For my daughter??

Mentalblock

Mentalblock

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Neil
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Hi all.

My 7 year old daughter has shown an interest in photography and enjoyed using my Fuji bridge camera which I donated to her when I got my D90. Sadly the bridge camera has now broke (focus fault original, now a dead screen!) so I'm looking to get her a new dSLR.

So she has access to my accessories, I'm going with Nikon, and I'm currently thinking the D3100 if it fits well in her hands! However, unlike the D90, I see that it doesn't have a built in focus motor so future lenses may cost more to include their own motor. Other than that, I don't see why the D3100 wouldn't be a suitable start point for her, but I'd welcome any other thoughts from TP members.
 
Neil,

I think you've got this well thought out and the D3100 is a good body to begin on. Whichever entry level Nikon you go for will be restricted to AF-S lenses if your daughter needs auto-focus. Something else to bear in mind is the extra weight of a DSLR over a bridge and whether at 7 years old she will be able to carry that all day (if needs be).

We bought one of my grandsons a D40 and kit lens last Christmas and he is getting on famously with it. Of course, when we go out shooting together I end up carrying more lenses than I would normally but that's life :D

Have you also considered one of the excellent Nikon bridge cameras?
 
Sadly I cannot help regarding Nikon specifics, however I got my four year old daughter a Canon 450D and she's fine with it so I wouldn't have thought yours will have any problems
 
Thanks for the comments Steve/ John.

One other reason I'm going for the entry level dSLR over a Bridge is that I can use it as a stand-by should my D90 play up!

The weight thing could be an issue.
We're going out soon so she can have a hold of it and see if her fingers reach the various parts easily!

As for extra lenses, there's the problem, I wont need them with focus motors, but I won't want two of each type.
Still, I guess she'll be fine with those of mine which already have the motor plus the 18-55 kit the 3100 comes with.
 
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Excellent news, a very lucky young lady, hope she enjoys it and keeps her begroom tidy (although I bet she doesn't :lol:)

My daughter was using my old Canon 300D for a long while and loved it - the hardest thing I found was not interfearing and doing the "dad knows best" routine when she was using it :lol::lol:
 
Good stuff :)

My 4 year old used my d3000 loads and now wanders around snapping on the d90 :) probably weighs the same as her :)
Pity she knows how to put it on continuous and fires off a thousand in 5 minutes - i will find out about shutter death soon enough no doubt :) These thing dont bother me, would rather that than discourage her from using it :)

Let us know how she gets on :)
 
We bought one of my grandsons a D40 and kit lens last Christmas and he is getting on famously with it.
kv.gif
 
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