Rating: 
Summary: An excellent resource for both novices and pros
Review: Although photography has been a hobby of mine for years, I recently became interested in astronomy. I bought this book to learn how to combine these two hobbies. This is an excellent resource. If you're just starting out, this book covers the basics and explains things that even a novice like me can understand. As your skill level advances this book will continue to be an excellent resource. It is filled with detailed technical information on scopes, mounts, lenses, films, techniques and just about anything you need to know on this subject. I agree with other reviewers that the book does not cover CCD photography in depth. CCD hardware/software seems to be changing at such a rapid pace. It would be difficult to write a detailed text on this subject that would not be out of date in a couple of years. Overall, I rate this book very highly and recommend if for both novices and pros.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent resource for both novices and pros
Review: Although photography has been a hobby of mine for years, I recently became interested in astronomy. I bought this book to learn how to combine these two hobbies. This is an excellent resource. If you're just starting out, this book covers the basics and explains things that even a novice like me can understand. As your skill level advances this book will continue to be an excellent resource. It is filled with detailed technical information on scopes, mounts, lenses, films, techniques and just about anything you need to know on this subject. I agree with other reviewers that the book does not cover CCD photography in depth. CCD hardware/software seems to be changing at such a rapid pace. It would be difficult to write a detailed text on this subject that would not be out of date in a couple of years. Overall, I rate this book very highly and recommend if for both novices and pros.
Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Astronomical Resource
Review: For about 5 years now I've been involved with Astronomy as a hobby. I've owned telescopes small and large, taken numerous night sky pictures, and read many materials on the subject. With the recent purchase of my 8" Schmidt, I was eager to begin taking pictures with it. I realized that while I'd taken some pictures in the past, I wasn't very skilled in the process. With a desire to expand my knowledge and further my skills I purchased this book. I was glad that I did. The book has an abundance of useful information that I was able to readily apply when photographing. It also has an abundance of technically sophisticated information. If you are a very new beginner then this probably isn't your book. I found that you already need more than just a basic knowledge of astronomy and photography to understand the concepts covered in this book. The book is not a light read. If you want to understand what is included in it you must be willing to devote some time, both reading and applying. If you are willing to put up with a level of sophistication and complexity then you should have no problem with this book. The title can be slightly misleading in the sense that the word amateur it is used. "Amateur," in title of this work, best translates as: non-professional. And not as beginner.
Rating: 
Summary: A DECENT REFRESHER BOOK
Review: I see where this is the 2nd edition of this book I feel that the first edition was alot better. The book has decent information covered here but it seems like a rehash of info only slightly changed by the author. To make this book better the author should know that ccd is the wave of the future and if he decides to write a 3rd book to do more research this time, some of the films mentioned are out of date.
Rating: 
Summary: I hesitated to pick up a copy of this book...
Review: I've been trying my hand off and on for the last year at astrophotography with my Meade LX-200. In that time I've scoured the internet, devoured newsgroup, and emailed enough astrophotographers that you'd think I was trying to get elected to NASA or something. In all that time, one name and reference guide kept coming up as a "must have". Astrophotography for the Amateur by Michael A. Covington.
Everywhere I turned, everyone I asked, their answers always seemed to come down to "...because Michael Covington does it this way" or "Yeah I tried doing it that way but after reading Astrophotography I tried it this way and received better results". That attitude actually "put me off" this book. Here I wanted to learn how to do astrophotography, not follow some recipe in a book. After finally browsing through a friends copy I was immediately impressed with the book as a reference guide, and when comparing it to my own notes and conclusions found several area's where I had erred, resulting in poor photo's. Of course, the flip side is true as well.
Some of the info in this book (even though it is a second edition) is dated such as film types and recommendations. I've found his exposure calculations for Lunar photography to be way over exposed.
I have to make a correction here, originaly I (and others) noted the lack of CCD imaging information in the book and I need to note that the first addition makes no mention of CCD, while the second edition has a section detailing the diffrences between CCD and film work. It also has a brief section devoted to CCD work. Its not as indepth as his discussions on film work.
Rating:
Summary: My best book on astrophotography
Review: I've bought a handful of books on the subject, and this one is head and shoulders above the rest. Some of the other books have lots of pretty pictures, and very little information on actually taking photos. I found the instructions easy to follow, and when I had a question, or needed to figure something out, this book always had it. Two big thumbs up!
Rating:
Summary: Astrophotography for the Amateur
Review: Michael Covington writes a great read. He has a flow to his style of writing that makes it easy to get lost in the imagery. I started reading and found I couldn't put this book down. From the rank beginner to the accomplished pro. This book is the standard to which all other books on this topic will be compared in the future. There is no stone left unturned. I even gave copies to a couple of good friends as gift's. Anyone in the astronomy endeavor will enjoy finding this great book under their tree even in July.
Rating:
Summary: Astrophotography for the Amateur
Review: Michael Covington writes a great read. He has a flow to his style of writing that makes it easy to get lost in the imagery. I started reading and found I couldn't put this book down. From the rank beginner to the accomplished pro. This book is the standard to which all other books on this topic will be compared in the future. There is no stone left unturned. I even gave copies to a couple of good friends as gift's. Anyone in the astronomy endeavor will enjoy finding this great book under their tree even in July.
Rating:
Summary: Very good reference book for any astrophotographer
Review: Micheal Covington's book covers all aspects of astrophotography starting from objects, from camera selection to films, exposure methods, mounts and drives, guiding of the mount & guiding accuracy/errors, and of course the CCD imaging. I also gives ideas on how to build a simple barn door mount. It does not end at taking exposures. After an exposure is taken we have to convert it into an acceptable quality print or into a computer file. Images can be greatly improved by digital processing. So it also covers image processing ideas. The only point to be noted is that one must look at his website and download the errata. The book has many printing errors, some of which are trivial though. That, of course, must not deter any user. I consider is my best field guide book on this topic. I believe his recent edition has got over these errors - not mine. I bought mine in 1999.
Rating:
Summary: Very good reference book for any astrophotographer
Review: Micheal Covington's book covers all aspects of astrophotography starting from objects, from camera selection to films, exposure methods, mounts and drives, guiding of the mount & guiding accuracy/errors, and of course the CCD imaging. I also gives ideas on how to build a simple barn door mount. It does not end at taking exposures. After an exposure is taken we have to convert it into an acceptable quality print or into a computer file. Images can be greatly improved by digital processing. So it also covers image processing ideas. The only point to be noted is that one must look at his website and download the errata. The book has many printing errors, some of which are trivial though. That, of course, must not deter any user. I consider is my best field guide book on this topic. I believe his recent edition has got over these errors - not mine. I bought mine in 1999.
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