Do you buy photography ebooks?

[FlyingSquirrel]

I'm curious what you think about purchasing photography ebooks. In particular, I'm referring to ebooks that have photography step-by-step tutorials, how-to, theory, and similar information...basically any type of study and training materials, in electronic form (PDF file, etc).

There is increasingly more free content online, whether it be on wonderful forums such as CiC, or on photographers blogs, photography websites, online mags...it makes me wonder how many people would be willing to pay for an ebook. And, in the case(s) that someone would pay for one, I am curious what would be the key reasons or attributes of a particular ebook that would entice them to do this, as opposed to just finding free info online. I could postulate a number of reasons (including reasons why I have, personally, purchased ebooks), but I'd like to get your feedback.

Thanks for any replies!

[Donald]

There are indeed many rich sources of information online, much of it generated by the sort of amateur photographers that inhabit this forum. However, there is also a lot of rubbish online. It takes a certain amount of knowledge and experience to sort out the wheat from the chaff and to be able to trust the information that is accessed.

As with online fora, there are lots of people out there who think they can write a book. There are a much fewer number that actually can. For me the key criteria in choosing are known, experienced and trusted. If you buy the work of such an author you can go into the book in the knowledge that what is written has been researched and/or is the result of hands-on experience and that you will be gaining knowledge that you can then apply. You should not lose your critical faculties and fail to interrogate why someone says what they say, but at least you should have an argument setting out the reasons for the author's position so that you can critically appraise it.

As to the question of e-book. My default position is to have something solid in my hands; i.e. an good old 'real' book. However, I am not against the idea of e-books and instruction/tutorial type books may well be ideal material for this form of publication.

[IzzieK]

Hmmm. I am the same as Donald in the thoughts here -- I like something in my hand. At least I do not lose it as I am one who always have a place for almost everything whereas an e-book can get lost in my many HD now currently populating my physical storage. Free ... I just take notes and they are short and sweet to read and if it is really a good instruction, step by step, practice and take notes. Enjoyable to say the least, I am not into video courses either -- as after viewing, the link ends up in my drafts folder and forgotten later. I am from the old school -- text instructions and a pen and paper and google are my friends.

[tbob]

I buy the occasional ebook, however it is fairly rare and only from one source; concentrates mainly on the philosophy and mindset that goes into making images. And my photography library of published books consists of three books in much the same vein. The actual mechanics of image making (I used this aperture, ISO, lens, lighting set up, post processing process etc to make this image) are wasted on me as I blank out anytime I am exposed to it and would never remember it anyway.

[davidedric]

I do buy ebooks fairly regularly, normally e versions of printed books. However photography books are a bit of a nonsense on a black and white Kindle reader. I read them on my android tablet. I wouldn't buy a "coffee table" type of book in e format, print every time. I do find that for "instructional" books, with or without tutorials, it works very well to have the tablet next to the pc (and of course you can read it in any light).

Dave

[PhotomanJohn]

I buy both real and ebooks. As Donald said, you have to be able to sort out what is true or good advice and what is not no matter what format the information is in. I have an annoying habit of not believing much of what I hear or read and tend to verify as best I can anything new especially if it doesn't pass my smell test.

I find that there is one main benefit to real books, especially books with lots of figures and example pictures. Often the ebooks don't contain all of the examples. Even if they do, many books don't put titles on each figure or picture so when the reader application (Kindle or the like) reformats the words and figures, it is sometimes very difficult to line them back up in my mind. Other than this issue, I find ebooks convenient and less expensive than the real ones. Also, I have filled up all of my book cases so I don't have room for new books that aren't really special.

John

[Mike Buckley]

I have successfully bought Jason Odell's ebooks over the years that pertain to using the image-editing software that I use. Though that's only three ebooks over a period of about 8 years, I wouldn't hesitate to buy anything he writes about software that I use. That's because his writing is clear, concise and accurate.

On the other hand, I recently came upon an offering of about 40 ebooks from a variety of authors about a variety of subjects for a very steeply discounted price of only $90. None of the topics interested me so I didn't make the purchase.

However photography books are a bit of a nonsense on a black and white Kindle reader.

Stick to black-and-white photography.

[Texas Dave]

I've been fortunate enough to have our company purchase a Lynda.com for our entire office. They offer allot of photography courses. ...Not that much has stuck yet but I'm getting there.

[rpcrowe]

I do purchase and download eBooks. My NOOK HD+ is ideal for this format since the screen is absolutely wonderful. There are some books that are only available in eBook versions and other books that are considerably less expensive...

As I grow older and my eyes are not quit what they used to be, the ability to enlarge the fonts is quite helpful...

Another advantage of the NOOK eBook use is that I can carry the NOOK just about anywhere. I download eBook travel books as well as some eBook novels to take along on trips...

BTW: I use Pixie Reef (terrible name for a nice program) to store and catalog my images on the NOOK. That way, if I want to display my previously captured images to anyone while I am traveling, I can easily do this...

[FlyingSquirrel]

Thanks for the great insights and replies, everyone! Really interesting to see the variety of viewpoints and thought processes on this topic! Much appreciated

[DanK]

yes, some.

I buy them when I find one that I think will be really helpful. Yes, there is a lot online for free, but most of that is not done with the amount of care and time that a good book requires. And I think people who do that hard work deserve to be compensated for it, so I don't mind paying them.

[Dave Humphries]

This year, I have started to buy (usually) reference books as e-Books (Kindle) and currently I can only read them on my Android phone or PC - on which they are in colour (the Kindle itself is on my Xmas list).

Amazon keep the reading place in sync across all devices, which is very useful.

The reasons for me are; ease of searching and also live hyper-links (many of the e-Books are on web and database technology). The font sizing options and choice of black on white or white on black text are also useful.

I am considering getting the Kindle version of Light Science and Magic as a photo related example.

Instant free delivery and not having to be in if it won't fit through the letterbox also helps.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Thanks again everyone!

[barrydoig]

Yes I do, and lots of them. They are my major printed source. My major producers are Craft and Vision, Photography B B On Line, Digital Photography School, and Edward Verosky. But there are many others. They are cheap, and I download them and put them on my Android Tablet, and I can read them at my leisure. This is the way of the future - today. A Google search will find more but you do need a bit of savvy to weed out the non-helpful stuff.