Kids and cameras - again...

D_Fivehundred

D_Fivehundred

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Darren
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Just after a few views on "proper" digital cameras for children.

My son is 5 1/2 (the 1/2 makes a big difference at that age) and is always wanting to use my D90... he's taken a few picks with it, but as it's gripped it's a bit big, (he's pretty careful with his toys and the likes of the wii, etc. and we're happy for him to swap disks without risk of them being scratched).

I'm pleased though that he wants to use a camera... so I gave him my old Fuji A303 to play with... he was happy with that for a while, but the small screen (circa 1") is just too small for him to view the images.

He's also used my Fuji F50, which has a much larger screen (2.7"?) and he likes this... but he always falls back to wanting to use mine... so, here's what I was thinking...

I saw a used D40 in my local LCE the other day. Not seen one before and I was surprised how compact the body is with the 18-55 kit lens. So, that's option 1.

Option 2 is an old bridge camera... my father has a Fuji S5000 which is very compact, but again the screen is only about 1", so I'm not sure he'll like it.

Option 3 is to get a 2nd hand Sony body... the smallest they do (not sure of the models) as I have an old Minolta Dynax 505si film camera with lenses which will work on the Sony bodies.

As I said, he's very careful with his toys and my consoles, although I'm not sure of the best approach here. I obviously want to get him to appreciate and enjoy photography and therefore want to get him the best I can get...

So, people of the TP world... what are your thoughts...?

Thanks :)
 
I'd be tempted to go back a couple of generations with an earlier Nikon if it's only the grip that stops him getting on with the D90... perhaps a beaten up D70 or D100 or something depending on budget? Then he's got one just like dad's and you even have an excuse to buy him a couple of old lenses that you can play with too... WIN /WIN!

Keith - age 51 1/2 (the 1/2 makes a big difference at my age too!) :D
 
Just a few thoughts:

1. His wanting to use your camera coulld very well be due to the 'Daddy effect' ( i.e I want what daddy is using).

2. I am not sure enjoying and appreciating photography is strongly linked to the size of LCD screen.

If it was my child, at 51/2, I would like him to learn composing, and appreciating light, more than anything else at this age. The rest ( aperture vs shutter speed trade off, fill flash, off camera flash, yada yada yada is actually very easy to learn). So I would get him the smallest possible camera with a very high quality sensor etc; so that he can hold it easily, carry all the time, not be worried about breaking it and take as many shots as possible. A bit older, say 2 years later, I would have got him a 'all singing- all dancing' SLR, and he will pick up the other technical stuff in no time
 
My 8yr old brother loves his new Fuji S1000FD...big screen, excellent quality, easy to use but manual options too...very good price too. :)
 
Thanks for the quick replies.

I'm sure there is an element of "I want what Daddy wants", on the other hand, I don't want him to loose interest because he gets fed up with the small screen. Hence the thought of a 2nd hand compact slr.

I understand what's being said about light and composition, etc, but at the moment, I just want him to enjoy taking pictures without getting bogged down (= bored) by science :)

I've had a quick look at the sizes of early Nikon and Sony bodies and the D40 and D60 are by far the smallest and lightest.

I'll let him try my Father's old Fuji S5000 later and see what he thinks of that too... but I think the small screen will put him off.

Any other thoughts....?
 
D40 + kit lens.....:thumbs:

eBay -- lots

try "here".....?

always easy to resell too
 
olympus e450 was the smallest ever SLR untill the G1 came along, so very comact, but very capable camera!

And also very well priced these days, even the e480 can be found on ebay with kit lens for less than £300!

Just my 10 pence if size is the main driving factor!
 
Thanks for the additional comments... I like the look of the Fuji S1000fd (I should have kept my old S6500fd!!) and the D40 & kit lens is still up for consideration... the only thing I'm ruling out at this stage is the Panasonic. I don't really want to introduce another slr brand into the equation and would only consider the right Sony body at the right price as I already have lenses to fit. That being said, the Sony's are larger than the D40, so I think I'll rule that out and sell the Minolta/Sony lenses.
 
Don't forget with the D40 that you need AF-S or equiv lenses :shrug:
 
I got my niece a zenit for crimbo and she loves it, will be teaching her darkroom technique soonish :D:D:D

I was looking at a 300/350d/similar but couldn't drop the cash, will do in a while though maybe her bday this year.........
 
Another vote for the D40 / 18-55 kit lens combo. I got one for my sister (and she's 23!) cos she has a habit of abusing/murdering laptops, phones and cameras... she loves it! And it's a lovely camera too! And I must add she knows NOTHING about photography except she wants an 'slr' to pose with...
 
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