Advice please for a camera for a young girl in care (please read)

pastyman

pastyman

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Darrin
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Hi everyone,
I need some advice here, my wife is a medical officer in a school, and one girl she's sees regularly is a girl in care who is in an awful state most days, both mentally and physically. She is a sweet girl that has been let down by society up to now.
She has very little in the way of positivity in her life, but has expressed a desire to get into photography at school. Because of her needs, there is a certain amount of funding available to get her a camera, which will be around £300.
I think she may want to shoot horses as she has asked for something that can freeze motion and take lots of pics so people's eyes aren't shut (bless her).
So I'm totally in the dark with compacts or bridge etc that may suit her, but something with a decent sensor and burst rate, and optical zoom seems to be in order.

Does anyone have any suggestions please..

Thanks
Darrin
 
what about that baby dslr that canon released with the kit lens. cant remember the model number but i think it would fit the bill pretty well
i just looked and for your budget currys do a kit with the above camera with two lens kit
"CANON EOS 1200D DSLR Camera with 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 Zoom Lens & 75-300 mm f/4-5.6 Telephoto Zoom Lens" thats £298
 
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niko said:
what about that baby dslr that canon released with the kit lens. cant remember the model number but i think it would fit the bill pretty well
i just looked and for your budget currys do a kit with the above camera with two lens kit
"CANON EOS 1200D DSLR Camera with 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 Zoom Lens & 75-300 mm f/4-5.6 Telephoto Zoom Lens" thats £298
Click to expand...

+1 or get her a higher spec camera that is second hand.

ETA: avoid bridge cameras.
 
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With such limited info to go on it's difficult to suggest a camera. A few of my students started to express an interest in photography as a result of seeing some of my photos and enthusiasm (I'm better at the latter!). The family of one bought a rather nice new dSLR...which was destroyed fairly quickly when it met a wall at low speed due to some frustration (nothing to do with the camera or photography). I subsequently lent her my compact. The camera coped with the knocks well. Funding was made available to buy her the same model - Olympus TG-4.
Since then we've managed to get funding for a couple more cameras and in each case the Olympus 'Tough' models have been chosen based on the ruggedness of mine.
 
morfis said:
With such limited info to go on it's difficult to suggest a camera. A few of my students started to express an interest in photography as a result of seeing some of my photos and enthusiasm (I'm better at the latter!). The family of one bought a rather nice new dSLR...which was destroyed fairly quickly when it met a wall at low speed due to some frustration (nothing to do with the camera or photography). I subsequently lent her my compact. The camera coped with the knocks well. Funding was made available to buy her the same model - Olympus TG-4.
Since then we've managed to get funding for a couple more cameras and in each case the Olympus 'Tough' models have been chosen based on the ruggedness of mine.
Click to expand...


Thanks for that, i don't think there will be an issue of damage in this case, she has nothing to speak of (except bad memories of her earlier years). i think I'm looking at it from a photographers view, and over complicating the situation, she won't really need to worry about the nitty gritty straight away, just the ability to get out and have an interest and focus outside of the 4 walls of foster care..

I'll have a look at the Olympus, or may look into if the funding will allow the purchase of used equipment...

Thanks
 
It'll probably get shot down on here as a suggestion but I would suggest getting something that produces decent JPGs straight out of the camera and ideally with a WiFi connection for photo uploading. My teenagers have plenty of access to cameras, gear and software but only use their phones because instant sharing is what it is all about for them. Having a RAW option would be nice for future progression but quick results is the hook.
 
I imagine I'm the only person here who has some understanding of the girl's situation because I've been there.

I was given the money to buy a camera when I was fourteen and in foster care, following the death of my parents. I was allowed to choose the camera I wanted and found myself a Pentacon FM for £19-19-6d (this was 1966, so the equivalent of £336 today). The important point was that I was given the choice of what to buy. It was my decision and that, I suspect, is what this girl needs more than anything. Those who haven't been there can have no understanding of the unhappiness of a child who feels valueless due to their abandonment. Tell her she will be given the money once she's decided on what to get and you'll do more good than you can possibly imagine.
 
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