The first, best, and most comprehensive manual for the Nikon D300s, the 552-page David Busch’s Nikon D300s Guide to Digital SLR Photography is now in stores.  I’m especially proud of this book, a followup to my #1 best-selling guide for the Nikon D300, because it raises the standard for what a camera manual should include.  Those who are dissatisfied with the pocket-sized books that simply rehash the Nikon manual with different words will find this a treasure trove of tips and advice.  You can order it here:
David Busch’s Nikon D300s Guide to Digital SLR Photography

What do I mean by comprehensive?  Here’s what you get:

Chapters 1 and 2: These are your quick start chapters, with a full 96 pages devoted to just the information you need to know to get started with your D300s.  The beginning of each section in Chapter 1 is highlighted with a green-coded introduction that summarizes that section’s contents, so you can jump quickly over the stuff you already know, and begin reading the essentials that best suit you.  You’ll also find a list of default settings that you’ll probably want to change now. Chapter 2 includes dozens of close-up illustrations of individual controls and menus, including five pages and six illustrations showing exactly how to attach and use the MB-D10 vertical grip.

Chapters 3, 4, and 5: Frustrated by guidebooks that zip through all the settings and menus, and end up just repeating the options described in the manual?  I devote three chapters and 134 pages to explaining every setting, and why you might want to use each particular option.  For topics that are especially complex, such as autofocus, exposure, or bracketing, I point you to a later chapter that explains the nitty gritty.  No jumping back and forth between five or six cross references;  you’ll find basics up-front, more explanation if you need it, and then a reference to the advanced descriptions in the second part of the book.

Chapters 6 and 7: Learn about histograms, and, finally, read an illustrated explanation of how the Nikon D300s autofocus system works.  You’ll finally understand the difference between phase detection and contrast detection, and how to sort out all the D300s’ confusing autofocus options.

Chapter 8: Live View, HDTV movie-making, geotagging, continuous shooting, and long-exposure magic are all explained in this chapter on advanced techniques.

Chapter 9: No other camera guide devotes more than 50 pages to explaining your lens choices, with evaluations of all the most popular Nikkor lenses, including my favorites that I own and use every day.  Learn about Nikon’s famed Magic Three — the 14-24mm f/2.8,  24-70mm f/2.8, and brand new 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II — and some surprising recommendations for additional lenses you must have to round out your collection.

Chapter 10. Ready to work with light, both continuous and flash?  Each topic is worth a book of its own, but I’ve set aside 50 pages that provide you with the basics, to help you better choose and use available light and lighting equipment.

Chapters 11 and 12. Learn about your software options.  This book isn’t a Photoshop or Capture NX 2 “how-to” (again, you really need a whole book on either) but you’ll find the information you need to select from the rich array of software available for the D300s.  The last chapter offers advice for trouble-shooting your camera, rescuing data from munged memory cards, and shoots down two myths that some of the other guides have been perpetuating:  no, you should not upgrade your firmware immediately when Nikon issues an upgrade; and, yes, you can clean your own sensor (or, rather, the glass filter that protects it) without fear.

My Nikon D300s Guide to Digital SLR Photography has roughly two or three times the information you’ll find in the pocket-sized guides, including 15 pages devoted to tables that show default and recommended settings for both Shooting Menu  and Custom Setting Menu Banks for Basic,  Studio Flash, Portrait, Long Exposure, Sports Indoors, Sports Outdoors, Landscape, and Bracketing environments. You won’t find these in the pocket guides — because there’s no room for them.  My publisher gave me carte blanche to use as much space as I needed to cover the D300s in detail, and the 552-page book that will be on the shelves in a few weeks is the result.