How old is old enough for a DSLR?

<p>My granddaughter is a bright seven year old. I think she's almost ready for a P&S, but how old do you think is old enough for a DSLR? I'd give her one of my old ones, probably my D40x because it's small and light weight. She likes playing with my cameras so I think the interest is there.</p>

<p>Interest and curiosity, but what does she know of "bokeh" , DOF and fast lenses? :)</p>

<p>I think the question is, rather, is your DSLR ready for a seven year old's physical ability to avoid dropping, knocking around, and spilling juice on it? Are we talking about supervised use, or "have at it, kid, and come show me what you got, next week" type use?</p>

<p>12 years old should be ''old enough'' for a smart kid and an SLR. Certainly before 9th grade is apropos.</p>

<p>While it is possible that a 7-year-old might be mature enough to handle a dSLR without damaging it and with enough understanding to get results, it is unlikely.<br>

I think a precocious 10-year-old might be able to, or a typical 12-year-old.</p>

<p>I let my now 7 y/o use an older DSLR lastyear with the understanding that its a delicate instrument to be treated with care. He loved it. But I did end up buying him his own digital p&s in the end.</p>

<p>Give her a film slr.</p>

<p>I gave my daughter a P&S at 4 years old and let her use my D1H at 6. I was surprised she was able to handle the D1H as its a fairly heavy camera but she manages so now I actually show up in a some of our family photos.</p>

<p>I recently bought a lightly used Pentax K100D so I could keep using the lenses that were orphaned when my MZ-7 film camera went kaput. I have no reservations about letting my daughter (now age 7) use the K100D, although I would get a bit nervous if she wanted to use my new D90. Maybe after the D90 gets a few battle scars...</p>

<p>My seven year old granddaughter uses my spare Olympus E-300 fairly often and has no trouble handling it...has shot some pretty good photos! :-)</p>

<p>My 9 year old (at the time) son - grabbed my d300 with 70-200 f2.8 at a swim meet and went to the end of the pool and started shooting and chimping like a seasoned pro... Within 5 minutes he was surrounded by girls aged 8 - 18...</p>

<p>My currently 7 year old daughter use my d40 with the 18-55 kit lens on occasion - i don't have a problem with her doing it as long as I'm around to make sure nothing happens.</p>

<p>Dave</p>

 

<p>We bought my now 8 year old daughter a Nikon Cool Pix when she was 5. She loves to shoot with me, we go for nature walks and she really has a great eye. Now that I have upgraded to a D700, I am teaching her how to use my D80. She is a quick and eager learner. She is careful and knows how much my cameras mean to me. We have a great time out in the woods shooting. I am working on shooting manual with her. I have made her cheat sheets and all. It's an awesome time for us to bond. I think it's up to the child, if they show interest, then you should roll with it. Teach them how to be careful with the camera, but you also have to prepare yourself for an accident. Have fun!</p>

<p>If she is not ready for a DSLR yet, get her a "rangefinder" like the Fuji X100. I guess the question is how much you want to spend for her photography. I second the idea of a film SLR too</p>

<p>Here's a photo my daughter took last summer...I have framed it because it makes us both proud.</p><div></div>

<p>I think a P&S would be great for now and she can learn about composition and the other simpler things. I have a 9 (almost 10) year old nephew and he's taken a few shots with my DSLR, but I wouldn't trust him with it beyond arms length. Not that he's destructive, but the camera is physically too big for his hands and he'd have a hard time using it. I'd say for a DSLR, 13 or 14 would be a good age to start. If she's geting the concepts and wants to learn about shutter speed and f-stop then one of the new mirrorless cameras may be easier for her to handle. I''d still wait till about 11 or 12 for one of those, and they are new and cost more money than an older DSLR.</p>

<p>I let my son use my D70 after I upgraded to a D200 back in 2006. He was 10 at the time. I only let him use it when he was with me.</p>

<p>When he was 11 I got him a Canon A620 IS P&S that offered all the manual controls in a small package, plus it wasnt too expensive, so if it got lost or damaged it wasnt the end of the world. He used it for a year and a half and learned a lot.</p>

<p>At 13 I picked up a new D80 right before Nikon stopped making them and got it nice and cheap. 2 years later he still uses it. I wanted to start him slow to see what his interest was, and I wanted to see how well he could take care of things that are so fragile.</p>

<p>I think starting them with something simple will make photography fun. Let them build up to the more advanced stuff.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone. I was thinking that she was too young now for a DSLR, but maybe she's not. I let her take a couple of pictures with my old Fuji S6000 fd bridge camera and she enjoyed it. The pictures were pretty good too. I don't use it any more. It may be good for her. She's very good with her things, but if she breaks it, it's not a big loss. If it works out, when I think she's ready I'll give her my old D40x with the Tamron 18-200 that I no longer use.</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

