebel XTi.

The "Quick Start" guide that came with my Rebel XTi consisted of a handful of pages that were the size of playing cards. Sure, they explain that you're supposed to turn on the camera, select the simplest mode, and then start taking pictures, but what does that teach me about using my camera?

Lowrie takes it a few steps further and actually explains things along the way in her version of the "Quick Start." She not only explains what to do, but also where to find the controls and what it all means.

Like the "Quick Start" guide, the product manual that came with the Rebel XTi is fairly small when you consider the price tag of the camera. Sure, it will tell you what each control and setting is, but most everything was just the name of the control and a brief, if any, explanation. Small photographs crowded with labels were prevalent and made it difficult to truly grasp the capabilities of the camera it came with.

As with her version of the "Quick Start" guide, Lowrie again takes things a step (a few steps, actually) further and explains what all the controls are with excellent descriptions and close-up, easy-to-understand images. Her diagrams with just the right amount of labeling and her easy-to-read tables are also spot on.

Having read both this book and Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure," I think this book falls short of explaining the creative modes (the latter part of the book) as well as Peterson. Peterson's first-hand examples will help you take better photographs than this book because of how in-depth they go into what makes good photography. The Rebel XTi Digital Field Guide spends more time on the controls/workings of the camera and has to sacrifice some of this more in-depth explanation of creative photography by comparison.

BUT (and that's a big BUT!), this book is, first and foremost, about your Rebel XTi and it's hands-down a great book for getting more intimate with your Rebel XTi and Canon should hire Lowrie to write their product manuals for future products. A book like this will quickly make even the most intimidated consumer fearless with their new product, as it did with this digital SLR newbie and his Rebel XTi. I could actually imagine future consumers who got a book like this with their product absolutely raving about Canon and how they deliver product manuals that actually mean something and are actually helpful.

Product manuals that have meaning and are helpful? Hey, I can dream, right? Thankfully, with this book, I don't have to.

This isn't a knock on this book, but if you already know anything and everything about your Rebel XTi and want to learn more about creative photography, skip this book and get Peterson's book.

However, if you're new to the Rebel XTi (particularly if you're new to digital SLR) or want/need to get more intimate with the settings/controls available to you with your Rebel XTi, then you NEED this book and will be more than happy with the price tag after you've finished it.

As a digital SLR newbie, I got both books and couldn't be happier with my decisions!

I'm a book/manual addict, so LONG before I purchased the camera, I downloaded the owner's manual from Canon. After reading it several times, I bought this one. This has about the same data that the manual has, but the presentation is MUCH better. Additionally, this has data on general photographic method and knowledge.

If you are a Professional or a HIgh End User or an Experienced Amateur, AND if you're intelligent enough to understand that reading manuals is important, this book very likely, no matter how well done, won't be for you, it's a straight out (albeit, once again, very nicely presented) tech manual for the Canon XTI. If you're relatively new to photography or to "real" (SLR or DSLR) cameras, this one you'll likely love.

My daughter is currently reading the book, as it appears she's going to be assigned on as a yearbook photo at her HS.

I had to WAIT, and she gets one given to her. Ah, The Injustices Of The Generations (VBG).

I purchased this book on preorder months after I purchased my canon XTi. Since I got the camera before this was available I found it frustrating to learn how to use this cameras abilities to it's fullest. The manual from the manufacturer is a joke,giving only the most basic info.

Tjis book does a good job of explaining techniques on how to use the creative modes of the camera to get artistic shots. Classes can do this too,but this book is a good reference to remind you of odd effects you may not use often.

I highly recommend XTi owners invest in this guide.

I bought this book with the intention of learning more about my Rebel DSLR. I am pretty disappointed with this title.

The first issue I have with this book is the photos are entirely uninspiring. Next, everything you need to know to get started is available in the Rebel manual, which I have read and just paid for again apparently.

If you've never taken a decent photo before in your life, if you've never used an SLR of any type, if you've need a very rudimentary understanding of the histogram, apertures and shutter speeds, or if you've managed to lose your Rebel XTi Manual from Canon, you might want to pick up this title.

Otherwise I don't think there is anything offered here you can't obtain with experimentation and experience.

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D Digital Field Guide

This is an easy-to-read "how to" for Digital Rebel XTi users. Ms. Lowry is easy to understand and concise throughout this book, and I find that I turn to it quite often when shooting in different settings than I am used to.

If you're unfamiliar with your Canon XTi/400D, this really is the book to have!

This book is well written, especially for a beginning photographer such as myself. Well stated review of the photographic essentials, lots of good recommendations concerning lenses, styles, settings, and a fairly complete list of all of the "knobs" that are available in the Digital Rebel. The last chapter has a lot of great examples and experiments that are fun to attempt. After reading this book, I keep it in my camera bag for reference, and have been having a lot of fun shooting volleyball and football games for my kids, as well as trying my hand at some more "artistic" styles of photography and having some mild successes after only having the camera for 3 weeks. Spent one evening with a half full glass of wine, and a lamp, shooting low light shots, and trying all of the applicable "knobs". Very informative, and gave me lots of good ideas for utilizing the camera's capabilities.

This book is very easy to read and the writer speaks in plan english language. I have only read a couple of chapters but I found all of the instructions easy to follow. There are some photography projects in the later chapters that help you to understand more about how the camera functions and how you can get some great pictures from the Rebel XTI.

I found this guide to be far too basic to be useful. Important topics are glossed over and they are covered in a sequence that will help a new user adapt to taking pictures. A more robust treatment of the cameras features or differences from point and shoot models would have been much more helpful. This is a book to buy used or get from the library.

Very well written and full of great quality coloured photos.
I am very glad I bought it. It goes well beyond the indications on the original manual. Go for it if you want to get the best out of the Canon 400D

I've used a point an shoot digital as well as a film SLR camera. I found this book to be just at the right level given my background. A few places I could not figure out how she was activating the feature (which button to push first).

The book is good only if you are truly a beginner beginner. If you just heard about what an SLR is yesterday, then this is good for you. If you spend any amount of time talking to friends or visiting forums and websites, this book will be a waste of money. Most of the book is general information about photography which you can easily find online. The only helpful section of this book would be two chapters that actually go into some detail about the different modes on the camera, what they do, how to set it, etc. This is the only portion specific to the Xti. All other sections can apply to photography in general.

The information covered is just a step better than the manual the camera comes with. It sounded like the author was going to actually talk about how to really use the camera but she covers mostly how to operate the functions. You won't learn the art of taking pictures with this. You can learn how to operate the functions but you're not taught how to put it together to make good shots.

Conclusion
It's a general photography book with a couple chapters on the xti. If you're truly a beginner, it might be good.

I have found this book very helpful. It has explained so much to me. It helps with understanding aperature, exposure, and all those manual settings. I'm just a beginner in photography, but I feel much more comfortable with my camera after reading thru this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who purchases the Rebel, in fact, I think it should come with it!

This book gives complete details how to use the camera. Shows you
step by step the uses, plus it gives you suggestion on how to take
creatived pictures. This is an excellent book.