New Edition of "Light: Science and Magic"

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks to Simon Garrett's post in another thread, I just now learned of the upcoming fifth edition of Light: Science and Magic. It is not yet released but can be pre-ordered at Amazon.com in hardback, paperback and Kindle versions. Even though I regularly refer to my copy of the fourth edition, I'll pre-order the new edition because I consider the book to be my Bible of Light.

[Manfred M]

Thank's to Simon and Mike for the "head's up".

I look forward to your comments on changes to the book before I consider updating my copy...

[Simon Garrett]

Thank's to Simon and Mike for the "head's up".

I look forward to your comments on changes to the book before I consider updating my copy...

Comparing the 4th and 5th editions (using Amazon preview), the new edition contains a new chapter on setting up a studio, and earlier chapters have around 10% more pages overall, so either they've added something or printed it in a larger font!

[davidedric]

Hi folks,

I just had a look on Amazon uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Scienc...ence+and+magic

With a release date of February 2015. Is this the new edition?

Dave

[Dave Humphries]

I'm fairly sure it is Dave, 10 left when I looked

It is a different cover to mine (which has the brown balls), dated Sept. 2011.

I have (the previous version) on "Kindle" and use the PC to read it, which gives it to me in full colour.

Cheers, Dave

[Mike Buckley]

That's the new edition, Dave. The American Amazon.com says it won't be released until March 2015.

[discoraider]

Thanks for posting. I probably wouldn't have known about this otherwise. I pre-ordered it.

[Mike Buckley]

Amazon.com USA indicates that the book was released March 18. I expect to receive my copy early this week.

[Manfred M]

Mine arrived on Friday (my daughter was ordering some books from Amazon, so I jumped the gun and got her to order it for me (she was looking to increase the value of her order to qualify for free shipping).

First impressions, yes there is new material, the book is the same format as the last edition and it is definite a bit thicker. There is a lot of recycled material too (which is not going to really surprise anyone), the diagrams are going to look familiar but they've updated some of the examples.

The chapter on setting up a studio, no surprises for me as our house does not meet their minimum 12ft ceiling requirements.

My first impressions are that for someone who already has the 4th edition and uses it regularly, then getting the new one is worth it. For the casual user, perhaps not so much.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for your impressions, Manfred.

My first impressions are that for someone who already has the 4th edition and uses it regularly, then getting the new one is worth it. For the casual user, perhaps not so much.

I haven't seen the new edition yet, but I would think its usefulness for someone who already has the 4th edition would hinge more upon the information needed at any one time rather than how often someone has been using the book already.

[Mike Buckley]

The chapter on setting up a studio, no surprises for me as our house does not meet their minimum 12ft ceiling requirements.

The height, width and length of my makeshift studio add up to barely more than 12 feet. Does that count?

[Mike Buckley]

I received my copy of the book today and spent just a few minutes briefly glancing at it. The primary reason the book is bigger is because the font of the primary text is larger and because there is more space between each line. That's excellent for those of us whose eyes are gradually deteriorating, which perhaps suggests the age of people they believe to be their target market.

I'm glad to see that two minor errors in their Figures (diagrams) have been corrected in the new edition.

[Mike Buckley]

I compared Chapters 2 through 7 of Versions 4 and 5 because those are the parts of the book I use the most. Probably at least 95% of those parts are the same word for word in the two versions. Though I didn't take the time to read every word, I did skim every page. The few changes I noticed are noted below.

Deleted Material
Competitive Surfaces: This section in Chapter 4 explains how to photograph a scene containing various materials, some of which produce direct reflections and some of which produce diffuse reflections. This section is excluded from version 5 and why that decision was made is inexplicable to me.

Photographing Buildings by Decreasing Tonal Values: This section in Chapter 5 explains how to photograph a building when the sky is cloudless. A cloudless sky is often desirable in exterior architectural photography but the characteristics of light that accompany a cloudless sky presents difficulties. An explanation of how to handle this situation is omitted from Version 5.

Added Material
Use of a Tilt-Shift Lens: A section in Chapter 6 explains that when photographing a highly reflective, flat surface straight on to avoid perspective distortion, a reflection of the camera will appear in the photo. That can be avoided by using a view camera that is positioned off-center. Version 5 adds a very brief explanation that mounting a tilt-shift lens on an SLR is another solution.

Using Reflectors to Create a Direct Reflection: Chapter 6 has a new sidebar including two sample photos explaining that reflectors, not just direct light sources, can be used to brighten shiny metal surfaces by creating direct reflections.