Camera choice for young beginner

[Fullboar]

I am a newbie to digital SLR's. I own a couple of 35mm SLR's that I haven't used in years since I got a couple of digital point and shoot cameras (Fuji 4900, Fuji 5500 and Fuji 6500). Now that the kids are getting a little older I have time to get back into photgraphy. I would say find a camera that feels best in hand and fits your budget. Remember this is a 13 yo girl so she will have small hands. You dont want to set her up with a camera she doesn't like even if you like it and think thats what she needs. I would say try as many as you can but dont forget the Olympus E410 and E510 lightest and smallest of all the digital SLR's as well as there lenses. I tried them all and it felt the best which was great because I wanted it for a walk around camera and I also really liked the Canon 40D who know's that could be a good christmas present for myself I mean the wife. I see so many poeple with great SLR's that dont take them anywhere because "there to big and bulky to cary around".

 

[JodieO]

D80 for a 13 year old?

I would even question a dSLR for a 13 year old.

why not? My 11 year old has a D70. He's learning all sorts of things from it... I was 15 when I bought my first SLR... wish I had it earlier.

he's so funny, I just had two more SB-800s and SU-800 ship, and he's been eyeing them up since they got here - he seems to like when I get new "toys" He keeps asking me when my D3 will get here - maybe he thinks he is going to get my D200 or my D2X once it arrives? lol!

 

[JodieO]

passing judgement?

My experience.... teaching a young kid a new hobby by starting them with the best equipment teaches them one thing... that the most important way to become successful at something is to buy expensive stuff. It becomes all about the equipment.. not about the hobby or skill itself. It is part of the reason why many teachers of photography try to get all their students to shoot a few assignments in complete manual exposure. To help teach exposure not just buy the camera with the best meter. (It also doesn't help teach them the value of hard earned wages.)

On one hand, you say that photography is all about the photographer and not the camera.

YET.. you shove an expensive camera in their hands.


When I said that sometimes really nice stuff just becomes a distraction.. I meant it from personal experience.... You don't by a grand piano for a young student.

Umm... why can't you teach a child to shoot manual on a more expensive DSLR???

But I would hardly consider a Nikon D40 to be the best.... uh... by FAR! I personally would get one that he won't grow out of quickly. A D40 could last him a couple years... if he starts really loving photography and wants to go shoot some nature with a telephoto lens or do some amazing macro work, he's going to be stuck with a P&S that he has outgrown. At least a D40 will give him a little more options than a P&S. I'd hardly consider a D40 equivalent to a grand piano.... :lmao:

I'm just big on not getting my kids things they will outgrow quickly... for goodness sakes, I just bought them each horses (at ages 8 and 11) and each one has a full-sized adult-sized horse.... ones that they can grow up and still ride and they won't outgrow. I apply that theory to nearly everything in their lives.

So you buy him a D40... and if he ends up not sticking with it, sell it, give it to one of the siblings, or use it yourself... not a waste, that's for sure.

 

[soylentgreen]

Sorry to bust everyone's bubble, but "cheap" and "DSLR" do not go together. There really is no such thing. Any camera system he decides on will be in the $550-800 (w/ kit lens; minus memory cards, extra battery, etc.) range if there is any quality to be had. If JimPD is willing to support his daughter's creativity and buy her a camera, than so be it. I am all for it. If I were to buy someone a camera to learn from, it certainly wouldn't be one too limited that they will have to upgrade too soon as their learning curve improves. I will actually target a mid-level DSLR if I were so inclined. But that's just me. 30D, D70, D80ish. I rather have the functions and not need it; than need it and not have it. The money is not the issue here, it's getting the right tool for the job. And as always, you pay for what you get. Better quality equates to more $$$$. Like i posted earlier, take her to the stoe and let her try them out. Bring a memory card so you can compare the results later at home.(Shoot in large JPEG since most RAW files require their own program to decode) Most stores let you tinker around with them. It will be her decision as to which camera "feels best" for her to use and how intuitive the functions woek for her. I still say she needs to baby-sit to pay for additional lenses though. It's two-fold...she gets paid and captive models to photograph.:mrgreen:

 

[Alex_B]

Sorry to bust everyone's bubble, but "cheap" and "DSLR" do not go together.

Well, but "cheap" is totally relative. If you take the whole camera segment, dSLRs ar ecertainly not "cheap". But if you compare dSLRs with dSLRs then some are cheap and others expensive.

