Camera advice for a budding photographer

patr · Post by **patr** » Sun Aug 12, 2012 11:10 am

I know this should be on the Off Topic Forum, not sure how many folks check that one tho', hopefully Anthony won't mind. As I know there are great photogs here!

My soon-to-be 16 year old granddaughter has an eye for photography, I think she inherited the gene from her late grandmother. Was wanting to get her a camera to help fuel her passion. Looking for something not too complicated, not too clunky, but will yield good photos and help develop her natural talent. Currently she is using her phone, here are some of her shots:

Since I know little to nothing about cameras, I really need some advice. Oh, and did I mention, not too expensive. Thanks in advance.

jimg20 · Post by **jimg20** » Sun Aug 12, 2012 2:08 pm

Yes she has a natural aptitude for photography. She has the ability to "see" a picture before she actually shoots it.

I understand the need to keep the cost down, but that is a subjective term. That is like the question we sometimes see here asking for an inexpensive villa. You can get a fairly good pocket size digital camera for about $100. A better one will cost about $200. Some of these are waterproof and can be used while snorkeling. Then you can start getting into the single lens reflex (SLR) cameras with interchangable lenses for a starting point of about $350. From there you can get up to over $1,000. The SLRs tend to be a fairly large camera.

A 16-year-old can generally be expected to take care of a better camera and understand how to use all of its features.

JIM

jayseadee · Post by **jayseadee** » Sun Aug 12, 2012 6:53 pm

There are some good high-end point and shoots out there. They can be shot fully automatic, but also have a fair amount of manual settings - these run around $400.

I have a Canon SX40. It is not compact, but has good zoom capabilities; others on the forum have shot great pics with the Canon G12.

Canon also has some good camera's in the < $200 range.

jmq · Post by **jmq** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:43 am

Any of the cameras in the Canon PowerShot series would yield very good results for a low price. Which one depends on what features you want (zoom range, compact size, ultra compact size , etc.) The G11 or G12 mentioned would be the very high end in price for point n shoots and probably better for someone who has handled cameras before.

That said, Canon is a little slow to innovate, while Panasonic and Sony are rolling out some pretty cool features that might appeal to creative types.

For example, take a look at the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS20
Recently had some experience with this camera owned by a friend and if I was buying a point n shoot, I would strongly consider this one. It has a very good 24-480mm Leica lens (the extra wide angle down to 24mm provides an extra wide angle of view that could be very useful and fun to use and that 480 is a 20x zoom which is a very long lens), and can shoot 1080p Full HD movies, and can shoot in-camera HDR images and does “shadow brightening” in its highly regarded “Intelligent Auto” mode. This feature proves useful in backlit situations and scenes with a lot of contrast between sunlight and shadow. Very useful way to deal with and get great results in difficult exposure situations. Also in-camera panoramic shooting and “hand held nighttime” that are fun creative functions. Also impressive flash performance for such a small camera, especially for indoor group shots and the like. It also has “advanced” GPS functions that does more than just geotagging. It does not have a viewfinder (probably only a negative for old schoolers) and uses a touch screen for some of its controls – probably a plus for the iPhone generation. It is a lot of camera for $315

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panason ... 0-review/9

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_133ZS20K/P ... Black.html

Also you should get an extra battery whatever you buy, (when traveling, always good to carry an extra battery and/or swap batteries at the end of the day from the charger) and a “class 10” fast memory card (so it can handle video OK) that is at least 8GB to give you the option of shooting memory hogging video. Also consider an extra card, so if one gets filled up or goes bad and you lose your photos (rare) you have another with you.

equineannie · Post by **equineannie** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:23 am

If she like to snorkel, I would recommend a GoPro. They have very reasonable prices and underwater housing. I am a diving instructor and use one personally, as well as for students, wishing to pursue an Underwater Digital Photo specialty. You can buy them online, they are made for the outdoors, very durable.

BRY1105 · Post by **BRY1105** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:58 am

Patr, look into a Nikon D40 SLR. It was (and still is) my first SLR camera and I love it. It's got all the great features & takes awesome pictures you should expect from a SLR, but its meant for beginners.
http://www.nikonusa.com/Nikon-Products/ ... 0/D40.html

mit43 · Post by **mit43** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 2:05 pm

I agree with the Canon point and shoots. They are good little cameras and you won't need to spend too much until you know this isn't just a passing phase. The SDs are pretty nice.

Once you see she is serious and going to stick with it you can invest in a more expensive DSLR.

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