A firmware update for the Canon 60D has been released, version 1.1.0. You can download and learn how to install it here:
According to Canon, Firmware Version 1.1.0 incorporates the following fixes and improvements:
1. Fixes a phenomenon where the wireless built-in flash settings are reset to defaults when the battery is removed from the camera.
2. Fixes an intermittent phenomenon where image-rotation information is not recognized correctly when shooting with the camera in the vertical position depending on the timing of the shutter release.
It was recently announced that the Harry Potter books will finally be made available in e-book versions, and offered in an arrangement with Google Books.
While this option will provide e-book formats for virtually every e-reader out there, I find this choice for the e-book platform incredibly disappointing due to Google’s unfavorable treatment of all other, independent e-book publishers. Google Books has, by far, the worse royalty rates of any major site. They assure you the author receives the majority of revenues. Yes: 52% and a whopping $100 minimum payout. Amazon and Barnes and Noble offer 70% and 65% royalties respectively, and a small minimum payout amount, if any.
Google also gives authors no control over previews and by default display an excessive 20% of your content. The 20% will be the first 20% (plus front and back covers). For some e-books, it may serve to get the reader interested and they will be compelled to purchase the entire book. But for other types, this may show too much important content that you don’t wish to share for free.
And the real kicker: although Google Previews provides purchasing links to your e-book listing on your website, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and others, you have no control over these links other than your own, and unfortunately they probably won’t work. As Google explains, they convert your 13 digit ISBN to a 10 digit ISBN, and then use that to locate your book on the retail sites. But Amazon and Barnes and Noble use unique identifiers anyway and not either ISBN, so your book is not correctly linked to. Although the issue is known by Google, they choose to not fix it nor manually correct the links.
With other cooperative and responsive major retailers available, this is one more reason that I choose not to use Google Previews and Google eBooks (beyond research purposes for writing my latest e-book).
Learn more about how to create, publish, market and sell an e-book with my e-book about e-books, called The E-Book Handbook.
I came across an e-book service that promises to distribute your e-book to 25 stores, all for a reasonable price of under $50. While that is a great price for that service due to the time and careful effort that must be put into the process of uploading and entering information to several sites, you should also know that you can do it yourself, in an evening, for free. My new e-book guide to creating, publishing, marketing, and selling e-books called The E-Book Handbook explains exactly how to publish yourself to all the same sites.
One doesn’t actually have to individually upload the text and info to 25 sites, but rather to just a few and then they distribute your e-book to the other sites. Once your e-book is complete and properly formatted for the various sites and e-readers like the Kindle and Nook, this publishing process merely involves typing in all your info, adding a description that you will use for all the sites, and uploading your cover and e-book document. It is a simple step-by-step process that the publishing sites all walk you through pretty well, especially Amazon’s KDP and Barnes and Noble’s PubIt (now Nook Press). But there are a few additional steps and some follow through, such as getting into Smashword’s Premium Catalog, that you need to be aware of. And knowing to use Amazon’s Author Central to turn your unformatted e-book description into a nicer formatted description is an example of one of the important tips you might not realize (and that you can learn about in my e-book!).
But don’t be mislead into thinking that getting into 25 stores will exponentially increase your sales and you will become an instant e-book success. Your goal may be to sell a reasonable 5 books per month at most of the sites for a total of over 100 a month, but the reality is: all your sales are likely to come from 3 sites, and most of them in the US. While Smashwords distributes your book to Diesel and Sony, plus to several sites for Kobo and Apple in multiple countries, you will likely achieve few-to-no sales on 80% of those sites. Hey look, its the 80-20 rule! The Pareto principle – 80% of your results come from 20% of your effort. This turns out to be exactly true with e-book sales, according to my experience.
I have sold over 4,500 e-book camera guides in less than 9 months so far, and the combined number of sales from Sony, Diesel, Kobo’s US and 7 international stores: ZERO. (2013 edit – Kobo sales have increased to about the same level as B&N sales each month. That being said, B&N sales have steadily dropped over the past year, as I suppose people are hesitant to invest in the Nook reader). Sales from Smashwords: not enough to make it worthwhile (4 per month) to undergo their stringent formatting rules and fickle conversion meatgrinder – except that they distribute to Apple. And due to the iPad and iPhone I believe selling through Apple is a major part of the future of e-books and thus critical. But as soon as I can distribute to Apple on my own or through someone else, it’s good-bye Smashwords. And come to think of it, it’s been months since I submitted some of the books to Smashwords and they are still nowhere to be found on Sony or Kobo. (2013 edit – You can now easily publish directly to Apple and Kobo, so I stopped publishing on Smashwords and never looked back.) Submit directly to Amazon or Barnes and Noble (2013-and now Kobo) and your e-books are up for sale in 1 to 3 days. (2013-With Apple, it takes a week or more for the book to be approved and up for sale)
So you really just need to focus on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, (2013: and Kobo, and Apple) and then Smashwords for getting to Apple (plus your own website and blog) to make 100% of your sales. Mostly really just Amazon and Apple. I would barely lose any sales if I just used these four sites plus my sites. Here is a handy chart from my e-book guide The E-Book Handbook to demonstrate this fact:
My e-book sales, in terms of percentage of “units” sold, at each of the sites where they are available. (2013-Apple sales have increased to perhaps 3x the B&N sales shown here, and Kobo sales are similar to the B&N level.)
