Buying the Right Photo Equipment, by Elin Rantakrans, O'Reilly Media

In this 128 pages book, Elin Rantakrans aims to help newbies photographers find the right gadgets to fit their shooting style.

The photo equipment is divided into few major chapters: lenses, filters, tripods, flash, protecting gear, other accessories and computer software. Browsing through the wide variety of photo equipment, each gear type is presented with the purpose and the photography style that it is better suited for. I like the concise presentation, the pictures to exemplify each usage of the gear and the tips for each photography. However, I'd have definitively preferred to see the settings of each pictures and maybe a short story of why the photographer decided for that lens/gear.

If you are a beginner, the book is a definite must read. Is a very easy lecture that would surely get your photos to a next level. I consider myself an intermediate photographer and I think I had quite a lot to read from. I'm sure the part about flash and the ones about software can give many photographers new ideas.

The book doesn't go into details of specific equipment brands and models, but that would make the book become obsolete very soon after being published. After all, there are plenty of review websites for photography gear, so after one decides what type of equipment he/she needs the search for the right model is a matter of time spent into deciding what's best for your camera + budget + style. Of course, be warned that if you are serious about photography your camera&accessories bag will soon become pretty heavy.

The book is a very useful and very easy reading. I'll definitely recommended it to my friends having  photography as their hobby.