What age to give a kid a DSLR?

[Jeffro]

I say give him the coolpix and your email address and set him assignments so he can show you the results on your next visit...
on your next visit take the 20D with you and give him it as a reward for going out and sticking to the challenges
and maybe take him out for the day on a shoot doing what you two like best and give him some pointers and show him his way around the controls a little and tell him you want to see him using it and getting good with it and you will give him Lens' for it if he does well

I like this idea.... Make him work for it and give him challenges. If he kicks but all year then hook him up but make sure that he proves himself and I think he will learn more from that then being handed something.

I bought my nephew a PS2 once and fool took it apart with in 6 months cause he said a game locked up ONCE!!! that fool did not get much more from me for years... I was able to get it fixed but then for a year he could just play it my house. Later he came around and did some really cool stuff for me about 2 years later when he was 16 and he said he wanted to prove himself so I would give the system to his little brother of 12! He got me with that one!!! I was so Proud!

 

[manaheim]

Every kid is different. I take my 7 yo. daughter with me occasionally when I go shoot a building exterior. I let her take my D100 (with PLENTY of instruction on how not to run when she has the thing and such) and shoot all she likes. She really gets into it.

I haven't yet "given" her the camera, but she understands she is allowed to use it with supervision. There's probably a lot of excitement around just knowing she can use something I'm so very concerned about. (My D100 is my first baby, after all.)

My hope was to inspire a bit of interest in the hobby with her.

Here's a couple shots of her using it for the first time...

 

[Josh66]

I don't know how I would handle it in your situation.

If it were my kid (i.e., living with me), I would let him/her use a dSLR as soon as they have proven that they could use it without dropping/breaking it.

In your situation, where you can't see how it's being used, I would probably wait a few more years...

 

[UUilliam]

Every kid is different. I take my 7 yo. daughter with me occasionally when I go shoot a building exterior. I let her take my D100 (with PLENTY of instruction on how not to run when she has the thing and such) and shoot all she likes. She really gets into it.

I haven't yet "given" her the camera, but she understands she is allowed to use it with supervision. There's probably a lot of excitement around just knowing she can use something I'm so very concerned about. (My D100 is my first baby, after all.)

My hope was to inspire a bit of interest in the hobby with her.

Here's a couple shots of her using it for the first time...

Aww thats so cute (i mean the picture i dont mean to difine her as "that".)
I know if i was walking down a park then saw a 6 year old with that camera... i would be very jealous

 

[PhilGarber]

I bought my 350D at 13 (last year). It's a little sandy though..:blushing:. Is he the hyper to run around the house like he's high? If so, wait 'til he's older.

 

[ShotwellPhotography]

I was shooting with a Minolta X700 when i was 8. USed it for a wedding when i was about 10. I still have it today in perfect working condition

 

[R1100S]

When I was 12, I went to an airshow with my Uncle Mark. He let me use one of his Canon A-1's, and I was in HOG HEAVEN.

Every shot came out blurry when developed, and it was my uncle that first learned I needed glasses.

Fast forward 20 years. I buy my first DSLR (Canon T1i) to photograph my newborn son. Naturally I turn to my uncle for advice, and criticism with my new found hobby.

Last month we had a family reunion, and Mark gave me two Canon A-1's (with power winders), and 5 lenses. They have fresh CLR's, and have been well maintained through their travels.

And travel they have. When he was in the USAF, they went to Morocco, Egypt, South Korea, Patrick AFB, Nellis, Palmdale, and were used extensively to photograph the B-2's he worked on at Whiteman at the end of his 24 year career.

He could have given one of these cameras to me 20 years ago and I ABSOLUTELY would have taken care of it, and would still be using it just like I am now.

I respect my Uncle, and have always strived to be like him. He is such a cool guy, and has such cool hobbies. This is one hobby he could have helped me get into earlier, but I'm sure he had the same doubts about responsibility that you do.

I say give him the P&S, and promise him the DSLR if he can show you that he can take care of it. Send him the DSLR as a birthday or Christmas present, and he will probably cherish it as a family heir-loom as I do my Uncle's A-1's.

My grandpa's rifle, my dad's favorite fishing pole, my first fishing pole, and my Uncle's Canon A-1's will definatly be handed down to my son one day.

You may be surprised how much a 12 year old kid will cherish something so important.

 

[ben.]

i used my friends Coolpix 8700 and i hate it, i would give it to any kid to make my friend happy. but the 20D is nice. i would honestly just go ahead and tell him that you are giving him the 20D because you feel like that he has talent and also tell him not to dissapoint you because its an expensive camera and you are only doing it because you trust him and you have faith in him that he will have fun taking pictures

 

[LEONT]

my brother is 13 and I let him use my gear whenever he wants, he actually did pretty well for a beginner...

 

[manaheim]

Kinda along the lines of what R11xxx was saying... I used to try to get my Dad to let me use his Canon AE1. Every time I asked, he would say "I was just about to start using that!"

I got very frustrated with him and might have given up on the idea of getting into the hobby altogether. If he HAD given me the camera sooner, I might be better than I am today. It's kind of a shame on multiple levels. He still doesn't use the camera, either.

 

[mariusz]

its a good time at 12 as long as he is responsible and will take care of the camera - my 5 cents

 

[lschaaf]

So a 20D body is roughly $300 - $350 on ebay, plus lens. I think if he's responsible, go ahead and give to him now w/stipulation if he decides he's not into photography, he returns it.

 

[JerryPH]

If you give a gift... GIVE it, don't put stipulations on a gift.

 

[Kw_Reis]

To each their own...Everyone is different and everyone will value things differently. It all boils down to how much it means to them. When I was 13 my father bought me a 1981 Toyota Celica Sunchaser....Had I known then what I know now I never would have allowed it to leave my side. This car was less than in good shape, the body was rusting, the interior was destroyed. I learned how to drive in that car, how to drift in that car, did my first everything in that car..I intended on keeping it and restoring it. I was 13, I got a job....I paid for new seats from the junkyard, was saving for a new convertable top, did body work on it, did all of my own repairs to the car....I loved it with all of my heart. My brother ended up catching the car on fire from his negligence and lack of respect for my car. I risked life and limb trying to put the blaze out, but the engine ended up going up and burning all the wires. 5 years later I found a 1981 Celica Supra that was similar to what I had and bought it on the spot, kept it for three years and decided it was selfish of me to keep a car I could never restore in time and gave it to a friend in PA to restore. Fact is, I was 13 when I got that car..11 years later as you car see in my avatar...I still think of it DAILY. I still have dreams about driving it, Hell I still tear up at the thought of it. It meant the world to me because my father gave it to me in a time where I honestly thought he did not care. Its what I based my world around at that time. It changed the course of my life forever...if it was not for that car I would not be where I am today. I found my passion for working on cars with that Celica. Now I own a auto detailing/maintenance business that I run on my days off from my money maker career...but one day ill go full time on my own. You really have to take into account exactly what kind of person you are dealing with. I am a very very sentimental person and I will develop an attachment to objects...specificly vehicles. But either way, I think what you want to do is great.