My latest e-book, The E-Book Handbook, is now available!
The E-Book Handbook – A Thoroughly Practical Guide to Formatting, Publishing, Marketing, and Selling Your E-Book is a comprehensive guide that will help you create, publish, and market your own e-book, and sell it online through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Apple iTunes and iBooks – all easily and inexpensively.
It explains how to properly format and convert your text for PDF, tablet, and e-reader versions (such as the Kindle and Nook), create interactive bookmarks and table of contents, and include a book cover and images. It includes step-by-step instructions for easily uploading and selling your e-book on major retail websites including Amazon throughKindle Direct Publishing, Barnes and Noble throughPubIt!,and Apple’s iBooks and iTunes through Smashwords, plus setting up the e-book’s descriptions and author pages – all at no cost. And it describes how to set up and automate sales and digital delivery from your own website and blog using reliable, low-cost services like E-Junkie and PayPal.
This instant download e-book explains multiple ways to market your e-book to increase sales, including detailed instructions for setting up a website and blog, marketing through various channels on the Internet, optimizing search engine results so that your e-book and sites are found, and monetizing your website and blog through advertising and affiliate programs. The E-Book Handbook also explains how to keep track of and evaluate sales, income, and expenses and offers a detailed spreadsheet to record and monitor this information. Throughout the text, the guide contains links to every website and retailer discussed, as well as comprehensive lists in the Appendixes.
The E-Book Handbook will provide you with the knowledge and tools to successfully create, publish, market, and sell your own e-book. It includes tips and straightforward information from the author’s experiences as a best-selling e-book writer and publisher, in order to make the process as low-cost and efficient as possible.
The E-Book Handbook is a 112 page, illustrated PDF document that can help turn you into an e-book author and publisher. This PDF e-book can be read on your computer and printed on your printer, or transferred and read on an iPad, Android, or other tablet, Kindle, Nook, or other e-reader.
Author: Douglas Klostermann
Format: PDF – Instant Download
Page Count: 112 pages, illustrated ISBN #: 978-1-4524-0474-5
Price: $9.99 – secure payment with PayPal or Credit card (via PayPal) (plus 6.25% sales tax for residents of Massachusetts)
or
Other versions of The E-Book Handbook are available:
Doug Klostermann is a travel, culture, and humanitarian photographer and successful, best-selling e-book author and publisher. He has sold over 4,000 e-book camera guides which are regularly at or near the top of the Kindle and Amazon bestseller lists for Photography Equipment and Reference.
Doug has photographed for numerous organizations in Latin America and the United States, been recognized by the United Nations Development Programme for his humanitarian photography, and been published in magazines and books including Conde Nast Traveler, Sherman’s Travel, South American Explorer, and Viva Travel Guides. Doug is a member of the National Press Photographers Association. View his images at www.dojoklo.com. Learn more about e-books and photography equipment and techniques on his blog Picturing Change at http://blog.dojoklo.com/.
I recently received some interesting questions from two different readers on my posts about the Nikon D5100, Nikon D5100 vs D7000 vs D90 etc. and Nikon D5100 vs. Canon T3i. Both questions point out interesting issues with the Nikon D5100 that may be important considerations if your shooting needs required these functions, or that might not affect you and your shooting at all if, like me, you never use manual exposure control in video and/ or you don’t use Live View (and M mode) when shooting stills.
Here is the first question and my reply:
Question 1:
I wanted to ask about a major differentiator, if its true and useful for someone trying to learn a bit of manual photography. Below link and video talks about D90 and D5100 not having the ability to do manual control in video. Is it true? Does it really matter. Please advise.
(video is no longer available on YouTube)
I would also like some instructions on how to use manual control – when, why, how.
Mode dial of the Nikon D5100
My Answer:
Yes, the lack of full manual control in video mode is a very real deficiency of the of the Nikon D5100, especially for people who wish to seriously use it for video. To answer your question “does it really matter?”, yes, it really matters if you wish to have straightforward, full manual control while shooting video. I know that sounds like a smart-ass response to the question, but it is kind of like “if it isn’t an iPhone, it isn’t an iPhone,” blatantly stolen from “if you had invented Facebook, you would have invented Facebook.”
Wait a minute, I just realized that I was ahead of the curve and I wrote this similar smart-ass phrase before that movie even came out: “If the 5D Mk II fits your expanding and demanding needs as a photographer, you would already pretty much know that you needed a 5D.” See, look here, I said that earlier than August 26, 2010, and the movie came out Oct 1, 2010, and I didn’t even see it until a couple months ago!
Anyway, if you need full manual control in video, you know that you need full manual control in video based on your experience and needs, and then you need your camera to have full manual control in video. Simple, right? But…do you not know yet but wonder are you going to need it in the future if you grow and develop as a photographer/videographer? That is the big unknown that no one can answer but one needs to figure out on an individual basis!
