Focal Encyclopedia of Photography

[Tom Kershaw]

I notice Amazon.co.uk is currently discounting this book. Any comments on content or usefulness?

Tom

[Anscojohn]

I think it began as the Ilford Encyclopedia.....My copy of the Focal is, perhaps, 20 yearsold. Dated, but always a good read; there is much obscure information.

[Tom Kershaw]

The current edition appears to be from 2007.

Tom

[RalphLambrecht]

I think it began as the Ilford Encyclopedia.....My copy of the Focal is, perhaps, 20 yearsold. Dated, but always a good read; there is much obscure information.

John

You must be thinking of the 'Ilford Manual of Photography', which is now called the 'The Manual of Photography'. 'The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography' was always call that. The 1st edition is from 1958. The current 4th edition was published in 2007.

[RalphLambrecht]

I notice Amazon.co.uk is currently discounting this book. Any comments on content or usefulness?

Tom

Tom

I may not be the most objective person to answer that, because I wrote 30 pages of it, but I use this book frequently myself to find more detailed information about all areas of photography than one can find in more general books. It also includes a CD will pdf files covering the entire book, which is a fantastic search engine and far better than any index.

It's usefulness for you depends on what you're looking for.

[Anscojohn]

John

You must be thinking of the 'Ilford Manual of Photography', which is now called the 'The Manual of Photography'. 'The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography' was also call that. The 1st edition is from 1958. The current 4th edition was published in 2007.

*******
Thank you. The binding on my Focal is getting a bit weak. perhaps I should consider buying the latest edition.

[AgX]

One nerver can have enough encyclopediae in house. But the Focal (3rd ed.) is the one I use least.

But, there is not much choice anyway.

[Tom Kershaw]

Tom

I may not be the most objective person to answer that, because I wrote 30 pages of it, but I use this book frequently myself to find more detailed information about all areas of photography than one can find in more general books. It also includes a CD will pdf files covering the entire book, which is a fantastic search engine and far better than any index.

It's usefulness for you depends on what you're looking for.

As a general reference on photography for when one doesn't want to get bogged down on the internet for a several hours researching a topic.

Tom

[RalphLambrecht]

*******
Thank you. The binding on my Focal is getting a bit weak. perhaps I should consider buying the latest edition.

Sorry John, I meant 'it was always called that' not 'also called that'. I fixed it in my original post.

[RalphLambrecht]

One nerver can have enough encyclopediae in house. But the Focal (3rd ed.) is the one I use least.

But, there is not much choice anyway.

The 4th edition is totally different from the 3rd. The 3rd was an alphabetic listing of topics. The 4th is an arranged collection of reference articles.