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-class...
read full description
reviews
Feb 03, 2012
Diogo
rated it: 
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Much of the book seems out of date, and it is, but even the things most people are very unlikely to ever use (view camera) have very interesting insights into the optics and different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...
Much of the book seems out of date, and it is, but even the things most people are very unlikely to ever use (view camera) have very interesting insights into the optics and different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...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Oct 08, 2009
Patrick
rated it: 
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...
He covers, of course, the 35mm camera, perhaps the most popular type of camera on the market, but actually devotes the maj More...
Jul 22, 2011
Sarah Ryburn
rated it:
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...
Jan 22, 2012
Seema
rated it: 
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...
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...
May 31, 2010
Austin
rated it:
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.
Dec 26, 2011
Mountainman
rated it:
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
Jan 07, 2010
Piper
rated it:
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".
Oct 12, 2007
Gwen
rated it: 
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...
The experiments that Adams demos in the books are s More...
Feb 20, 2010
Mike
rated it:
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!
Jul 01, 2011
Rui
rated it:
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"
Jan 26, 2012
Richard
rated it:
VEry good and useful, even for digital photographers. You need the basics and this is solid advice.
Jan 01, 2011
Mihai
rated it:
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.
Oct 01, 2008
David
rated it:
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.
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.
Feb 10, 2011
Carlos
rated it:
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.
Feb 07, 2010
Jedrek
rated it: 
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.
May 03, 2011
Matt
rated it:
I really love this book! Each page I read only cements my love of photography that much more!
Oct 22, 2008
Steven
rated it:
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.
May 11, 2011
Milad
rated it:
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.
You'll get know the different cameras and lenses very well, depth of field and some about framing.
Feb 11, 2012
Feb 10, 2012
Feb 10, 2012
