Which digital SLR for my daughter??

[Furyblade_Lee]

Hi guys, I would like to buy a good but budget dgital SLR for my daughter, who from the age of 2 bizzarely has loved picking up a camera a taking photographs... She is nearly 10 now, and want to buy her something which she can take her photography to the next level after just using snapshot type digital cameras. I have scanned over the net and to be honest its going a bit over my head, anybody able to advise me?? Upto about £400, with a good zoom lens, possibly upgradeable, she loves taking pictures of animals and wildlife in the garden if thats any help! Cheers, Lee.

[RobDickinson]

I'd say look at the Oly e-p1 stuff, smaller and lighter than a full slr, interchangable lenses, some good ones too.

And IQ is great.

Focus isnt quite as fast as a proper slr.

[mikees]

In same position. My daughter is 13. I think a used 350d is the answer.

[Simpo Two]

s/h Nikon D200 going spare at Bloke Hall - might be too heavy for a 10y/o though.

[-Pete-]

Anything from Canon or Nikon, the body is less important than the lens.

[mikef]

I'm looking for a similar starter as a present and despite using Canon DSLRs myself, I've been looking closely at the Sony Alpha A35. DSLT, rather than DSLR. A bit over 400 with lens and a huge range of features from HD video to built-in HDR.

Edited to add review references. It's the fact that it's small that makes me think it would work for my daughter (who is far more tech-savvy than I am)

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/compact-digital-cameras/...

http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/equipment/reviews...

Edited by mikef on Sunday 6th November 22:38

[craikeybaby]

I would suggest one of the smaller cheaper SLRs from the big two (Canon/Nikon), but leaning more towards Canon (say 1000D or used 350D) as all their auto focus lenses work with the bottom of the range models, whereas I don't think that is the case with Nikon.

The reason being that you are buying into a system so if she gets into it you won't have to buy things twice (flashes etc).

[Gad-Westy]

Maybe I'm underestimating here but I assume that a 10 year old is likely to be working almost exclusively in the auto modes to start with?

If that is the case, I would be looking at the more modern lower end DSLR's as they tend to have a lot of fully auto creative modes that some of the older bodies won't have. I'm sure all the major players have good offerings but as an example I just sold my Nikon D5000 for £250. It's stuffed full of auto 'scene' modes and also does video etc as well as having an articulated screen for creative angles. One of those with a kit lens and a cheap Tamron telephoto will keep most amused for a long time and should fall well within budget.

[Simpo Two]

Gad-Westy said:

Maybe I'm underestimating here but I assume that a 10 year old is likely to be working almost exclusively in the auto modes to start with?

If she's outgrown a compact already, probably not.

Gad-Westy said:

I would be looking at the more modern lower end DSLR's as they tend to have a lot of fully auto creative modes... stuffed full of auto 'scene' modes

If she wants to learn abot photography, keep her well away from that crap Program mode for starters perhaps, but nothing more automatic than that because then you start losing track of what the camera is doing.

Edited by Simpo Two on Monday 7th November 16:10

[Gad-Westy]

Simpo Two said:

Gad-Westy said:

Maybe I'm underestimating here but I assume that a 10 year old is likely to be working almost exclusively in the auto modes to start with?

If she's outgrown a compact already, probably not.

Gad-Westy said:

I would be looking at the more modern lower end DSLR's as they tend to have a lot of fully auto creative modes... stuffed full of auto 'scene' modes

If she wants to learn abot photography, keep her well away from that crap Program mode for starters perhaps, but nothing more automatic than that because then you start losing track of what the camera is doing.

Edited by Simpo Two on Monday 7th November 16:10

I don't disagree with anything you say but the OP didn't actually say she'd outgrown a compact, just that she might want to move things on, which in my defence is quite vague, especially when there is a huge range of compacts for all levels.

I was just thinking about some of the maths involved and some of the more complex principals, they seem a lot to take on board for a 10 year old. I'm just thinking back to when I was 10 and I'm pretty sure the times table was about as technical as I got. Maybe I'm doing 10 year olds a massive disservice. If she can grasp all this stuff, I think that's fantastic but if she can't then something without some auto options is going to seem a little bewildering. My wife simply won't use my D300 but loved using our D5000. It's killed her enthusiasm stone dead because she was only ever really into taking shots from interesting angles or shooting squirrels in the garden, not worrying about apertures and shutter speeds. The auto modes suited her just fine. They don't prevent learning, in fact in my case they encouraged it as they allowed me to take 'good' photos and then learn what makes them good. I'm not sure how interested I'd have been if I couldn't have just picked the camera up and started using it from the off. And of course auto doesn't remove the requirement for good composition and lighting consideration and all those manual modes are still available when/if they're ready. I don't know though, maybe the OP's daughter has already passed this stage, in which case, I'm seriously impressed.

