Kids (teenagers) and Cameras

[robertin_m]

What do you think of kids and dSLR's? Do you think they should be allowed to

have them or should they have to wait until they're older to make such an

investment?

[ShunCheung]

What age do you have in mind? In my case, I got my first SLR (no digital back then) at age 15. Before that, I had a couple of point and shoots before.

[tri-x1]

I believe it would be best for a teen to start out with a digital point and shoot OR a good used film SLR. Experiment a little, decide if photography is something that really interests you before making a major DSLR investment. Besides, by waiting a while the features on new DSLRs will increase and the prices will (hopefully) start declining. Immediate obsolescence is a fact of life in today's DSLR market.

[hayward]

Depends on the kid, right? My 12 year old was out shooting with me a few weeks ago, using my D50 and 70-200 VR and everything came back safely. :)

[kurt_garcia]

I guess it depends on:

child's ability to learn photo concepts.

responsibility of the child.

your patience to help them learn

What kind of budget you have.

 

K-

[john_h.1]

This isn't about teenagers and cameras, its about teenagers and parenting. This same question could be asked about almost any product. Should teenagers be allowed to have an expensive suit or a serious radio. If its not your own kid, who cares? Its no one else's business.

[david_pieniazek]

My six year old has a Nikon N60 with the kit lens. He won first place in the local district photograpy contest which was for kids 5-17. Tiger Woods started golfing at what age..4? Now look at him. Is there a chance that he/she might destroy it? Sure. But what if your kid ends up being the next Ansel Adams?

[photo5]

I started shooting with my fathers Nikon F Ftn when I was 13 years old. I used it for a few

years until I graduated from high school and received my own FE2. I think if a kid is highly

interested in photography there is no better learning tool than an SLR. Especially as film

SLRs are so inexpensive these days, there really is no reason why not to get one if they are

motivated to take care of it and learn from it.

 

Dave

[jeff h.]

My son asked to use a "real" camera when he was seven and we were on a family vacation,

so I took my Nikon EM, loaded it with color film, mounted a 28mm lens on it, and let him

photograph to his hearts content; since the EM is an aperture priority camera, he was able

to concentrate on focus and composition, with a little DOF theory thrown in. To our

delight, he enjoyed every minute of the vacation with this little camera, he showed a lot of

imagination and creativity with his composition, and he still enjoys claiming that his

photos are better than Dad's! To me, this event captured the entire essence of

photography. You don't say how old your child is, but I certainly would encourage you to

give them a camera that will allow them to learn some of the fundamentals of

photography, exercise their creative spirit, and allow them to have fun without the stress

or worry of damaging or losing an expensive camera. A DSLR (aside from being

expensive), unless used as a fancy poiny & shoot, requires some understanding of

lighting, metering, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance, and histograms. Only you

can best decide what type of camera best suits your child.

[kayak203]

The digital p&s cameras a really good quality these days. My daughter had used one for a while, but then took a b&w photo class in high school and then again at the local art college, with a used FM-10 and the stock lens. I get a few lessons from her now ;-)

[jim_gifford]

Let children use the very best camera that you would not mind replacing after damage or loss.

 

If the child keeps damaging or losing camera after camera... the child might have to be encouraged to take up pencil sketching.

 

It is sometimes stressful to put nice equipment into the perilous world of kids! But the process of learning photography includes learning to use, and care for, the tools of the trade.

 

Be well,

[mfophotos]

Depends on the teen. My daughter received a D50 for her high school graduation present. However, she bought her own used Hasselblad last year, and has been photographing with everything from old Argus cameras to Zenits since she was 13.

[robertin_m]

Wow! Great answers.

 

I'll be a sophomore in high school next year. I just bought a D70s with a 28-80 and 70-300. Yes, yes, your thinking I just wanted to go out and blow all my own money. But actually, I saved up for over a year and got no help from my parents. Since my step dad never used his point and shoot, I found a new hobby with photography. After using it for about half a year, I began to really want one of the high-end dSLRs that my school let me use. I started to save up from Christmas, b-days, and work, ect..., and eventually saved up enough money. My mom, of course, didn't want me to buy it because she thought it would be a major distraction from school and too much money to spend. But at the end of the year when grades came out, mine were good enough and she let me buy the camera. Now having it for about a month, I have been able to get so many shoots with it than I would not have with "my" point and shoot. I've taken crisp shoots of dragon flies, tigers (zoo), flowers, and much more because of it (not to mention the shutter button was broken on my point and shoot and it put an ugly yellow line down the picture). And yes, I did study the basics and "not-so-basic" principals of photography so I would know what I was doing with the camera. I love taking pictures with it so much that I want to start doing weddings now (maybe I'll wait...)!

 

So, to all you parent photographers out there, if your kid wants a camera like I did, let him build up his portfolio and save up on his own, and that will truly show if he loves photography (like me :) ).

 

If you want, check out my photobucket:

 

http://s79.photobucket.com/albums/j151/milofoto/

[studiosix-o-three]

i was just going to say what you said at the end, robby. i think that if a child/teenager is into it enough, he/she should be encouraged to save up for it and invest his/her own money. it says something about appreciation for your own hard work in earning the money, and also in taking care of the camera once you get it.

[mark newcombe www.mcnphoto]

What do you think about kids (teenagers) having a gibson guitar or a really great fishing rod or two thousand dollars worth of hockey gear? We spend more than the value of a dslr on dancing lessons and I hate ballet but my daughter has a passion for it so we support it. I would much preffer her to have a passion for photography and would by her a dslr in a heart beat.

 

Your not serious about not allowing a teenager to have a dslr are you?

[kathryn_r]

I just got a Nikon D50 and a nikkor 18-55 mm AF lens. i'm 16 and i just finished taking the photography I course at my school. I've been working all year with a film Konica slr with b&w film and a darkroom, and was reluctant to move on to digital, but i really couldn't have made a better purchase. theres no reason to think that a teenager who loves photography wouldnt take great care of a nice camera, especially if they purchase the camera themselves. any child who is even interested in a dSLR and is interested in photography knows how to care for a camera.

[tom_luongo1]

I regularly let second graders (8 years old) use my D1 without supervision this past year and the worst that happened was the skylight filter got a little dented. The youngster below is the youngest that has used the camera.

[tom_luongo1]

Forgot to add a caption.<div></div>

[tom_luongo1]

Of course, it helps that the camera is really rugged so you don't have to worry about it getting treated like this:<div></div>

[rustymadd]

I was introduced to the photography business at the age of 12. I would travel to events, stage and shoot environmental portraits, return to the darkroom, develop 35mm and 6X6 Hassie negs, and print 24X30" prints for hand painting.

 

Again, I was 12.

 

It depends on the individual, but when they're ready, they're ready.

 

C Painter