How Digital Photography Works

Praise for the First Edition of How Digital Photography Works

Chosen in 2006 as one of the Best Photo/Digital Books of the Year by Shutterbug Magazine

It’s ...an indispensable guidefor anybody who wants to learn the nuts and bolts of digital photography from optics

to the best explanation of noise you will read anywhere....This may sound like dry stuff, but Ron White’s tightly written

prose and [Tim] Downs’ illustrations make it fun. If you want to learn how digital photography works, get this book.

—Shutterbug

This book is well written and loaded with great illustrationsthat get you inside the mechanics of the digital

camera. It is clear enough for the hobbyist and detailed enough for a scientist. The graphics really tell the story. You can

move as quickly as you want through the design for a quick reference or slow down and make yourself an expert. Your

next camera will be bought on understanding the technology rather than on the marketing hype.

—Peter D. Gabriele, scientist

Best book I’ve seen on this subject so far. Seriously. Everything is explained very clearly with a step-by-step

process on each page that explains how something works or what makes something happen. The colorful illustrations are

excellent and so well laid out, that you can often just look at them and figure out what’s going on.

I give this book a 5 out of 5 because before this book even starts explaining how DSLRs work, it lays the groundwork and

thoroughly shows you how film cameras, lenses, and light all interact and work together—which you must understand first,

if you really want to understand how DSLRs work. But, if you choose, you can just jump to a section and learn about it

without difficulty.

I got this book as a gift for someone and am now ordering one for myself, because I miss reading it!

—Lithium Nitrate, Amazon reviewer

The Enemy of Misinformation. Anyone with a solid background in photography and digital imaging can tell you

that popular digital photography resources—particularly online, and particularly those with unmoderated user forums—are

filled with partially (or entirely) incorrect information on this topic. As a rule, most people who use digital cameras on a

regular basis do not understand how they work...even when they think they do.

This book is a quick study and a tremendous aid in understanding the underlying technology, mechanisms, and science

behind digital photographs. There is also quite a bit of useful information on how lenses work, and rightly so as they are at

least 50% of the “picture quality equation.” The illustrations alone are worth the cost of the book. The writing style is down-

to-earth but not dumbed down, which is refreshing.

I have formal (collegiate) education in the field of photography, have worked in the industry for over five years, and still

found many pages in this book to be a huge help / great refresher. Unless you are an engineer working for Nikon or Kodak,

there is something in this book that will increase your understanding of digital photography. Definitely recommended.

—CMOS, Amazon Reviewer

And Praise for Ron White and Tim Downs’ Bestseller for 10 Years, How Computers Work

If knowledge is the light of the world, then the contents of How Computers Workwill certainly illuminate much about the

inner workings of today’s home and business computers without requiring the user to look under the hood.

—The New York Times