advice neded please

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dave
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hello all need some advice we are thinking of buying our daughter a camera for christmas to help with her art project at school she is 14 years and like us has little to no photography experiance other thanour kodak md1063 x3 optical zoom lens , does not give very clear v close up shots we were wondering if a digital slr would be better bearing in mind would need to be asimple all round camera as i have heard that you may need several lenses to use for a varied range of shots price is a serious consideration how difficult are these style off cameras to use or are ther any better point and click cameras avalible thanks very much in advance for any help
 
If you want a bit more versatility than a point and shoot but without the complication of changing lenses look at bridge style cameras. They're a good way into the world of photography.
 
Hello Dave. You're going to have to feed us more information to help us give the right advice. Questions:

1 Does she want a camera just to take a few simple snapshots and then get put aside until the next holiday/xmas/party night?

2 Does she have a committed interest in photography likely to lead to a long term interest?

3 Are you prepared to invest in an slr + a lens or two [and memory card, camera bag...and on and on and.....] that will set you back somewhere in the region of say £500+ ? And maybe a few more +++

4 Do you think a reasonable compact/bridge camera with a degree of user control, costing in the region of say £200 to £300, would be adequate for her project and make her happy in the longer term until she decides if she wants to do this as a serious hobby?

Bottom line - it would be reckless of us to suggest a DSLR with all the trimmings if it's going to be a one-night stand, and equally silly for us to recommend a cheap compact if there's a long-term love affair in the offing.
 
neede for a few simple shots gcse art not specifical a photography course the school only has 4 cameras so thought would be good to get her her own she ha sno real interest in photography although it may develop in future £500 pounds is quite a lot and am i right in saying that realisticaly would end up being nearer £1000 mark by time finished ? maybe a bridge camera would do what we want as i think it needs to be fairly simple how good are they ?
 
cool info looks to be a good all rounder very clear close up/that was prob with our digital kodak so think a bridge camera would be great cant really afford top of the line what would you suggest as a best value camera so thankful for advice nothing worse than being dissapointed the one we got was £150 ish at time and really not impressed thanks again
 
should i be warey of the buy it nows from hong kong on the bay


In a word, yes. In most cases you'd need to return the camera to HK if it became faulty and you would probably end up being charged import duty and vat when importing it, wiping out any savings.

The Fuji shop in Lawrie's link is worth a look, their bridge cameras are great value for money and easy to use.
 
I am guessing she will want to take it out with her and her friends too? In which case soemthing like the Canon S95 or Panasonic LX5 ? Some manual control if she wants.
 
kinda thought so CHEERS will have a good look at lawries link cheers graham .some top class work on here guys can feel a bit of a stirring myself esp like the wildlife and nature shots may have to give it a bit of a go aswell
 
price is a concern so afuji finepixs1600 may be in the frame i guess you guy are more used to better but does anone have any experiance with this one is it a compromise to far ? where would i see some pics from real users of this camera ??????
 
Dave, My son had my Nikon D50 and a couple of lenses when he was 12 and used it in auto and program mode to start with. These entry SLR's are light and easy to use. Now he is nearly 14 he wants a D90 or D300 as he wants more features and more control over his shots. You can pick a D50 with kit lens up for around £150 on Ebay.
 
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