My dad is looking for a detailed technical book about the theory of photography, explanation of lenses, etc etc coupled with something about digital photography.
The more technical the better (he was a scientist, and loves technical stuff).
thanks
hmmm...
I don't know if you'll get them all in one book.
Honestly - the granddaddy of technical process oriented photography is Ansel Adams. His first three books (the Camera, the Negative, the Print) form the basis of almost every photo book since.
That's where I'd start with anyone serious about theory and really learning what's going on, and not just looking for a quick-start guide.
Most of it is NOT geared towards digital, for obvious reasons. But the ideas carry over just fine. And I think there are some later editions that have addendum for digital work.
Thanks RD... I thought as much... I'll pass it onto him
I don't know if it's along the lines of what you're looking for but when I was learning about SLR photography I got a bunch of books form the 60's put out by Kodak from when SLR photography first came into vogue, a lot of amateur photographers were interested in photography in a much more technical way, not unlike what we see now with digital photography... anyhow, I found them very thorough and practical how-to's, with a lot of emphasis on the technical aspects of photography including darkroom techniques.
Similarly, I recently bought an old Pentax SLR on eBay for the lens it came with, and coincidentally saw a used book for sale that was from the same vintage - The Asahi Pentax Way. Very detailed and thorough technical and practical discussion, albeit only for Pentax cameras from the late 60's to early 70's.
For a more general vintage SLR book, all the photo forums I've been to seem to think this one's pretty good and has a very accessible writing style:
Collecting and Using Classic SLRs by Ivor Matanle
Though it's all pre-digital, it looks like an awesome read, both a how-to and a history - check out the table of contents, it looks swell. I imagine most really technical books dealing with digital would be geared toward the digital user.
For classic photography I second r_d's Ansel Adams, and would also suggest pretty much anything by Andreas Feininger. He's pretty much the reason I got into photography.
I usta have a very nice book that I got with my Olympus OM-10, but it fell apart from use years ago.
I agree about AA, although some of the technical details are a bit beside the point for digital photogs in the 21st century.
You can also glean a LOT of important technical information by reading thru a few of the reviews on dpreview.com/.
Could you, would you, with a goat?
:lurks:
just quietly 
i used this book in college ... super helpful.. very in depth section on optics, and considering i've been an optician on and off for 8 years i found it pretty frick'n interesting.
Anyway i couldn't let my "not on the forum anymore" status get in the way of someone wanting to learn more about photography..
hope this helps
PHOTO XXX SQUID PORN
*sneaks out of forum*
*waves at HAS*
Just looking at the table of contents for that thing gives me a headache.
Originally posted by: baron ruhstoff
Just looking at the table of contents for that thing gives me a headache.
