Best Nikon for 15 year old (Picture added)

ryanyboy

ryanyboy

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Morning all,

Yesterday I took my other half's 15 year old daughter out to let her get a feel for shooting with an SLR. She's keen on photography and really loved getting to grips with a "proper camera".

So, as she's approaching that stage where college/uni is on her mind, I'm thinking of treating her to a camer of her own :) Now, I must confess I know nothing about Nikon's entry level bodies. Could anyone tell me what me what to go for and what good deals are out there. I'm thinking of getting her a body and kit lens and letting her "go play".

Any advice would be appreciated - especially from anyone who's done similar :)

Ryan
 
I would suggest a second hand AF motor in body body rather than one of the current crop or entry level bodies. Throw a fastish 50mm prime in and the cost is actually less than the D40/60/x000 route. See if you can find a D70(s) body with an 18-70 kit lens, or, failing that, a D50 or D80 should be around the same money.

Quitye apart from the AF motor issue, IF she decides that photography isn't for her, you'll drop far less on a 2nd hand system than you will on new.
 
I would recommend the D50 over the 70/70S, D50 seems more refined and is nicer to use IMO. :)
 
I'd agree with Nod but these days video could be important for youngsters going to college and uni (it was pretty high on my nieces wish list) and it's something that only later DSLR's have.
 
The 'best' Nikon for a 15 year old would be the same as the 'best' Nikon for you wouldn't it?

Given when I was 15 I had a second-hand Nikon F - a used D3 is what you are looking for. :D
 
My daughter(16) has been using my D60 since I upgraded to the D300, she found it simple to use and a great size for he hands. Most modern lenses have some sort of af motor built in so I wouldn't put too much into the D60 not having the AF motor in the body.

I may be biased though HINT
 
I would say a D80 S/H or if you came afford it a D90. They are a good midway camera and give plenty leeway for expansion.
 
woof woof said:
I'd agree with Nod but these days video could be important for youngsters going to college and uni (it was pretty high on my nieces wish list) and it's something that only later DSLR's have.
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Well, if video is important, might be worth looking more at the Canon side. The D5000 isn't too bad, but does suffer from CMOS wobble, a lot worse than the 500D apparently. Even then, the 500D isn't the best for video as it has no manual controls etc, at the moment the 550D offers the best. Hopefully Nikon will be releasing a new model soon with advanced functionality.
 
lawrenceots said:
Well, if video is important, might be worth looking more at the Canon side. The D5000 isn't too bad, but does suffer from CMOS wobble, a lot worse than the 500D apparently. Even then, the 500D isn't the best for video as it has no manual controls etc, at the moment the 550D offers the best. Hopefully Nikon will be releasing a new model soon with advanced functionality.
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doesnt help if you want to share/borrow lenses with the chap buying you the camera though ;)
 
I'd say D5000 as a starter camera every time.
I borrowed one from a mate in Lashgar Gah to 'prove' to her it was 'good enough' and did a couple of minor jobs with it in-camp using my lenses...
Indistinguishable from the D3 at the sizes we were outputting them...
 
Depends on budget I guess. D3000 is a decent camera and would be fine to learn on but has no AF motor. Something older like a D80 or D70 would be great as should work out less or even a D200 - a 'proper' camera!
 
lawrenceots said:
Well, if video is important, might be worth looking more at the Canon side. The D5000 isn't too bad, but does suffer from CMOS wobble, a lot worse than the 500D apparently. Even then, the 500D isn't the best for video as it has no manual controls etc, at the moment the 550D offers the best. Hopefully Nikon will be releasing a new model soon with advanced functionality.
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If you hadn't read a scare story on CMOS wobble would we be concerned?
Has anyone here demonstrable proof this even exists with nikon's cameras?

I call BS on this - yet another example of techno-BS to worry people who should get out more and actually take some photos...
 
Arkady said:
If you hadn't read a scare story on CMOS wobble would we be concerned?
Has anyone here demonstrable proof this even exists with nikon's cameras?

I call BS on this - yet another example of techno-BS to worry people who should get out more and actually take some photos...
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It is an issue, just not a huge one. The CMOS wobble is in the video, not the stills.