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<p>Give her a film slr.</p>

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<p>Why, Starvy? Digital is a far better learning tool (as long as the camera has the option for manual override). Does it offend some people that the next generation of enthusiasts and/or professionals might want to bypass certain types of camera such as 4x5, 35mm etc? Why this desire to impose film on beginners?</p>

<p>BTW I like film and look forward to using it again. It just isn't as good a learning tool as digital.</p>

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<p>Digital is a far better learning tool</p>

</blockquote>

<p>That may be true for some people but not for all. Why? because everyone has a different way to learn and you don't know everyone, you don't know how each person reacts to a teaching method. You just assume that everyone will behave in the same way, a way that you think is reasonable for the whole human race. Starvy suggests a film SLR not only because it is cheap and can take some abuse from a kid, but also he believes starting with a film SLR may be a better way to learn to some kids</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>I like film and look forward to using it again. It just isn't as good a learning tool as digital.</p>

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<p>Many people think the reason that schools teach beginning students with film cameras just because the teachers can't live without film and/or want to torture the students with awkward learning tools. On the contrary, most of those teachers already moved on to digital but they believe like Starvy does that a film SLR is a far better learning tool</p>

<p>Many people do get offended when they think the teachers want to impose on them to use film, but in fact it's just their teaching method. Starvy obviously didn't try to impose anything on Mark or his daughter</p>

<p>A lot of people in our Pentax forum is now wishing (begging, praying) that Pentax would make for them a digital K1000 so they can stop drooling over the Fuji X100. Certainly, they are not asking for a film SLR much less to impose film on anybody. They already moved on to digital but they still wish for a digital camera that is as "simple" as the K1000. As long as Pentax not making a digital K1000 yet, the schools still use the K1000 for their classes</p>

<p>I don't think a DSLR is better than a P&S for a young kid.<br>

Actually, I'd not lend my D90 to my wife, but I lend it happily to my 6y/o daughter, and she can do well with it, even handheld with with a non VR 70-300mm lens.</p><div></div>

<p>It depends on the kid. There's a pre-teen girl in my extended family with a very artistic eye to whom I would not feel uncomfortable handing my camera. That's more than I can say about the vast majority of adults.</p>

<p>To drop the age a bit ...<br />Well, I started my grand daughter off at age 2 with a Nikon ActionTouch L35AW, the old underwater film camera. Dirt cheap, ruggedized, rubber coated, waterproof and no 'extending' lens to be killed. Drawbacks were no immediate feedback and trigger happy baby = lots of wasted frames. :o) Some issues too of using one eye with the viewfinder. The 'kiddie' cameras often have binocular viewing finders.<br />She's 3 1/2 now and has moved up to use my Canon D10 (waterproof P&S). This suits her more as she gets to see what she just shot and can frame on the LCD. It also has no external zoom lens, which is to me the one source of weakness with standard P&S cameras and little kids. She's a bright girl, learns quickly and sometimes listens to a point & direction. Not ready for a bunch of knobs, dials and buttons quite yet. She still sometimes needs Grandpa to reconfigure the Canon as she's shifted something. Somewhere down the road, in a long bit, she'll be ready to move up to a 'real' dslr or similar.<br />I remain amazed how kids today take to 'technology' with aplomb.<br />Jim</p><div></div>

<p>I'll stick with digital because of the instant feedback. Kids love seeing the picture right away. It's a great motivator. My older daughter had a Polaroid One Step (now in my collection) when she was in middle school and she enjoyed using it.</p>

<p>My nephew was using a point and shoot at 4-5 yrs old. He is quite artistic and it already showed at that age. I think it really depends on the kid. Those with a talent and interest in it will take care of it and assign their own value to the machine. Those who aren't interested will play and toss it away. I would suggest going with the point and shoot until the child has really gotten interested in photography, then discuss future options if/when she starts asking about the difference between her camera and yours.</p>

<p>I let my daughter use my DSLR since she was 3. Under supervision, of course. I considered the fun she got from it and the interest it generated in her to outweigh the minimal risk to the camera. She loves seeing the replays and has taken some really nice pictures. Photographers don't often get pictures of themselves, but my daughter has taken some really nice ones of me.</p>

<p>Cheers</p>

<p>Alan</p>

<p>I made my 15-year-old grandson and his mother sign an agreement that guarantees some responsibility and accountability. Some of the language is legalese, but some of it is meant to be humorous (and serious at the same time). Check it out <a href="http://www.willdaniel.com/stuff/camera_loan.htm">here</a>.</p>