Camera for a 11 year old

[ProG77]

So, my son, who’s 11, has started taking a genuine interest in photography having seen me take pictures. He has my wife’s old iPhone XR which he uses to take pictures and he has a genuine “eye for a good picture” even if I may say so myself (not as good as dad obviously ).

I want to get him his first digital camera but not sure if I get him an old DSLR like a Nikon D-xx or a point and shoot like a coolpix. Any recommendations? My only concern with getting him an older DSLR is that he also likes vlogging so he will want the ability to capture videos too. I have given him an old GoPro (Hero 7) but that seems to freeze quite frequently.

 

[john.margetts]

For an 11 year old, I would go for something like the Panasonic Lumix TZ range . They are easy to use, no bits to lose or break, produce good images. Lots of creative modes plus the more important PASM modes.

 

[garryknight]

I've got a Nikon D5100, together with the 18-55mm kit lens, the 55-200mm, and the 50mm f/1.8 lens. It's in good condition, I think the shutter count is under 2,000 going by the file number, and it's been sitting in my cupboard for about the last four years. It does 1080p video and 16 MP photos and has a flip-around 3" display which faces backwards, i.e. good for vlogging.

It's possibly more than he needs with the photo specs, and not quite enough in the video specs. He might find something smaller more suitable. I'd agree with John that the TZ range would be a good choice.

 

[ProG77]

I've got a Nikon D5100, together with the 18-55mm kit lens, the 55-200mm, and the 50mm f/1.8 lens. It's in good condition, I think the shutter count is under 2,000 going by the file number, and it's been sitting in my cupboard for about the last four years. It does 1080p video and 16 MP photos and has a flip-around 3" display which faces backwards, i.e. good for vlogging.

It's possibly more than he needs with the photo specs, and not quite enough in the video specs. He might find something smaller more suitable. I'd agree with John that the TZ range would be a good choice.

Let me know if you are considering offloading the D5100 with the kit lens/lenses and if so how much you’d want for it. 1080P video is enough and I have a tonne of SD cards at the moment which have become redundant since I moved from a D610 to a Z6 recently so he could capture as much videos as he wants! Will also look in to the TZ range as per John’s suggestion. Thanks.

 

[damianmkv]

My “kids” ( now 18 and 14 ) have used my Nikon cameras since they were around 8 or 9. I’m a firm believer that with your guidance, they will understand how to use whatever is presented to them.

My eldest started off with a d3100 and has been using my d500 and d600 since he was 15. He’s quite proficient and works with YouTubers, IGers and high end automotive companies. He started with a coolpix but outgrew it quickly…

My youngest is more social media focused. He can use a DSLR but isn’t bothered - he has a Go Pro and his iPhone for video and will edit some amazing footage. I’m astounded his phone produces the stuff it does… I’m also astounded that he is approaching 1/2 million followers on his socials so now another journey of monetising starts which is completely alien

 

[ProG77]

My “kids” ( now 18 and 14 ) have used my Nikon cameras since they were around 8 or 9. I’m a firm believer that with your guidance, they will understand how to use whatever is presented to them.

My eldest started off with a d3100 and has been using my d500 and d600 since he was 15. He’s quite proficient and works with YouTubers, IGers and high end automotive companies. He started with a coolpix but outgrew it quickly…

My youngest is more social media focused. He can use a DSLR but isn’t bothered - he has a Go Pro and his iPhone for video and will edit some amazing footage. I’m astounded his phone produces the stuff it does… I’m also astounded that he is approaching 1/2 million followers on his socials so now another journey of monetising starts which is completely alien

That’s amazing. You must be so proud. My son has ADHD and on the autism spectrum so he’s very creative and I’ve been impressed with some of the shots he’s taken on his iPhone and some of the videos he does for his “pretend followers on his pretend YouTube channel”. I want to harness his creativity and channel it towards photography and videography/film making as I think he would genuinely use his creativity to produce some good work and it gives him the focus which he so needs as someone with so much hyperactivity. Half a million followers on your son’s socials - that’s staggering! Would love to share it with my son if you wanted to share or DM me a link? Thanks.

 

[f/1.2]

My eldest had a DSLR from she was 6. It was an old abused D40 that she happily used for a couple of years. She always got our hand me downs so she had quite a few cameras over the time.

When she hit high school, the school don’t offer any photography but they do teach video so she needed something that could do that so we got her a Sony A6000 which she used for another few years. She is doing GCSE now so she needed something a bit more capable so we gave her one our A7III’s.

It’s amazing what kids can do, she had a YouTube account with over 400k followers at one point. Now she is a little older she doesn’t like being on social media so she deleted the YouTube account. Apparently it’s trendy not to do social media in her friends group.

My youngest has had cameras since she was even younger than my eldest, she always got my eldests hand me downs. She has no interest now though, she does shoot videos etc with her friends and has built up quite a big following on TikTok. We started a business TikTok around the same time, we picked up a few hundred followers, within the same time she had over 200k. She only uses her phone for that though.

For most of the kids video is mich more important than photography, which is a bit disappointing but times change and all that.

 

[damianmkv]

My son’s IG account is a re-post one, so he has no creative input. It’s all about timings and learning a system - his “reach” is 2 million per day ie the number of unique users that see his posts. This is done through reels mainly as thats what IG is pushing

What I’m trying to say is that as your son is creative, he should use reels on IG ( with your permission and guidance of course ) as this will grow his account quicker than just photos will. Find his passion, if it’s a niche one it can be better as the market isn’t flooded.

I’m new to all of this so I’m relying on the help from the IGers / YouTubers that my eldest collaborates with to guide us

 

[garryknight]

Let me know if you are considering offloading the D5100 with the kit lens/lenses and if so how much you’d want for it. 1080P video is enough and I have a tonne of SD cards at the moment which have become redundant since I moved from a D610 to a Z6 recently so he could capture as much videos as he wants! Will also look in to the TZ range as per John’s suggestion. Thanks.

Since it's been in the cupboard for a few years, I'd better fire it up and make sure it still works OK. I'll find time to do that tomorrow and get back to you.