Sample Book Pages 

from "The Complete Guide to Sony's Alpha 100 DSLR and the Alpha Mount System"

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER 0 - THE GOALS OF THIS EBOOK

CHAPTER 1 – THE ALPHA 100 IN A NUTSHELL
INTRODUCTION 
MAJOR FEATURES
        Super SteadyShot
        Anti-Dust 
        Wireless flash 
        Dynamic Range Optimization and Zone Matching
        Smaller and Lighter
        Scene Selection Modes
SOME ESSENTIAL HISTORY ABOUT SONY, MINOLTA, KONICA MINOLTA, AND CARL ZEISS
LENSES 
        Crop Factor
        Sony and Minolta Lens Nomenclature 
        Frequently Asked Questions about Lenses
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 1 

CHAPTER 2 – - THE BASIC GUIDE FOR THE IMPATIENT USER
CONTROLS
SHORTHAND NOTATION
        Power Save modes
AUTO SETTING 
PROGRAM (“P”) MODE
THE “FILM COUNTER
INSTANT PLAYBACK
FOCUSING BASICS
        How does the camera know what to focus on?
        The Focusing Sensors
        Autofocus Priority / Release Priority
BATTERIES
FLASH
SELF-TIMER 
THE “RESET” FEATURE
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 2 

CHAPTER 3 –  AFTER YOU HAVE TAKEN YOUR PICTURES 
VIEWING YOUR PICTURES WHILE THEY’RE STILL IN THE CAMERA 
        Deleting an image (or multiple images)
        Protecting an image 
        How the Image Information is Displayed – the Display Button 
        Other Ways to View Pictures 
HAVING YOUR PICTURES PRINTED AT A 1-HOUR PHOTO LAB
        Generating an index print 
        Canceling DPOF files
DOWNLOADING PICTURES TO YOUR COMPUTER
EPILOGUE 
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 3 

CHAPTER 4 – SOME BASICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY
SHUTTER SPEEDS
SHUTTER PRIORITY MODE
SPORTS PROGRAM MODE 
F/STOPS
APERTURE PRIORITY MODE
        What you see is NOT always what you get
DEPTH OF FIELD PREVIEW
SO, IN SUMMARY
        Tradeoffs
ISO– HOW SENSITIVE IS THE CAMERA TO LIGHT? 
EXPOSURE COMPENSATION 
PROGRAM SHIFT 
TIME EXPOSURES
THE SCENE SELECTION MODES 
        Sports Program Mode
        Sunset Mode 
        Portrait Mode
        Macro Mode
        Landscape Mode 
        Night View / Portrait Mode
        Summary of Scene Selection Modes
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 4 

CHAPTER 5 – REALLY COOL ADVANCED FUNCTIONS
FOCUSING MODES 
        Single and Continuous with Subject Tracking 
        Why Bother with Manual Focusing
DMF – Direct Manual Focus
SPOT METERING AND EXPOSURE LOCK
        Basic Exposure Lock – the AEL button
        Spot Metering
SUPER STEADYSHOT™
WHITE BALANCE
        Auto White Balance
        Tweaking the Pre-Set White Balance
        White Balance Bracketing
        Custom White Balance 
        The “K” setting
FLASH, FILL FLASH, AND WIRELESS FLASH
        1) and 2) Auto Flash and Fill Flash
        3) Red-Eye Reduction Mode
        4) Rear Sync Flash 
        5) Wireless Flash
        6) and 7) ADI and Pre-Flash TTL
DRIVE MODES 
        Single-Frame Mode
        Continuous Advance Mode
        Bracketing 
ADVANCED TOPICS: THE HISTOGRAM DISPLAY
        Brightness range, sensors, and the human eye 
        Use the Histogram for a fin(d)er degree of control 
DYNAMIC RANGE OPTIMIZATION 
COLOR / DEC: IN-CAMERA IMAGE-TWEAKING SETTINGS 
        Color Space
        Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, Night View, and B&W modes 
        Contrast Setting
        Saturation Setting
        Sharpness Setting 
        Combining Settings 
        Zone Matching
MY PERSONAL CAMERA SETTINGS
        Menu Settings
        Function Dial Settings
SUMMARY 

CHAPTER 6 – THE “SECRETS” OF LIGHT AND COMPOSITION
WRITING WITH LIGHT
COMPOSITION – THE RULE OF THIRDS
        Texture
        Out of place shot 
        Classical Portrait
        Environmental Portrait 
SUMMARY 

CHAPTER 7 – WIRELESS FLASH
INTRODUCTION 
HOW TO USE WIRELESS FLASH 
HOW DOES IT WORK
        Will the Pre-Flash Bursts Affect the Exposure
HOW TO DO “RATIO FLASH” FOR PROFESSIONAL LIGHTING RESULTS 
BOUNCE FLASH 
LIGHT MODIFIERS
MANUAL FLASH MODE (HVL-56AM ONLY) 
HIGH SPEED SYNCH (HSS) FLASH 
        How to Activate HSS 
ANOTHER EXAMPLE 
EPILOGUE 
SUMMARY 

CHAPTER 8 – DIGITAL IMAGING CONCEPTS EXPLAINED
FILE FORMAT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR THE IMPATIENT READER 
THE CHAPTER BEGINS
“WHAT’S A PIXEL? WHAT’S A MEGAPIXEL
“HOW MANY MEGAPIXELS ARE ENOUGH
FILE TYPES 
        JPG Compression Artifacts
IMAGE SIZE
IMAGE SIZE AND RESOLUTION
MEMORY CARDS 
        Compact Flash (CF
        Memory Stick Flavors 
Memory Card Corruption Issues
DUST ON THE SENSOR
“HOT PIXELS”
SUMMARY 

CHAPTER 9 – AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PICTURE MOTION BROWSER SOFTWARE
INTRODUCTION 
AFTER YOU INSTALL
AUTOMATICALLY TRANSFER YOUR IMAGES 
BROWSE YOUR IMAGES
BASIC EDITING 
        Rotating and Cropping
        Adjusting the Tone Curves and the Color Balance
        Sharpness 
PRINTING
OTHER EDITING SOFTWARE
RAW CONVERSION
SUMMARY 

CHAPTER 10 - ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
INTERNET FORUMS AND DISCUSSION BOARDS 
THREE OUTSTANDING IMAGING MAGAZINES 
25 WAYS TO “WOW!” E-BOOKLET 
THE FRIEDMAN ARCHIVES SEMINARS 
BOOKS ON PREVIOUS CAMERAS 
THE ROAD TO CHINA

APPENDIX A – A BRIEF HISTORY OF MINOLTA INNOVATION

APPENDIX B – A “COOKBOOK” FOR SPECIAL SHOOTING SITUATIONS
INTRODUCTION 
FIREWORKS 
ARTISTIC WATERFALLS
STAGE PERFORMANCES / ROCK CONCERTS 
NIGHTTIME TIME EXPOSURES
SHOOTING IN SNOW
OUTDOOR GROUP PORTRAITS
STREET PHOTOGRAPHY 
I-DON’T-WANT-TO-TWEAK-MY-IMAGES-IN-MY-COMPUTER MODE
SUNSETS AND SILHOUETTES 
THE MOON 
NIGHTTIME SPORTS 
CHRISTMAS LIGHTS 
PRODUCT SHOTS
INTERIORS THAT SELL
LIGHTNING 
CANDLELIGHT SHOTS 

INDEX

Hey, did you ever expect to get so much information for less than 20 bucks?? 

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