The Camera (Ansel Adams Photography, #1)
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The Camera (Ansel Adams Photography #1)

4.24 of 5 stars 4.24  ·  rating details  ·  417 ratings  ·  22 reviews
This is a book which is the first volume of the New Ansel Adams Photography Series and is based on the earlier Basic Photo Series--Adams' now-classic approach to photography.
Paperback, 195 pages
Published June 1st 1995 by Little, Brown and Company (first published 1980)
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Diogo
Diogo rated it 5 of 5 stars
Ansel Adams has a dry and terse style, I think I haven't read technical books with so much content per word, very little is wasted. This book is relatively small, but there is so much information that it must be read carefully.

Much of the book seems out of date, and it is, but even the things most people are very unlikely to ever use (view camera) have very interesting insights into the optics and different possibilities. I had no idea of what was possible to do with a view camera be...more
Patrick
Ansel Adam's book, entitled, very simply, "The Camera," is about just that: the camera. However, it is perhaps the most readable, most in-depth exploration of the camera in its many forms I have ever seen. I have learned more over the course of about a week from this book than I did from months of formal classes. Ansel Adams is, if anything, thorough.

He covers, of course, the 35mm camera, perhaps the most popular type of camera on the market, but actually devotes the maj...more
Sarah Ryburn
i realize that adams is something of a cliche in the art world- like white zinfandel to a connoisseur of wine. his photographs are ubiquitous and recognizable, universally praised by the neophyte art-lover as "great photography" and known more often by prints on a calendar than serious academic study. i can not accept that this necessarily disqualifies him as a great artist. i've read of adams that his love of the american west and its landscape powered his art, that his passion for ph...more
Seema
Seema rated it 2 of 5 stars
Something should be mentioned before you start reading this book which is that it has been published over 20 years ago, and a lot of new technologies have been developed and created since then and you shouldn't expect this book to be up with that.

I wouldn't recommend it to a professional photographer because it basically explains how the shutter works, what camera to choose, films, accessiories.. etc and I assumer a professional already know that. I'd only recomment it for an Amateu...more
Austin
Austin rated it 5 of 5 stars
Shelves: non-fiction
Outstanding and timeless. This book was excellent in every way. I get so sick and tired of seeing his name invoked in 95% of the articles written today on landscape photography, but that can't be held against the man himself. He was a brilliant artist, and as this book demonstrates, an exceptionally intelligent student AND teacher of all aspects of the art and science of photography. Some people really do live up to the hype.
Mountainman
Where to begin... Ansel Adams might be my hero. His first book gave me the real information for real photographers looking to make real black and white art with their cameras. Everything you could want to know about the CAMERA, this book will teach you. for any serious black and white photographer. love love love for ansel adams
Piper
Piper rated it 5 of 5 stars
I'd just like to note that this book was first published not in the 1950s but in 1948. Also, it was the first of a series of five books (not a triad) the last two of which are now out of print, but are called "Natural-Light Photography" and "Artificial-Light Photography".
Gwen
Gwen rated it 4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: photography enthusiast
Shelves: photography
Adams talks almost as much about how great a photographer he is in this EXTREMELY informative book on the workings of the camera as he does on the subject matter. I felt that reading this book was a lot like taking a class from most highly skilled professionals. They know why they're teaching the class, and they have the ego to match. If you can get past that (much easier to do in book form than in person) then you can learn so much.

The experiments that Adams demos in the books are s...more
Mike
Mike rated it 5 of 5 stars
Shelves: photography
An extremely well-written book. Assumes a good deal of technical camera knowledge from the beginning, but explains everything you could possibly want to know about how (non-digital) cameras work. After reading it I really wanted to play around with a 8x10 view camera!
Rui Melo
Great technical overview on the history of photographic cameras, their glitches, and the common truth that enables you to know how to operate them. Very good book, falling into the class of "technical bible"
Richard
VEry good and useful, even for digital photographers. You need the basics and this is solid advice.
Mansoor
An essential guide the will actually teach you something.
Widsith
Widsith marked it as to-read
The Camera (Ansel Adams Photography, Book 1) by Ansel Adams (1995)
Mihai Criveti
Surprisingly accurate and up to date, it's a must-read for anyone doing photography (film or digital). Learned a lot about the zone system, lens transmission and so on.
David Timms
David Timms rated it 4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: serious photographers
I read this book years ago when it seemed the ultimate authority on the instruments used to catch light. It still is.

Ansel was not a humble nor a quiet man, but he was an extraordinary influence in elevating photography to an Art. He speaks with confidence, as among the ultimate authorities on this subject.

St Ansel also wrote about The Negative and The Print. They are also encyclopedic in their scope and accuracy.

Carlos Quijano
Written a few years before his death in 1984, the series ("The Camera," "The Negative," and "The Print") remains a timeless classic. Adams collects a whole lifetime of photographic experience in a few hundred pages. Much of what he explains about cameras and lenses is still relevant today, and his discussion of "pre-visualisation" and composition still holds. A must read for all photographers.
Jedrek Kostecki
If you're interested in the technical side of cameras, you can do a lot better than this book. And if you're not, then this book has nothing for you. But, if you're interested in hearing 120 film referred to as 2 1/4" and discussions of cameras systems that are pretty much impossible to buy because they've been out of production for 60 years, this is the book for you.
Matt
Matt rated it 5 of 5 stars
I really love this book! Each page I read only cements my love of photography that much more!
Steven Warren
A must read for any photographer. It describes just about every aspect (except of course the principles of a digital camera sensor) of cameras and how to manipulate them for better pictures.
Milad
Milad rated it 5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: Anyone who likes photography
Anyone who likes photography can start by this book.
You'll get know the different cameras and lenses very well, depth of field and some about framing.
Karl
Karl rated it 5 of 5 stars
A fantastic book that I just finished~!!!!
Amanda
brushing up on the technical stuff....
Israa
Israa rated it 3 of 5 stars
Ken
Ken marked it as to-read
Salza
Salza rated it 5 of 5 stars
Nicole
Nicole rated it 5 of 5 stars
Goran
Goran rated it 4 of 5 stars
Kirsten
Kirsten marked it as to-read
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