This is the first book in Ansel Adams photography series. I really cant stress enough the importance of reading all 3 of these books and reading them in their proper order. Ansel talks about a lot of techniques and many of these techniques build upon previous knowledge and previous techniques. If your serious enough about photography to have an interest in these books then you should want to do it right and doing it right is buying all 3 books and reading them in order.

I have been seeing a lot of reviews lately for these books that talk about going elsewhere if your a digital photographer and I couldn't disagree more. These books are the best books on the market in regards to teaching you photographic theory and putting that theory into usable form. Do these books focus on film, yes but the skils and theories that these books teach are easily transferred over to digital. IMO the photographers coming up today in the digital will not be nearly as skilled as the photographers who came up using film.

I have also come across a lot of reviews that talk about how the final image or print is the only thing that matters. In other words how you get there doesn't matter. I honestly feel sorry for these people. The process for me is 75% of what I love about photography. You take away those processes and photography becomes an empty shell. This is like telling model builders that the final model is all that matters. They will of course disagree as well as building the model is what makes the hobby so rewarding. Not just staring at the finished model. How you get to that final print in photography is just as important if not more important in my book. I am a large format photographer and to me the process of setting up my camera, selecting the right lens, metering for the proper exposure, going under the dark cloth and composing the picture, shooting the film, going back to the darkroom and developing the negatives and finally printing the negatives....this is what I love about photography. Shooting with a digital camera, using photoshop and printing on a digital printer doesn't even begin to compare. Yes you can still make great pictures with digital but the process itself is empty. There is just no comparing the 2 and because of this fact there will always be purists out there who shoot film and who understand the real magic of photography. For those out there that want to take this path, these are the books for you.

The bottom line is you will be a completely different photographer after you finish this series. It will take you awhile to finsih them and there are parts that you will re-read multiple times but when you are done, you will be far more skilled than you are now.

The first book, The camera obviously starts from the beginning and teaches you the basics of shooting with cameras. I wont even bother going into everything else as these books are so deep that even trying to sum them up in a review is pointless. The titles of the books are self explanatory. The first book deals with the camera, the 2nd book deals with the negative and the 3rd book deals with the print. Its divided up exactly as it should be as these really are the 3 vital components to photography.

If you are only interested in digital and all you care about is the final image then these books are not for you. Go buy a digital camera book, a photoshop book and a digital printing book. If however you are interested in photography as a whole and want to learn the skills that will make you a master, regardless of whether you shoot strictly film or digital, then look no further as these are hands down the best books on the market.

Go up to anyone who is serious about any particular hobby, regardless of what hobby it is, and ask them if the final product is the most important aspect to the hobby and you will get a resounding NO the vast majority of the time. Its the processes that get you to the final product that make a hobby so rewarding. You take away those processes and it just becomes empty.

The processes of film based photography are truly magical and when you make an amazing print from those processes, its far more rewarding than shooting a great digital picture. With the price of film based equipment crashing like the 1940's stock market, now is a perfect time to find out just how rewarding film can be. These books are the perfect place to start.

This is a great book for anyone interested in enhancing their knowledge about film photography. I'd recommend it for anyone interested in purchasing and using a film camera. Just as the title suggests, this book is about the camera itself. There's a useful chapter on lenses that will help you decide which type of lens to buy for your shooting needs. Plus there's a good chapter on image management: how to compose shots to create visually interesting photographs.

I've read all three books in this series, and while they do lean on the technical side I still consider them essential references for film camera enthusiasts.

This is the book to get if you're interested in understanding camera equipment (besides digital). Rangefinders, twin lens, large format, lenses, mechanics, etc., this book covers it. I'm still trying to get through the other two books in this series, "The negative", and "the print". They are far beyond my needs at the moment, but still interesting.

This is the best book i have read. It has given me more information then i could have hoped for. A must read for any film photographer who want to know more about cameras.

While the writer is no longer with us, the book on cameras is a great find for anyone interested in 35mm photography.