Camera for son.

[tracybradbury]

Hi all,

I presently have a Nikon D90 (my 1st Nikon) and an old (not working very well) Olympus E400 that my 13 year old son uses when he comes out and about with me taking photos.

Now he has decided that he would like to learn more about photography and i want to get him a camera (that works properly, lol) of his own, he likes the size of the Olympus (as he is small for his age) and would like to stay with one of similar size!

Im thinking that a smaller Nikon would probably be best in the long term, as we can use the same lens etc but which one

The D40, D40x, D50 or even the D70 - am interested in anyone that has had any of these and knows what would be the best for a starter camera etc ?

Many thanks

 

[gazedd]

TBH, I dont think a forum of photographers could suggest a camera suitable for your lad. Simply becasue Any camera will be good for him so long as he understands the controls.

You could give a him a D40 or a D3 but if he doesn't fell right with the camera, he wont want to continue learning photography because "Its to hard".

My personal Suggestion would be to go to a local dealer with some camer'a in mind, and Ask him to use them. See if he gets the hang of the buttons, With you saying he is only small, He might not be able to reach a certain button that he needs to to change a certain setting Quickly...

 

[markp]

I got to play with an Olympus S850SW at the weekend. Waterproof, drop-proof, 8MP and for a P&S takes some pretty good shots. Might be worth a look if he just wants to get out and learn to take some photos.
Don't really know what your son is after but an entry-level SLR has to be the way forward if he just wants to test things out and learn about shutter speed, aperture, etc. No point jumping all the way to something pricey if he's likely to break it or give up on it.

 

[MJ Stebbings]

Look out for a second hand D50, D70 or D80

 

[alexkidd]

if he's got small hands then the d40 series is really small as is the d60 i think

apart from that i'd suggest the d50, d70 or any other tbh

d40 would be my weapon of choice, small, cheapish and reasonably easy to use and light.