Edited by Gad-Westy on Monday 7th November 16:56

[-Pete-]

I started developing and printing my own B&W films when I was 11, so no reason why any interested 10 year old couldn't quickly grasp exposure control, depth of field, lighting etc. But re-reading the OP, if she likes wildlife photography maybe a decent all-in-one camera with very long zoom would be better, as getting long focal lengths on a DSLR is expensive. I know the Panasonic Lumix cameras get good reviews, and I've seen at least one which zooms to 600mm for £250.

Edited by -Pete- on Monday 7th November 16:58

[Gold]

Used Canon 400D with kit lens and a 55-250mm IS lens would be perfect.

[Simpo Two]

Gad-Westy said:

I don't disagree with anything you say but the OP didn't actually say she'd outgrown a compact, just that she might want to move things on, which in my defence is quite vague, especially when there is a huge range of compacts for all levels.

True, I did wonder if the girl had actually asked for a 'better' camera, ie had outgrown a compact/wanted to do things it couldn't do, or whether OP simply thought 'my daughter likes taking photos, I'll buy her a better camera'. Which is nice but perhaps not 100% logical.

At 10 I was getting my Cub Scout Photography badge so it's not too young... my father and I toured the village with his Minolta SLR (or it might have been a Yashica-D TLR) - I took the photos but I admit he helped find the shots for me to take!

Thing is, with children when something is fun they do it; when it starts getting more serious they can drop it. So we need to know what she actually wants to do. Maybe something bigger with a long lens on will suddenly be less fun, too wobbly, too heavy, harder to get good results. But if she actively wants to learn then an entry-level DSLR (I say entry-level because it is small and light, not because it has idiot modes) should be do-able. Composition, focus, exposure. Rectangle and hole. It's really very easy, especially with a nice big monitor on the back to assess progress. (But OP will need to know more than his daughter of course!)

If it were me, I'd choose a Nikon D50 or D40 with 18-70mm lens, or maybe a 35mm to avoid an extra variable. Heck, ask the child what she wants

[RobDickinson]

Still think a MFT camera would be the best compromise.

Only thing it lacks is the blindingly quick focus and tracking I doubt a 10yo needs that as much as something holdable.

[Furyblade_Lee]

Thanks for the respone guys! To clarify, she'd like at the moment something with a point-and-shoot feature but a fairly good zoom lens so she can take photos from distance without disturbing things. We fortunatly have a nice wildlife pond in our garden, she likes photoraphing things but as she gets close they all hide! I would love to go for something really good but I as a parent know very little about photography so I cannot advise her. If she genuinly gets into this I will get her into some lessons but she is only 10 (well 9 but 10 in Jan ), and then I will get a pro type camera.

[-Pete-]

The all-in-one cameras can have a very long focal length for a few hundred pounds, which would cost you thousands on a DSLR. So if she wants to take wildlife, they'd be your best bet.

[RobDickinson]

Even a low end SLR (1100D, 500g) and a light cheap zoom (55-250is, 390g) is going to put the whole thing close to 1gk.

The Lumix DMC-TZ20 is about 220g in comparison (and 24-380mm 'zoom') - for example.

[NDA]

I'm a keen photographer and use Leica cameras - so my daughter wanted to follow suit. She's not ready for a Leica, or rather I should say my wallet is not ready for another one, so I bought her one of these....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003WOKU4W

It's taking some superb shots - it's point and shoot, it will also allow some more creative work too. Highly recommended for a first decent camera.

[-Pete-]

NDA said:

I'm a keen photographer and use Leica cameras - so my daughter wanted to follow suit. She's not ready for a Leica, or rather I should say my wallet is not ready for another one, so I bought her one of these....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003WOKU4W

It's taking some superb shots - it's point and shoot, it will also allow some more creative work too. Highly recommended for a first decent camera.

That's the one I was looking at, probably the ideal camera for a wildlife enthiusiast.

[bristolracer]

Get a tripod and a remote control for the nature stuff

Cheers
Nick