Review from E. Fisher for Presentation to the Canon 5D Mark II/50D, Vol. 2: Advanced TopicsRate: saying I wanted to have this 3 1/2 stars as it is a solid video with piles of full information.I have both this book and the maiden for the 5D Mk.II and I view the first picture was a really good foundation to the basic controls of the camera and how the controls affected different aspects of one`s images.
he 5D has a lot of menu choices though and the more advanced features simply wouldn`t fit in the first television as well.
I assumed, logically, that the sophisticated features of the camera would be explained more in depth in this second picture and that the video would make its time covering these options for the duration of the full video.Essentially I expected both volumes to do as a television version of a camera specific user`s guide.What the 2nd book is in reality is 50% exploration of some of the 5D and 50D camera advanced settings and 50% discussion of non-camera specific photography/lighting/and image processing topics.One part of the video, for example, spends a good deal of time covering color profile settings in image processing software and the grandness of managing color for a consistent image across different mediums.Another spends a lot of time demonstrating the use of gels on a shoot or a loose box to make different lighting effects.It seemed like about half of the picture was a kind of non-camera specific topics such as this, and the sections that did deal specifically with specific camera settings were often glanced over quite quickly (though not all).There is yet a sound bit of substance in the custom functions that were never looked at.
Now, as I said, the subject is good content but covering color profiles as often as they did, as an example, was not what I expected in this video.If I wanted to see that, I`d have gotten a book or picture on that topic.If I`d wanted to learn lighting techniques, I`d have gotten a word or picture on that topic.If I`d wanted an overview on processing raw, etc. etc.I don`t mind them taking a second or two to excuse one of these topics generally to provide context for an account of one of the camera`s settings or features, but a 15 to 20 minute digression on color management seemed inappropriate for a picture that I felt should have focused specifically on advanced topics specific to the 5D and 50D.If you`re looking for a picture to get acquainted with your 5D or 50D, then by all means get the inaugural book of this set specific to your camera.If you`re looking for a safe and deep exploration of the sophisticated features of your camera that goes beyond the first video, then be mindful that this second volume might give you, like it did me, a bit disappointed and wanting more content specific to your camera and less depth of coverage of non-camera specific photography and picture processing concepts.