Junior camera advice please.

Trev4

Trev4

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Trev
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Hi Guys, I'm looking for a bit of advice from your experience please.
My 8 year old grandson has shown an interest in wild life recently and always asks to see my pictures. A few weeks ago I took him out and let him use my 50D with a 100-400, and to be honest, he didnt do bad for a first time, naturally I set everything up, all he had to do was aim and press the button.
His interest has grown and he is asking about a camera of his own, but, and its a big but, he wants one like granddads with a big lens that you can change.

That isnt going to happen, its not practical for him to learn on, and its not possible cost wise.

My question is this. Has anyone got any ideas about what camera to get that will be suitable for him to learn on without scaring him with all the technical issues of an advanced slr camera and lens, but still allow him to learn at his own pace and advance from P&S to understanding basic photography skills.

I havent set a budget but cost will be a factor in the final decision, at the same time there is no point in buying something that wont help him to learn.

I thought about a bridge camera of some sort but have no knowledge or experience of them at all. A zoom lens would be an advantage so that he can try it for wild life even with the limitations that it will naturally have.

Can I have your thoughts please, then it will be a saving excercise for a Chrissy present.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
 
I know you said a Dslr wont be happening, but have you though of looking at a second hand 350D or something along them lines? again, lens doesnt have to be expensive, Used 70-300 would be perfect.

He/you can set it to auto modes and you can teach him over time. Advantage would be to keep it with you so he doesn't break it! But that's my opinion, im sure it would be his pride and joy!

John

Edit: Alternatively, a Fuji FinePix S3200 would be a good starting P&S to start with. around £150, and equivelent lens range of 24-570mm
 
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a used 350d with the kit lens and a second hand 70-300 (the IS version is brilliant value) as suggested by John Mc is perfect combo, auto mode until he undestands the others plus can upgrade/borrow your kit as he learns!
 
John Mc said:
I know you said a Dslr wont be happening, but have you though of looking at a second hand 350D or something along them lines? again, lens doesnt have to be expensive, Used 70-300 would be perfect.

He/you can set it to auto modes and you can teach him over time. Advantage would be to keep it with you so he doesn't break it! But that's my opinion, im sure it would be his pride and joy!

John

Edit: Alternatively, a Fuji FinePix S3200 would be a good starting P&S to start with. around £150, and equivelent lens range of 24-570mm
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milspec78 said:
a used 350d with the kit lens and a second hand 70-300 (the IS version is brilliant value) as suggested by John Mc is perfect combo, auto mode until he undestands the others plus can upgrade/borrow your kit as he learns!
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Thanks guys, to be honest, I didnt give them a thought, I seemed to be blinkerdly thinking along the lines of a simple camera rather than an SLR.
Yes, something like that would suit for sure and allow him to advance at his own pace and advance as far as he wants.
Good food for thought and thanks again :thumbs:
 
I got my daughter a Fuji bridge camera for her 10th birthday cos she was pestering me to use my 550D. It cost about £100 and is a 12 mp with a 15x optical zoom. It has got the normal auto and macro settings, but it also has the shutter, aperture and program settings too. Good IQ and good size for a little pair of hands. I figure if it lasts her a couple of years she might be ready for a dslr and I might have got another body lined up for me by then.
 
Trev4 said:
Thanks guys, to be honest, I didnt give them a thought, I seemed to be blinkerdly thinking along the lines of a simple camera rather than an SLR.
Yes, something like that would suit for sure and allow him to advance at his own pace and advance as far as he wants.
Good food for thought and thanks again :thumbs:
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MPB have some very cheap entry level Canon and Nikon bodies, and you'd get a warranty.....
 
Im not sure giving a d-slr to a 8 year old is such a good idea- a Dslr is pretty easy to break if you don't know what you are doing... I would go for a bridge camera.
 
travellingcello said:
Im not sure giving a d-slr to a 8 year old is such a good idea- a Dslr is pretty easy to break if you don't know what you are doing... I would go for a bridge camera.
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You haven't seen one of those DigtalRev stress tests on YouTube then?
 
FruitFlakes said:
You haven't seen one of those DigtalRev stress tests on YouTube then?
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I've seen it yes - not that it really means anything at the end of the day- we've all heard of cameras being broken by drops of water right? Also it wouldn't take much for a child to touch the mirror box or drop a lens whilst using it as a telescope (probably the kind of thing I would have done!!!!!!!!)

Anyway I still think a dslr would be overkill for a child 8years old unless he is incredibly sensible. An inexpensive bridge camera is probably more than enough, maybe something a little older so that it wouldn't be too much of a disaster if something were to go wrong..

I certainly wouldn't have trusted myself when I was 8 not to break a d-slr.
 
:) Some interesting views, thank you all for writing. He is 8, very nearly 9, sensible(ish), especially with technology, but they all are at that age now. Thinking back to the extreems of my memory, when I was 8 (yes I was that young once), I couldnt be trusted with something like that either. Accidents are going to happen for sure, we might not call them accidents, but he will :gag:, and fingers are going to explore the various openings. Its all pointing to a bridge.

