Rating: 
Summary: You can't go wrong with this book. Truly excellent.
Review: Let me say although I have given this book five stars If I could have I would have given it 4.75! I'll explain this later. The book is superb and ideal for beginner, amateur, and professional alike. It is also perfect for someone who wishes a refresher course or wants to change camera types. It is extensive thorough, simple, detailed, exhaustive and all the other adjectives that could be used to justify the authors' claim that you will never need another book. You could consider this the Bible of photography. One excellent feature is the book's modularity, due to its conciseness you can focus in on specific chapters if you want, skip chapters, and in no way feel lost. Truly a great book every essential is covered. Having said all this why I feel the book deserves 4.75 stars not five as I have given it is simple, there are no color photographs which is essential as most of us use color film and especially important when looking at the effects of filter use. This book ranks up there with the Ansel Adams series it has been most helpful and will continue to be so for the rest of my life.
Rating:
Summary: Truly the "Ideal Handbook"
Review: Looking for a great introductory book on photography? Look no further. Although the books lacks the gloss and color photographs found in some other books, this book is probably much more useful for the cost. Comprehensive and detailed, the book covers every major topic in photography from choosing equipment to techniques in creative photography.Both an ideal beginners and a reference for serious amateurs, this book is designed read before and after a photography session rather than something to be carried in the camera bag. It should be noted that this book makes an excellent companion to The New 35mm Photographer's Handbook by Julian Calder and John Garrett (ISBN 0609804227). After reading the Grimm's book, the Handbook makes a great carry-along reference for in the field.
Rating:
Summary: A thoroughly excellent resource
Review: Now in an updated edition for 2004 that covers the latest advances in film and digital photography, The Basic Book Of Photography is a comprehensive handbook for photographers ranging from novice to experienced. From indoor and outdoor lighting techniques, to using the Internet to promote and enjoy one's photographs, to different ways to process one's own pictures, 395 black-and-white illustrations, and so much more, The Basic Book Of Photography is the collaborative effort of Tom Grimm and Michele Grimm and a thoroughly excellent resource which is confidently recommended to novice and professional photographers alike.
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Summary: OUTSTANDING PHOTOS ARE ONLY STEPS AWAY WITH THIS NEW EDITION
Review: Should you buy a film camera or a digital camera, and what are the best ways to use it? We are the authors of the 5th revision of THE BASIC BOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHY,where the answers to these and other photographic questions can be found.
This classic guide has been the best-selling handbook for amateur and expert photographers for the past 29 years.
The greatly expanded 2004 edition - with 672 pages and 395 illustrative photos - features the latest technologies and techniques for both innovative digital and traditional film photography.
Beginning with the elements of composition and how you can apply them to create the most striking photographs, we explain everything you need to know about the equipment to use - including cameras, lenses, flash units, filters, and important accessories.
Whether you choose a 35mm single lens reflex (SLR), compact, APS , single-use, instant, or digital camera, you'll learn all the features of these various cameras and how to operate them successfully. Lens openings (f/stops), shutter speeds, focusing controls, exposure metering systems, and all the other camera adjustments are explained in detail.
Special sections of this definitive guide are devoted to lighting techniques, travel photography, digital imaging, processing films and making prints in your own darkroom, and various ways to display your photographs, including on the Internet. An all-inclusive glossary of photographic terms makes THE BASIC BOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHY of extra value to all photographers, whether a beginning snapshooter or an experienced pro.
Did you know that photographers can join in the exciting world of digital photography without giving up their film cameras. We explain how negatives, slides, and prints can be scanned at home or by a neighborhood photofinisher to convert your film or print images to digital image files. With a home computer, those digitized photo images can then be sent as E-mail to family and friends, or posted on an Internet Web site for everyone to see. By using the computer's printer, you can also make large and small photo prints. And your photographs can be preserved by copying the digital image files onto a CD or DVD.
Whether you have been shooting pictures for years, or are new to digital or film photography, THE BASIC BOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHY is the comprehensive reference for any photographic question and will help you become the photographer you always wanted to be.
TOM GRIMM and MICHELE GRIMM are a husband-and-wife photographic team who have spent more than 30 years traveling the globe in search of the perfect photographic image. They now have a library of more than 150,000 color photographs, many of which have been published worldwide. Tom has been a photography instructor at the University of California at Irvine, and as a couple they have led numerous photographic workshops and tours. The Grimms are authors and illustrators of 12 other adults and childrens' books. Tom also has written THE BASIC DARKROOM BOOK, a companion photography guide published by Plume and available from Amazon.com.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth the investment, but...
