Day: February 17, 2013

Title: Mastering the Fujifilm X-Pro 1
By: Rico Pfirstinger
Publisher: Rocky Nook
Formats: Print, Ebook, Safari Books Online
Print: January 2013
Ebook: January 2013
Pages: 276
Print ISBN: 978-1-937538-14-9| ISBN 10:1-937538-14-1
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4571-7941-9| ISBN 10:1-4571-7941-5

Mastering the Fujifilm X-Pro 1 provides a wealth of experienced-based information and insights for owners of the new X-Pro 1 camera. Readers will learn about the features and capabilities of the X-Pro 1 and will discover numerous tips and tricks for how to maximize its potential.

With the X-Pro 1, Fujifilm released the first mirrorless camera with an APS-C sensor. The successful combination of high-end retro design and state-of-the-art digital camera technology, originally seen in the X100 viewfinder camera, has been pushed even further to achieve this interchangeable-lens camera. The X-Pro 1 offers three FUJINON interchangeable lenses.

In a layout suitable to the camera’s attractive design, this manual presents imagery that attests to the fun you will have as you begin to push the envelope of your Fujifilm X-Pro 1.

Rico Pfirstinger

Rico Pfirstinger studied communications and has been working as journalist, publicist, and photographer since the mid-80s. He has written a number of books on topics as diverse as Adobe PageMaker and sled dogs, and produced a beautiful book of photographs titled Huskies in Action. He has spent time working as the head of a department with the German Burda-Publishing Company and served as chief editor for a winter sports website.

After eight years as a freelance film critic in Los Angeles, Rico now lives in Germany and devotes his time to digital photography and compact camera systems.

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Title: Canon EOS 5D Mark III
By: James Johnson
Publisher: Rocky Nook
Formats: Print, Ebook, Safari Books Online
Print: December 2012
Ebook: January 2013
Pages: 276
Print ISBN: 978-1-937538-15-6| ISBN 10:1-937538-15-X
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4571-7936-5| ISBN 10:1-4571-7936-9

The Canon EOS 5D Mark III is the latest in Canon’s line of full-frame DSLR cameras. Its impressive array of capabilities and advanced controls allow the photographer ever more influence over the final image. With this comes more menus, buttons, and dials that the photographer must learn how to use to take full advantage of the camera.

This book explores the features and capabilities of the 5D Mark III in a way that far surpasses the user’s manual. It guides readers through the camera features with step-by-step setting adjustments; color illustrations; and detailed how, when, and why explanations for each option. Every button, dial, switch, and menu configuration setting is explored in a user-friendly manner, with suggestions for setup. The informative text is illustrated with screenshots and example images throughout, making it easy to follow along.

Author James Johnson covers everything from the basic features of the camera to the numerous advanced photographic options as he discusses topics such as focus and exposure, lenses, lighting, custom settings, and more. With this book as your guide, you’ll learn how to get the most out of this powerful camera.

James Johnson

When James (Jim) Johnson retired from a 25-year career as a software developer for IBM, he had already been working as a contract technical editor for Microsoft. After his retirement, technical editing and writing became his primary source of income to cover the cost of his “toys” – most of which were computer and photographic equipment.

Jim’s involvement with cameras began in the mid ’50s when he needed to record the interior of caves in Kentucky. At the time, the greatest challenge was to provide adequate illumination, so he purchased a Leica 3F camera (which was the norm at that time) and experimented with numerous lighting sources. He was later able to add a nice piece of brass-and-glass that had been manufactured by Canon during the post-war occupation. That 100 mm telephoto was every bit as sharp and capable as the Leica lenses. Such began Jim’s appreciation for Japanese camera equipment.

Jim and his wife Heather live on the California coast in a home that overlooks the Morro Bay estuary. The coast, the bays, and the mountains combine to host a vast array of botanical subjects, which are the focus of Jim’s current photographic interest.

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Title: Core Data, 2nd Edition
By: Marcus S. Zarra
Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf
Formats: Print
Print: February 2013
Pages: 256
Print ISBN: 978-1-937785-08-6| ISBN 10:1-937785-08-4

Core Data is intricate, powerful, necessary – and this book is your guide to harnessing its power. Core Data is Apple’s recommended way to persist data: it’s easy to use, built-in, and integrated with iCloud. You’ll learn fundamental Core Data principles such as thread and memory management, and you’ll discover how to use Core Data in your iPhone, iPad, and OS X projects by using NSPredicate to filter data and adding iCloud to your applications.

What You Need:

Mac OS X Mountain Lion and iOS 6

Cocoa expert Marcus Zarra walks you through developing a full-featured application based around the Core Data APIs. You’ll build up a single application throughout the book, learning key Core Data principles such as NSPredicate, thread management, and memory management.

You’ll start with the basics of Core Data and learn how to use it to develop your application. Then you’ll delve deep into the details of the API. You’ll explore not only how to get Core Data integrated into your application properly, but even better, how to work with the API’s flexibility to create convenience methods to improve your application’s maintainability. You’ll learn how to reduce your number of mapping models, integrate your Core Data app with Spotlight and Quick Look, connect your application with sync services, and find out how to use Core Data in a multithreaded environment. By the end of the book, you’ll have built a full-featured application, gained a complete understanding of Core Data, and learned how to integrate your application into the iPhone/iPad platform.

This second edition updates all examples for OS X Mountain Lion and iOS 6, gets you up to speed on changes in multithreading, and provides new chapters covering iCloud and NSFetchedResultsController.

Marcus S. Zarra

Marcus S. Zarra is the owner of Zarra Studios LLC. He has spoken at numerous conferences around the globe and has taught Objective-C at top U.S. colleges. Marcus has been developing iOS applications since day one and was one of the few developers to have an application available in the App Store on the first day.

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