There's plenty of horror videos on youtube/vimeo, however they all use far faster pans than you ever want to do in real life anyway.

If casual videos are something that she wants, get her a flip video or the kodak equivalent, they're great. If she wants to be a cinematographer, get her a video SLR :P

D90 is best bang for buck atm though, but D80's are cheap second hand and will AF with a 50 1.8... I've known plenty of people who have bought a D3000 and spent more than the difference between it and a better camera on getting the 35 1.8 instead of the cheaper 50...
 
Arkady said:
If you hadn't read a scare story on CMOS wobble would we be concerned?
Has anyone here demonstrable proof this even exists with nikon's cameras?

I call BS on this - yet another example of techno-BS to worry people who should get out more and actually take some photos...
Click to expand...

Oh yes, it definitely exists. Have a look at the robin video I shot - and that was on a rock steady tripod, the slightest movement and its off.
 
itsdavedotnet said:
It is an issue, just not a huge one. The CMOS wobble is in the video, not the stills.

There's plenty of horror videos on youtube/vimeo, however they all use far faster pans than you ever want to do in real life anyway.

If casual videos are something that she wants, get her a flip video or the kodak equivalent, they're great. If she wants to be a cinematographer, get her a video SLR :P

D90 is best bang for buck atm though, but D80's are cheap second hand and will AF with a 50 1.8... I've known plenty of people who have bought a D3000 and spent more than the difference between it and a better camera on getting the 35 1.8 instead of the cheaper 50...
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OK but why introduce something that just confuses the issue here? Nothing about video was mentioned in the OP - a requirement for a good starter DSLR - that's all...
 
"Nothing about video was mentioned in the OP - a requirement for a good starter DSLR - that's all... "

I mentioned video because the OP mentioned college / Uni in the OP.

My niece is doing photography at the moment and video was high on her list of requirements, so I mentioned it.
 
If she really wants a camera with video, get her a video camera ;)
 
RaglanSurf said:
If she really wants a camera with video, get her a video camera ;)
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aye :)

I was only responding to the videotalk that was already going on... D70, D80 or D90 would be my pick :)
 
I think the D40 is the one to go for, just bought one for my son and it produces excellent images, add a nikon 18-70mm and it's all you'll need, even the lack of AF on non motorised lenses isn't really a problem, most things you'd shoot with a 50mm won't be moving so it's easy enough to manual focus.

eee I remember the days when'T there were only manual focus and it was a week before you found out if they were any good :D
 
wack61 said:
eee I remember the days when'T there were only manual focus and it was a week before you found out if they were any good :D
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Aye, and focus screens had a split screen and/or microprisms to help with focussing and lenses had almost a full turn from closest focus to infinity. Even back then, I used 1 hour services because I'm too impatient to wait 24 hours!
 
wack61 said:
I think the D40 is the one to go for, just bought one for my son and it produces excellent images, add a nikon 18-70mm and it's all you'll need, even the lack of AF on non motorised lenses isn't really a problem, most things you'd shoot with a 50mm won't be moving so it's easy enough to manual focus.

eee I remember the days when'T there were only manual focus and it was a week before you found out if they were any good :D
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I remember those days! My first cameras were, Rollei 35, and the lovely Contax 139 Quartz with CZ 50mm and Yashica 80-210. That reminds me, do you know what adapter would be needed to mount them on my D5000?
 
Nod said:
Aye, and focus screens had a split screen and/or microprisms to help with focussing and lenses had almost a full turn from closest focus to infinity.
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I want those focus screens back. Ah, what a joy it is to unpack my old F2.

I would go for D40 as well (I did, hehe). Add a 55-200mm VR, maybe an SB400 and off you go.
 
If she's really into photography get her a manual (I started with a F2A) and either a 50mm or a 24-50 ish zoom and teach her the fundamentals of exposure, composition, developing etc. I found that I learnt a lot more from each shot I took then, and spent a lot more time thinking about the shot, when each exposure actually cost me something, then I do nowadays when it's virtually free to take a shot.
 
G'day all. Thanks for all the responses. I managed to log on (using my rubbish mobile) at about 1pm and had a read of what had been said. A couple of thoughts occurred to me:-

1) Some 15 year olds don't go mad for "second hand" goodies (in fact this 38 year old aint mad on used things either :D). I don't want her thinking she's not good enough to deserve a "new" gift. Soppy, I know.

