Light, Science and Magic.

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Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but since I am a newbie, this section seemed appropriate.

I have bought Light: Science and Magic recently. But as my budget is pretty low, I bought a used 3rd edition from abebooks, instead of the most recent 5th edition.

While basic physics haven't (most likely) changed between these editions, I am wondering if I should have shed out the extra 30 bucks on the most recent one?

What am I missing? Shall I buy the newer version, or invest in other (which?) books ?

Thanks, guys!

 

[480sparky]

Lighting is lighting. As Col. Henry Blake said after getting some 'dirty Japanese prints' in the TV show M*A*S*H, "Some things never change, ya know?"

 

[Derrel]

I've only read one version of the book, but my guess is that some of the sample photos were updated to more-current styles/looks, and maybe some information about digital capture was added. It's interesting how older books on photography are basically still very applicable to modern, d-slr or modern mirroless shooting on "most" things, with a few exceptions: film has been replaced with digital sensors and flash media, so chapters on developing, or films, are no longer really applicable. Same with printing; "wet" printing has been replaced with inkjet, or commerical machine printing done off of computerized files instead of from pieces of film.

Two weeks ago, as I was getting new tires, I spent a couple hours reading The Photographer's handbook, a 1979 imprint, by John Hedgecoe. The stuff on light, lighting, subject matter, times of day, studio lighting techniques, all of that stuff...still applicable. But the "film and filters" stuff was obsolete. I am no longer in need of high-speed tungsten-balanced color slide film, lol!

 

[Overread]

Chances are most of the updates in recent years are mostly going to account for fancy features within DSLRs and flash units; the core of positioning and basic control is going to be identical. The laws of physics have not changed* and as such the core of the book is going to be the same with each edition.




*significantly enough that photographers have to worry about them even