The Complete Guide to Sony's Cybershot RX-100

I guess the world needs hardass critics, though I don't see myself this way. I have rarely made a negative review unless it is glaring and my first reading of this book seemed to be a glaring negative response. But frankly, as I began to shoot more and more with my rx100 II camera, the book took on a different and improved reference quality that I literally(no pun)found exciting. Feeling a little like a scolded dog, I felt that I should edit my review, especially to help the 2 readers who found my first review "helpful". Here is my updated review...The book is awesome in it's scope and spectacular in it's delivery. Gary Friedman is a master on many levels but now I feel I get what he was doing with this monograph. It is so helpful. It took me on a tour of this wonderful camera, in retrospect, and really awakened the midbrain ability to change and select useful settings to achieve superior results. The book explains well the nuances of the camera while strengthening certain and general aspects of basic and somewhat advanced photographic principles. It is so overwhelming that I toyed with the idea of deleting my first review and changing my name to D.M. Ass. Hoping to both encourage your purchasing of this book and try to garner forgiveness from the readers who were more intelligent and intuitive then myself(just about all of you, evidently), this edited review hopefully will convince you that I was wrong. I still would like a slick paper colored version of the book, but now I can say I have no reservations at all in reviewing this book as favorable even at twice the price. Simply, buy this book in whatever version. It is excellent. So is the camera. Combined, the finished product will gradually and mysteriously appear as you learn the machine and enjoy Gary's writing style.To the author, I was wrong! To prospective buyers, please try to appreciate what I am doing here.Below is my original review, just for counterpoint. Best to stop reading here and put in your order.I was a little troubled by the image quality of my new mark ii camera, so like any photographer, I assumed the problem was with me and the set up of the many and varied menus. So I ordered this manual to get some help. The Kindle short version was a poor tease but I hoped for the best from the complete version. Here comes my review. Incidentally, I found no url to order the full version from the author(hoping for a version with colored pictures).First, the book came with damage to the spine.Second, the paper quality is poor, and all examples are in black and white. This seems strange for a book about "the best point and shoot camera ever made".Third, most examples referenced Sony's poor support url's for any real training. I can get these for free, and so can you. They are available from dpreview or the Sony support website. If they were adequate, I wouldn't need a book to help me!Lastly, I found the examples and menu explanations difficult to follow. Didn't buy the book to experiment with reading comprehension...you get the picture.I hate to give a negative review. Many of you no doubt found the book helpful, and for that I am glad, but for me, not very helpful at all.I probably will return it and buy the other "complete guide" and give it a try.

The best choice for an experienced photographer (intermediate and advanced). (Beginners should consider Alexander White's guide.) Friedman not only explains what each function is supposed to do, but what it actually does (and does not) do. He worked with the camera in the field, and his experience shows. E.g. "Night scene" -- "I have no idea what this feature does" because in his test shots it produced the same results as the simple Program mode with no flash. Or "Landscape": it doesn't emphasize small f/stops as you would expect. He provides useful explanations and advice on some of the more complicated functions (not usually found in other books): e.g. detailed instructions about and comparisons of the low light modes (Multi-Frame Noise Reduction and Anti-Motion Blur); and the direct manual focus combined with the peaking level (which is the best way to get accurate focus). Surprising omission: no quick way to lock the focus after the half press of the shutter (since this camera doesn't have a separate focus-lock control). I appreciated the occasional comparisons with camera technique from the film days, and the brief but lucid discussions of technical issues (e.g. JPEG v. RAW), though this is definitely not a technical book.As several reviewers have noted, the book is not seen at its best in black and white (print or Kindle). On the iPad it is much better, but still lacks page numbers for searching (which is unfortunate as many of the cross references refer to page numbers). The best way to read it is in an ePUB file in iBooks on a Mac (desktop or laptop).Friedman also provides links to supplementary material and a pdf version.In the world of small camera guides, this stands out. Excellent except for the production values.

If you have (or are considering) the Sony RX100 or RX100 MII (or whatever they officially call it), you're going to need this book. The other book (which shall remain nameless) sells for $10 and is quite poorly written (judging by the Kindle download sample). This one is much more interesting and written by someone who really knows his stuff - unfortunately, the Kindle production is fairly awful. There are a couple of tables in the book which are completely indecipherable - they appear to be properly done in the hard copy book, but this is inexcusable. In addition, the photos throughout are so small as to be almost useless for the author's purpose - and he knows it, since he offers a free downloadable PDF to make up for it... unfortunately the PDF isn't a whole lot better.Nevertheless, this book contains stuff you need and won't find anyplace else... So - Writing and Content: FIVE, Production and Execution: TWO... I averaged it to 3 stars, but be warned.

