Best camera for school to buy

kenethj

kenethj

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Hi all, I have been asked to help choose a camera for my kids school.
It will be used by the teachers for shows, sportsdays etc. the budget they have been given is upto £750.00

they would like tele lens ( 17-70) and the camera will be used in auto most of the time.

any suggestions would be appreciated
 
They are pressumably looking at a DSLR then? Have they considered a top end bridge camera which might be better in terms of different people, possibly with little experience using it?

As a Nikon user, the dslr route would be a Nikon D60 with the excellent 18-70 lens, or a D80 if you can still buy new ones. A D90 would probably also do the job but with teh cost of a lens added is over budget I think. I am sure Canon/Pentax/Sony/Oly users also have recommendations, but its an odd one because the usual advice is to get down to the shops and have a play with them, see which feels best, but as it will be used by different people, that doesnt necessarily apply. :shrug:
 
I Would go for the double barrel approach.

For use 'out-in-the-field' where its wet, likely to be dropped, soaked etc i would go with the Olympus mju 1030SW, and for the other creative type stuff the Olympus E-520 twin zoom kit (28 - 300mm Equiv zoom with IS).

Will come in under budget too!.

http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod655.html £530 for E-520 DZ Kit

1030SW can be had for around £200.

That way you get the best of both worlds, and the Oly Kit glass is top notch :)


Chris
 
What type of school (age)?
 
£750 would get you a decent bit of starting kit! Maybe a 400D with Sigma 18-200mm??

That would give you a decent camera body with a good lens that will give you a wide end for group shots and then a 5 times (ish) optical zoom for good quality close ups :)
 
I think the school would be better off getting three or four good quality compacts for the money, inevitably there is going to be a reasonably high demand and having only one camera is going to lead to conflicts. I also doubt the average teacher is going to want the hastle of carying a full blown DSLR on a school trip when they already have 30 kids, 15 inhalers and half a dozen other medications to worry about.
 
a1ex2001 said:
..... when they already have 30 kids, 15 inhalers and half a dozen other medications to worry about.
Click to expand...

Doesn't sound as if the kids in your example would survive a sportsday :lol:

£750 is a fair bit of cash, the multi-camera approach is a good one, although I'd be tempted to go for three Nikon D40/ 18-55mm kits (which should come in at around budget) over three compacts and perhaps one cheap 70-300 zoom lens -the older Nikon one can be had for about £70-80 new

Edit- just had a wee look....

You can get a refurbished (with 12 months warranty) Nikon D40 with the 18-55 lens for £210 including vat (which I assume the school would be able to reclaim) plus the 70-300 for £79 (again incl. vat) leaving you a bit left over for memory cards, batteries etc...
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Doesn't sound as if the kids in your example would survive a sportsday :lol:

£750 is a fair bit of cash, the multi-camera approach is a good one, although I'd be tempted to go for three Nikon D40/ 18-55mm kits (which should come in at around budget) over three compacts and perhaps one cheap 70-300 zoom lens -the older Nikon one can be had for about £70-80 new

Edit- just had a wee look....

You can get a refurbished (with 12 months warranty) Nikon D40 with the 18-55 lens for £210 including vat (which I assume the school would be able to reclaim) plus the 70-300 for £79 (again incl. vat) leaving you a bit left over for memory cards, batteries etc...
Click to expand...

That is another good suggestion, it's amazing what you can get for very little money. My only fear is your going to be giving them to schoold teachers most of whom are women and alot of whom have no interest in photography and particularly no interest in cameras . The wouldn't want or use a DSLR in real life so they are not going to be keen on it in work, my better half is a school teacher and she would always take her compact ixus over my 30D just because she likes the convenience.

I think the best advice would be before making any purchase talk to the teachers let them see some examples of the cameras you are considering and play with them. They should then be able to tell you what they would get the most use from.
 
just to note that the 70-300 cheaper lens wont auto focus on a D40 which will cuase problems

i'd be inclinded to follow the compact route, get 4/5 decent compacts to avoid any arguements and it would make life easier
 
whitey said:
just to note that the 70-300 cheaper lens wont auto focus on a D40 which will cuase problems

i'd be inclinded to follow the compact route, get 4/5 decent compacts to avoid any arguements and it would make life easier
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b****r! I keep forgetting that the older 70-300 doesn't have a motor :bang:

I'd still think that you'd get better pics from a D40 kit on auto than most compacts....
 
Flash In The Pan said:
I'd start looking for a safe place of refuge if I were you, quickly before Yv sees that.....:lol:
Click to expand...

a1ex2001 said:
My only fear is your going to be giving them to schoold teachers most of whom are women and alot of whom have no interest in photography and particularly no interest in cameras . The wouldn't want or use a DSLR in real life
Click to expand...

Flash knows me too well! :lol: and I know far more men with no interest in cameras than women :p


However, as I said in my original post, not sure the dslr route is the right one in the circumstances. Certainly the suggested multi-camera ideas are worthy of consideration.....dont forget the consent forms :D ;)
 
Flash In The Pan said:
I'd start looking for a safe place of refuge if I were you, quickly before Yv sees that.....:lol:
Click to expand...

Good Point :) I wasn't trying to be sexist but I'm sure an admin will confirm that 90% of this forums membership is guys, as a sweeping generalisation most women want a small convenient camera and even those that are into photography are not very often the technology geeks that alot of the guys on this forum are.

I don't think it would be wise to assume they want a DSLR and go and buy some, in the same way it probably wouldn't be best to assume they want a compact and buy some. I would however be willing to bet good money that if you put a 40D and the latest ixus compact on the table in the average primary school staff room and said choose one, the ixus would win!
 
Flash In The Pan said:
b****r! I keep forgetting that the older 70-300 doesn't have a motor :bang:

I'd still think that you'd get better pics from a D40 kit on auto than most compacts....
Click to expand...

quite possibly but i can see them studying them to much to see a difference

my first camera was a Fuji S5600 i think it was, thought the quality was great. something newer along those lines should do the trick, comes with 10x optical zoom to and easy to use for what they want.

they look bulky for what they are so give the impression of an expensive peice of kit so people may take more care of them

some the like a Fuji S6500 or 7200 should be good IMO
 
My suggestion would be a couple high end bridge cameras.

Easy to use, great results and having 2 means there wont be arguments about who uses it :)
 
thankyou to everyone for the posts, I like the idea of the bridge cameras, also 400D + 18-50. I will look into these and let the school know.

Just to clarifiy the cameras will be used by the teachers only.

ken
 
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