So a photographer who shoots with 4K - 12K cameras everyday, would certainly buy his young doughter a cheap dSLR unter 1K.
It always depends on the scale you live in.
Just a week ago I recommended my father to get a cheap dSLR for himself because that would be good enough for him since he is not a pro. Since he was first looking at the 1D series of Canon, he got my message.

BTW, with cheap I do not mean bad in this context.

 

[domromer]

Maybe I'm just jealous because a 13 year old has a D80 on her shortlist of possible cameras! I'm 28 and just bough the D80, my most expensive body yet. (got my eos3 used)

 

[JodieO]

Maybe I'm just jealous because a 13 year old has a D80 on her shortlist of possible cameras! I'm 28 and just bough the D80, my most expensive body yet. (got my eos3 used)

Well, you have to understand everyone has different priorities and expenses in life... while two people may have the same income, one may have a really crappy car and a great camera, while the other may have a really good car and a crappy camera.... it's just life.. :mrgreen:

I still have issues looking at young people today. I am 31. When I was 19, I got married (not because I had to if you KWIM! ) and at 20, I bought my first house, at 23, I bought my second house. By the time I was 25, I had a very succesful business that I ran by myself - bringing in more income than my own father. So I get irritated when I see for instance, my 18-year-old stepdaughter who thinks that everyone should be paying her gas money and car insurance..... until I realize, that everyone has different situations in life....

I know you were probably half kidding, but when I read people thinking that a 13-year-old doesn't need a decent camera - it kinda strikes a nerve with me, because when I was 20 years old, my own parents kept telling me I didn't need a house (especially with how expensive houses are *eyeroll* - yeah, uh... just because her house cost her $40,000 20 years ago doesn't mean they are still that price! ) Expensive or not is all relative.

 

[domromer]

My main thing is I can't imagine trusting a 13 year old with something that expensive that is portable. Maybe kids are different now, but I couldn't keep track of anything when I was that age.

All this being said I do understand buying expensive things for kids. When I stopped growing at 15. I raced bikes and my parents bought me a $1000 ( which I had to pay back at 100$ per week) road bike. Most people my age bought cars for this amount but I got a bike instead. Which I still have!

In summation. If it was my kid they would need to pay for half. You tend to treat things different if you have sunk 400$ of your own money into it. If they wanted something that expensive they would need to work for it. But hey thats me. If you have the money and you want to buy it for your kids go right ahead. I'd like my kids to understand the value of money and the work that goes into earning it.

 

[JodieO]

In summation. If it was my kid they would need to pay for half. You tend to treat things different if you have sunk 400$ of your own money into it. If they wanted something that expensive they would need to work for it. But hey thats me. If you have the money and you want to buy it for your kids go right ahead. I'd like my kids to understand the value of money and the work that goes into earning it.

I agree with that theory for a lot of things, but I was under the impression this was probably a Christmas gift - which to me, a $400 Christmas gift is fine.

My 11-year-old just saved up for an IPOD. He knew he could get it for Christmas for free, but instead, he wanted it before Christmas, so he saved up and bought it himself.

Getting a Christmas gift to me is in a different category than learning the value of money - you can learn the value of money as a kid and still get something nice for Christmas, at least in MY world

But I surely wouldn't squash a kid's interests by 1. Not getting something that will be flexible enough to last several years, and 2. Telling them something is too expensive and making them work months for it if it is feasible as a Christmas present or birthday gift (great for a child to understand generosity and gift giving as well).

 

[Alex_B]

My main thing is I can't imagine trusting a 13 year old with something that expensive that is portable. Maybe kids are different now, but I couldn't keep track of anything when I was that age.

There are kids and kids ... if I at that age had gotten such a camera, I would have been overprotective and would have defended it with my life, knowing how much it costs.

But then I know kids that would forget it on the train ...

 

[Antithesis]

I think someone on here was saying they recently got a d50 for like $300, I bet if you watch ebay for a couple weeks you can snipe a d40 or a d50 for around there. The digital rebels and XT's can be had for pretty cheap. At that rate by the time she outgrows the kit lens she can get a little nicer one for her birthday or next christmas or w/e. I think it's wonderful that a kid that age has an interest in photography. I wish I would have stuck with it when my dad tried to explain it to me when I was that age. I just didn't have the patience to wait for the film.