This book, for me, is more than just a better manual for my Sony RX100M2, but a good learning aid for my photography hobby as well. It's given me a greater understanding of not just the RX100 but also how to get better exposures. I think having a basic knowledge of photography might help when reading this book.After buying the book, the author himself sent me a link to download the book in one of several formats. I chose the PDF format for my iPad air with color photos which is great to have for travel as well as a supplement to the printed B&W paperback book as well as links to the internet. The book itself is big with 400 and more pages. Written and organized well and easy to read. But again, I think it is written for those that have at least a basic knowledge of photography. I highly recommend this book.

For my original RX100 I have Alexander White's excellent guide which I treasure and continue to consult frequently, a beautifully written, produced and presented manual. With the purchase of Mk2, I continued to be on the look out for an upgraded manual. So far this seems to be the only one.To start with: Please take note: On the cover it says,"Professional Insights for the Experienced Photographer". Unless you class yourself as a serious/advanced Amateur or Hobbyist at least, you may find some of the contents of this manual incomprehensible.While ordering, I was aware I was ordering a Black & White edition (there doesn't appear to be a full colour edition), on receipt of the book, I could not help being even more disappointed. It is therefore unfair to attempt to give this book an overall 'star-rating'. ( I note the price is already down by £3.00. within three days!)Text, Tips, How, Why & What-For Explanations: FIVE STARS PLUS. I have benefited immensely from understanding, trying and adopting some of his simple tips and settings that have made a distinct positive difference to my output from this camera.Print and Paper Quality: THREE STARS - For the price I paid, I had a right to expect better.Images & Illustrations: NO STARS. Low grade B&W printing, Absolutely Atrocious. Despite his promise that he will let you download these IN COLOUR as a PDF file from a link, if you send a receipt of book purchase!!!!All the same, I am keeping this book as it is very useful and easy to understand Instruction Manual as well as a Reference book.UPDATE: Noticed today, Alexander White's Guide for MkII available on Amazon, worth comparing.

Very useful information and very clearly written. I would have given it 5 stars for content, except that the page numbers are not displaying properly on my iPad and so it's difficult to navigate by page numberI like the way it starts off giving the authors settings for the cameras, which I've chosen to copy, before going into more detail as to what the different features do. At least with the basics set I could start off using it, and getting good results, without reading the whole book.I would describe myself as an "advanced amateur" having also a DSLR, so I'm not a beginner, but still found plenty of useful info in this book and would recommend it to anyone buying the camera.

I really would have liked to have given this book a 5 star review because it's actually really well written and very informative BUT I bought the Kindle version. And I use Windows 8.1. And trying to read this book on the Kindle app for Windows is is just about the most frustrating experience I have ever encountered. There are NO PAGE NUMBERS. You can't navigate. It takes an age to turn a page. etc etc.Do yourself a favour and go to the authors website to buy this book in multiformat. I certainly wished I had.Hopeless Amazon. Hopeless.

Just about the only book of its type to have been written by somebody who obviously really does know what he is on about - in my opinion. Most of the 'Complete Guides' I have ever read are little more than a rehash of the bumf that comes with the camera. This one is different. It is jam packed with lucid explanations and sound advice; just the sort of stuff you will need to know in order to use the camera proficiently, stuff that is normally only discovered by trial and error. My sole criticism of the book is the substandard printing and the use of back and white illustrations. Seems a bit incongruous in a book that is essentially about colour photography. However, don't let that put you off; you have only to email a proof of purchase receipt to the author and he will download a full colour PDF, at no extra charge. His email address is at the foot the first page. (Just in case you miss it, as I did.) This is one book that deserves a place in your library. It is definitely worth buying.Keith Angus

I got this book on Kindle for my Samsung S5 phone and the text makes it very easy to understand the at first daunting number of options and capabilities of the RX100. However the illustrative combination pictures showing the sometimes subtle changes of camera settings are very difficult to see on a small screen. The pictures are just too small to compare. That said it's a great read and I wish I'd stuck to old tech and bought the real book