Its good to get your views and I was interested to see what others have bought/given to children of that age and how they got on.
Thanks again guys :thumbs:
 
I agree with TC and say that, for an 8 year old, a bridge camera would probably suit and be a bit more robust too. I must admit, the Fuji bridge our 11 year old uses isn't that great but he's one of those kids that picks up & drops hobbies on a whim so I'm waiting to see if the desire and willing progresses before we move onto a DSLR
 
Iris said:
I agree with TC and say that, for an 8 year old, a bridge camera would probably suit and be a bit more robust too. I must admit, the Fuji bridge our 11 year old uses isn't that great but he's one of those kids that picks up & drops hobbies on a whim so I'm waiting to see if the desire and willing progresses before we move onto a DSLR
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I understand fully where you're coming from, and yes, that is a concern of mine too, so the answer to my question is pointing even more to a bridge.

Perhaps I am being too keen to help, but then we do with our children/grandchildren. In truth, we have 3 grandsons, but we lost our son, their dad, to cancer at Christmas 2006, he was 33 then, the loss has affected them (and us) badly, but moreso with the older two lads. The one interested in photography is the oldest but was only 4 when his dad passed away.

I have always encouraged my children/grandchildren in their interests, but let them make the running. Its quite possible this could be a passing fad, but the interest in wild life has been with him for some time now so this seems to be a natural progression, I hope so anyway.

Thanks again for your input :thumbs:
 
The Fuji bridge as mentioned above with a 15x or a Panasonic FZ 18x both have good zooms equal to a 400mm range plus a bit more. Both a nice size for the smaller hand but dont look like a dinky point and shoot would probably be a nice starter.
I have a Panasonic FZ and have had great pics from it many framed and hung on the walls at home and would reccomend it. Started my son into photography that way.
Or a 2nd hand Cannon and then he could borrow some of your lenses !!!
 
Hi Trev

My daughter was about 11 years old and started to show an interest in photography, she had been using a P&S for a year or so. I upgraded my body and decided to let her have a go with my previous DSLR - 300D, which was a big decision at the time, I was worried it'd bet damaged, broke etc etc.

She loved it, we spent time together taking shots and over the early stages I helped her change lenses and she generally had the camera in the basic zones, but she would choose the 'zone' relevant for what she was doing on - so began the learning process of what the camera does for certain types of shot, without the worry of having to set everything up.

Needless to say, I needn't have worried, the 300D still looks as good as it did back then. She started to experiment on her own (never listens to her old man!!) with the advanced settings - TV, A etc and see what did / didn't work - hell this is the beauty of digital, it's costs nothing to experiment.

She has been geting some cracking shots, so I decided a few months ago to buy her a new DSLR, we have also purchased some lenses for her over the psat couple of years, which she really likes (the 55-250IS is a belter of a lens).

I would take the plunge and buy an early entry level model with kit lens and say 55-250 IS (if Canon), don't think you'd regret it and I think you'd be the best grandad in the world (although I suspect he already thinks this ...:thumbs:)

Hope this is of some help....

Andy
 
Thanks Andy and Lesley and everyone else who has commented, its appreciated. There's for and against both types. He's coming out with me again in a few days, I'll see how that goes and make a decision. Because of his age, I am inclined to think more of a bridge, if that works I can move him up to an SLR in time. Not being mean, but I feel reluctant to let him borrow my 'L' lenses until I am sure of his ability, so again, a bridge looks promising.
Thanks again for your thoughts.
Trev
 
Trev4 said:
Thanks Andy and Lesley and everyone else who has commented, its appreciated. There's for and against both types. He's coming out with me again in a few days, I'll see how that goes and make a decision. Because of his age, I am inclined to think more of a bridge, if that works I can move him up to an SLR in time. Not being mean, but I feel reluctant to let him borrow my 'L' lenses until I am sure of his ability, so again, a bridge looks promising.
Thanks again for your thoughts.
Trev
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I'm really sorry to hear about your son and can understand fully why you want to give him the best you can. I'm sure you will make the best decision for your wallet and for his enthusiasm to learn and commitment
 
If the budget allows I think I would spoil him a little with a DSLR :D

Ffordes have a 300D for £140 and a Canon 80-200mm for £49.

That might not be a cutting edge combination but as a learner set up I'd have been glad of it. As for little curiuos fingers finding the mirror and sensor... kids are tec savvy these days and maybe he'd leave well alone if he's shown the mechanism and it's explained why he shouldn't take the lens off again once it's mounted.
 
Hi I brought a canon 1000f From a charity shop with two lenses for 15 pounds for my son who's was ten at the time ( this was last year) I know this is a film slr but didn't want him to break something more expensive lol. he got on great with it and it was exciting waiting for the film to be developed to see how he did he also enjoyed having the photos in his hand if that makes sense. I just upgraded so he will be having my old dslr now as he has proved he is sensible to own one. Hope this helps maybe a different route for you and a lot cheaper lol
 
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