2) I'm not worried about the lack of AF motor - she'll be using the kit lens for now and (if she's lucky) I might let he use my AF-S lens (50 1.4, 70-200 VRII etc).

3) Canon wasn't an option - I want her to be able to use my lenses (one day).

4) Yv - thanks so much for the offer of a loan - I almost went for it :)

5) Video is NOT important at all (CMOS wobbles et al)

So it came down to the D3000 or the D5000. The D5000 won for a number of reasons:-

1) It has the slightly higher resolution (handy for cropping as beginners generally need to do).

2) It has the excellent flip out screen - so useful for macro stuff and something I could use. Saturday at a wedding I was standing at the top of my ladder, with the camera held high above my head with a 14-24 attached - hoping I was aiming in the right direction. Imagine how handy it would be to flip the screen down to ensure the composition was right :)

3) Improved ISO - always a good thing.

4) Live view - I don't want her use it but at least she has a choice.

As I type this the thing is in the boot of my car waiting for the right moment to hand it over. Here's hoping it's not a flash in the pan (or is that another thread?).

Thanks again :)
 
daugirdas said:
:clap: Who needs D3 then?
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I do - you try dropping a D5000 8 feet into a muddy ditch then falling on top of it wearing 20Kg of body-armour and you'll see why...

And then do it again...
and again...
and again...
and again...

Picure quality is one thing, build-quality, toughness and durability are another...

A D5000 would last about three weeks in my job...

I should also point out that the controls on the D5000 are meant to be left alone to a certain extent after setting-up.
A 'Pro' camera has all controls easily acessible so they can be altered without having to go through the menu system to find things...
 
Thanks Sam. She does indeed love it :)

Like most people who move from compacts to SLRs she wanted to see the really shallow DOF you CAN'T get with copmpacts. Trouble is the 18-55kit lens doesn't really give that shallow DOF either. So I gave her my 50 1.4 and let her go wild with that. She seems to be enjoying it - I just hope she'll stick with it (so I can use her as slave labour :D)
 
Great.....that's me out of a job then!! :'(

Seriously, she'll love that....great camera for a beginner :thumbs:

Just get ready to wave your 70-200 VRII goodbye!! :wave:
 
ryanyboy said:
Trouble is the 18-55kit lens doesn't really give that shallow DOF either.
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I sold my 18-55 GII non-VR and got a Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4.5 DC macro - :thumbs:

made the D40 a bit "front-heavy" - added a battery grip = balance restored .
 
Last night I took Annie out for a bit of a lesson. I'm teaching her to shoot in aperture priority or manual and she's picking it up really well. She seems to have taken quite quickly to shutter speed/aperture and how to get the look she wants. With a two light set up, the D5000 and my 50mm 1.4G I took this one while making sure the lighting was right. I was so impressed with the D5000. This is a JPEG straight out of the camera with a slight crop and very slight curves adjustment. I think the skin tones could be a tad warmer but not a big problem.

If anyone else is thinking of a beginners camera I would say the D5000 is the best out there :)

Annabel -

4560033478_c96092960f_o.jpg
 
I told you; you didn't quite believe me though, did you...?
I was bloody impressed as well...
 
If I read one more post about 40/40X/60 3000 not having focus motors I will explode. Its not a problem if you have no legacy lenses. New lenses from Nikon are no more expensive than from other companies.
 
oldnick said:
If I read one more post about 40/40X/60 3000 not having focus motors I will explode. Its not a problem if you have no legacy lenses. New lenses from Nikon are no more expensive than from other companies.
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I have recently got a D5000 and this is only a problem for me as it stops me stealing the farther in-laws lenses (unless I don't mind manual focus).

Wonder if he planned it that way?:thinking:
 
oldnick said:
If I read one more post about 40/40X/60 3000 not having focus motors I will explode. Its not a problem if you have no legacy lenses. New lenses from Nikon are no more expensive than from other companies.
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The extra cost involved can make the entry level Nikons less of a bargain once you have shelled out for a 50mm - compare the cost of a 50mm f/1.8 to that of a 50mm f/1.4 AF-S/HSM.
 
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