Review: The Basic Book of Photography (2004 Edition) is a superb and comprehensive reference for beginners who want to learn about the technology available to improve their images--particularly their film images. It presents a tremendous amount of information in a manner that is highly accessible. I have only one quibble: the cover states that this edition has been "Fully updated to cover the latest advances in film & digital photography." Well, one chapter and a few sidebar references to digital imaging doesn't really constitute a full update in my mind, especially in 2003-2004, when digital sales surpassed film for the first time. If you need to learn about lenses, filters, flash, and photographic accessories--and particularly about film--this is the book. If you are looking for information about digital photography, you'll learn a lot indirectly, but eventually the experience is dissatisfying.
Rating:
Summary: A very useful guide for serious amateurs
Review: The Basic Book of Photography is a very useful introduction to all aspects of photography. It's best suited for the serious amateur who already has some basic concepts but wishes to gain more advanced knowledge. Topics that are often treated lightly in other books, such depth of field, manual focusing, choosing and buying accessories, and more, are covered in detail here. Take a look at the table of contents (available here on Amazon) and you'll see the wide range of topics this 650-page book covers.
The book has an old-timer feel to it, both because it's printed on regular paper using some ancient font and because almost all pictures are b&w. The focus is also heavily on film photography. There's a separate chapter in the current edition (5th) that deals with digital photography, unfortunately it's neither duly updated (they still tell you about 1MP digital cameras and SmartMedia cards) nor very accurate nor comprehensive.
If you want a one-stop book on photography, you may not be able to find one. No book I know of (including Manual of Photography and a few Hedgecoe books) gives you *everything* on photography. Manual of Photography probably comes closest but it's also hard to read. The reason I bought Grimm's book is it's cheap, it's easy to read, and it covers a lot of things that are too "old" to be covered in other books. I have benefited greatly from the book's coverage on depth of field, flash photography and use of filters, among other things.
Rating: 
Summary: Review from LIBRARY JOURNAL
Review: THE BASIC BOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHY, 4TH EDITION, by Tom Grimm & Michele Grimm This substantial book, long a standard guide to photography, is so comprehensive that its serves as an excellent reference for both amateur and professional photographers. Written in a clear, conversational style, this work presents the myriad technical aspects of photographic equipment in an easily understood manner. Coverage begins with cameras and lenses, with emphasis on practical matters, such as how to load film and adjust lens openings. The authors then logically turn to film and discuss the selection of lenses and the use of flash equipment. In addition to equipment and materials, the two most important elements of good photography - lighting and composition - are considered. Although the emphasis is upon 35mm photography, other types of cameras, including point-and-shoot, Polaroid, and digital cameras, are also discussed in detail. The final chapter and appendixes offer an abundance of useful information, including recommended books, photography schools, workshops, competitions, and an extensive glossary of photographic terms. One would be hard-pressed to find a single volume that offers as much good, useful information about photography as this work. Highly recommended for all libraries.-- Raymond Bial, Parkland Coll. Lib., Champaign, Ill.
Rating:
Summary: Exhaustive Coverage of Photography Basics
Review: This book covers everything you'll need to know about photography. Some of the topics covered are flash usage, selecting film, selecting your camera, composing pictures, and using filters, and of course much more. Before reading this book, I didn't know how many things there are to think about when taking pictures. Now I know what distinguishes a snapshot, which is what you see most people taking all of the time, and a true photograph that you would see in a magazine. The _best_ feature of this book is that it is practical and realistic. It never tells you to go out and buy a lot of expensive equipment before you can be a good photographer. Instead, it covers usage of equipment that most everyone will already have, including older models of cameras. It even talks about automatic, disposable, and digital cameras. Of course it covers SLR cameras since they provide the highest quality photographs. In short, if you read this book, you'll be able to take great pictures regardless of the type of camera you have. Even if you just want to photograph family vacations and events, your pictures will be all the better for it.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful introduction
Review: This book is a very formidable introduction to every single of photography. Tha jargon is introduced so you can understand and be understood in a company of photographers. It tells us a lot about technology and materials, maybe a little less on photography techniques. But those are the basics and that's exactly what the title promeises us. Over all, a very good introduction to the photographic world, not trying to be more than it is.
Rating:
Summary: Great for beginners!
Review: This book is well written and thoroughly explains the fundamentals of photography. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in learning about photography. The only thing better is taking a class where hands-on experience and instruction are combined.
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