However, there is a “work-around” for this shortcoming of no full manual exposure control with the Nikon D5100. To manually set your shutter speed, you must set the camera on Shutter-Priority Auto Mode (S) and set your desired shutter speed before going into Live View mode, use exposure compensation to obtain the aperture setting you want, and use the AE-L/AF-L Button to lock that exposure (set Custom Setting f2 for AE-Lock Hold). If you wish to first set the aperture setting, you must set the camera on Aperture-Priority Auto Mode (A) and set your desired aperture before going into Live View mode, use exposure compensation to obtain the shutter speed setting you want, and use the AE-L/AF-L Button to lock that exposure (set Custom Setting f2 for AE-Lock Hold).
See this video I came across on YouTube for a demonstration:
As far as instruction in manual control (for still photography), see my Full Stop dSLR camera guide e-books, of course! I don’t go into a lot of detail of full manual (M) because I don’t feel it is necessary for most beginner or intermediate photographers in most situations. I don’t believe in M for the sake of old-school, full control, “look, I’m a skilled photographer/ martyr ‘cuz I use full manual.” It just adds an extra step (setting BOTH aperture and shutter speed rather than just one) to each photo that isn’t necessary. Let the camera do it for you. Pick your priority: Aperture or Shutter Speed. Are you concerned with depth of field (aperture) or with freezing or blurring action (shutter speed)? Set your aperture in A (Av) mode or else set your shutter speed in S (Tv) mode, and let the camera take care of the other setting.
I know that many photographers like working in M mode, but if you are wondering if you need to use it: if you haven’t encountered a need for it, you don’t have a need for it. The aperture setting is typically my priority, hence I use Aperture Priority Mode. Here is a detailed explanation of how I use Aperture Priority in the real world: Deconstructing the Shot.
As my e-books say about possible situations for using M:
“There are times you may wish to use Manual Exposure Mode. For example, if you are taking several photos to stitch together into a panorama, you want them all to be taken with the same exposure so that the lighting is consistent across the entire scene. Or if you are working in a studio setting and the lighting will remain consistent, you can set the exposure once and then not worry about it. Or in any other situation where the lighting or your desired exposure will remain consistent such as an indoor performance or sunny day portrait session where the lighting does not change.”
And I know that other situations also demand or benefit from M mode, including macro situations, but many of those situations fall under the “any other situation where the lighting or your desired exposure will remain consistent” category. Readers, please defend M to me and tell me why you use it!
Question 2:
When I used the Nikon D5100 at a nearby camera store in Live View and Manual (M) mode, it never quite seemed to register ANY of the changes I made to shutter: the image is supposed to go dark as the shutter speed increases right? (I was in a moderately lit room). The weird part is that the actual image captured was dark (like it should be) but not the preview! Is there some setting on the Nikon that is wrong on the piece I tested? If the camera can’t display the changes it is making during Live View – leaving me to approximate the changes I’m making, then that is a deal breaker for me. I am wondering if this is a bug that was only on the piece that I saw at the showroom, or if you saw it too.
My Answer:
That is a really great question! These are the kinds of features one really has to dig into the camera, menus, or manual of a new dSLR model to determine if it is actually going to meet your needs.
It turns out that no, it is not possible to see actual exposure simulation with the Nikon D5100 in Live View while in Manual M shooting mode. However, in the P, A, or S shooting modes, the live view image will lighten or darken to simulate the exposure settings or the exp. compensation that you set. And to add insult to injury, there is no exposure meter displayed on the Live View screen, so to check your exposure you will need to temporarily leave Live View and switch to the control panel view by pressing the [i] Button.
The Canon 60D and Canon Rebel T3i both have Exposure Simulation in all modes during Live View. On the 60D you can turn this feature off and on. On the T3i it is on automatically while in Live View.
Conclusion:
Now, if you are thinking of buying a Nikon D5100 and after reading this you are suddenly concerned that it is lacking important features that you might need…be sure to first determine if you, indeed, really even need these features. They shouldn’t be anything to worry about if you are never going to use them and never going to encounter these issues. For example, I would never encounter the first issue, the lack of full manual control in video, because I don’t shoot video. If you plan to use the camera to shoot production quality, professional video, this is pretty important. If you plan to switch over to video and shoot a kid’s sporting event, it is unlikely you are going to shoot this in Manual and so it doesn’t matter.
Regarding the second issue, do you plan to use live mode AND manual shooting mode (M) AND need to preview your image exposure at the same time? I rarely use M mode and I rarely use Live View and I rarely preview my exposure in Live View if I do use it, so for me and my photography, it will be “rare x rare raised to the rare power” (or (rare x rare) rare or is it merely rare x (rare) rare ?) that I need to use Live View AND M mode AND preview what my exposure will be. If I needed to, I think I could get by with A mode instead, where the Exposure Simulation in Live View functions on the D5100. But, if you are like the reader who had this question and you have a real need for this, say shooting cool macro shots of flowers and insects, then you will need to consider the Nikon D7000, Canon T3i, or Canon 60D instead.
