I'd find a used Nikon or Canon 2 mp camera (should be very inexpensive) and see what she does with it. If she's just snapping pictures of the cat indiscriminately, that's all she needs. If she takes to actual photography, then you'll have a better idea of what she needs based on what she photographs...

Ballybeg wrote:.

Would appreciate any tips. Are all digitals at the lower end of thescale much of a muchness?Thanks.

Not quite..

1) Maufacturing. Check that camera looks solidly built, that battery and card compartments open and close easily..

2) Accesoires. What type of memory card cam accepts? You can find SD cards real cheap these days, probably some affordable CFs, but other types are expensive. And yes, there are several generations of each card type, so maybe not every card would work in the cam, even if it fits in the slot..

Some sort of camera bag/pouch is also good idea, those lens covers tend to be flimsy..

Does it use branded or standard batteries?.

3) Ergonomics. Kids tend to be rather tech-savvy nowadays, but... Well, I know my way around tech. It took me 3 days to understand some of my camera controls. (It's Samsung A40 for the record. ) Not that they're so advanced, they're just confusing..

If you can, try to download manual before purchase... I know, judging something this way requires vivid imagination, but it's better than nothing..

[rant].

For instance... In abovementioned Samsung A40 menu "delete picture" has two options "yes" and "no" The menu is red. One of the options is red, another one, - gray. Which one is selected? Wrong! Selected one has same color as background. Lame..

Useful options are buried, and gimmicky ones got their separate buttons. If I want sepia instead of color, i'd do it on the computer, thanks. Hey, Samsung, you themselves put editor that can do that in the box! Why not to put,say, metering mode switch there instead?.

Unless put into "Program" mode cam constantly forgets flash and macro settings. I once shot flash straight into my face because of that. It's dangerous.[/rant].

4) Try to find something that has semiautomatic ("priority") modes. It would allow some room for growth if your daughter would decide to take it seriously. I've seen them on some cheap compacts..

Otherwise I agree with Syncer, - buy cheap first, and invest in more serious equipment if she takes it seriously...

Get her something you know she's going to use and enjoy..

Spend more on the whole package rather than just the camera (i.e. computer, printer, ink, paper etc.)..

Any small, robust camera should do it. Any brand. They all have good, cheap cameras..

Encourage her to shoot lots of photos, but be discriminating about which ones she prints..

Put up a big cork board in the kitchen or somewhere, where she can display her pics..

Encourage her to have fun with pictures, and not treat them like they're precious things...

Get something cheap. This is a 12 year old, after all, and while she might get interested, a 12 year old is a 12 year old and the odds are against it. So a simple camera with basic functionality would be fine..

My view with cameras for kids is that the most likely thing to happen them is loss, theft ( school lockers are the devil ) and accident. Get a cheap clearance model, like a Canon A430 or similar..

StephenG.

Fuji S9600Fuji S5200Fuji F30Fuji E900Canon A710ISPCLinuxOS..

At that age I would recommend an old manual film SLR with black&white darkroom equipment to learn the basics..

Shoot...

My advice is to buy something worth buying and using, and fun. There is no joy in having a camera that will be no fun, and there is no need to cripple capabilities drastically. My soon to be 8 year old uses a Nikon Coolpix 4200, but has also used my Canon S3 IS and has enjoyed learning more and more about it and about taking pictures. A friend of the family gave him a wimpy little package camera, and he recognized it for what it was, a toy meant to appeal to "kiddies." Rightfully, he saw himself as being more adept and wanting something that demonstrated we were treating him as having the capacity to do more. I take him on photowalks and he enjoys composing and taking his own shots, and reflecting about them afterwards..

Part of the equation here, more important than we may think, is that she is a 12 year old. That means that she can do everything any other 12 year old can do but the camera will be also much more than just a little metal box that allows you to take pictures. The same, with some variation, applies to my son. The camera will be partly a social accessory, as the kids weave it into their developing sense of personal identity. If the camera proves to be something that doesn't "fit" well with that identity, and or vision of the collective or group of which the person is part, it will not get used much, if at all. She might have a lot of fun taking shots of her friends, and activities they do.



The Canon Powershot SD40 looks like a cool compact camera. It comes in various sizes, has some room for stepping up the learning, and is perfect for those occasions when mom or dad want to take something along that is small and pocketable for quick shots. Remind them to keep it at ISO speeds below 400, preferably in the 80 or 100 range for most daytime shooting, and they should be fine in AUTO mode. Then again, they have more headroom to explore with this camera..

There are other good options out there, but I would think a small slim camera would do well..

Best,.

Nakamichi..

Why not a Daguerreotype or some wet glass negatives...if you want to keep it real, of course?..

I had antique TLR with wide-format film at that age, played quite a bit with it, and sometimes my shots were correctly exposed. I'm not super-photographer now..

What I did wrong? Aha... I had no money to develop wide film in any quantity. And when I did, the lab returnred excellent roll of b/w anthill pictures because they didn't understand what it was. And please, you don't let unsupervised 12-years olds run darkrooms, for color process especially...

As funds are limited ignore the advice to go film especially if you dont know how to set up a dark room etc, I beleive the things to consider are.

1) does she want it just to take snaps of her friends? if yes any cheap digital will do.

2) If she wants to take photography a little more seriously then get her a camera that is not overlly complicated but comes from a company that is known for making cameras, canon, nikon olympus etc. These companies make good lenses and thats one of the most important parts of a cheap camera. Ever wondered why most 3mp camera phones take rubbish pictures when compared to a 3mp point & shoot?.

3) Judge your investment level on what you can afford and how likely you feel she is to stick at the hobby, you dont want to spend as much as you can possibly afford for the camera to sit on the shelf unsed after a couple of weeks..

4) once you have worked out your budget and the likely cameras you can afford take her out and let her hold each of the cameras because a good picture is hard to take if the camera feels awkward in your hand..

Share pictures with me @ http://www.simplysnaps.comSee my Home town @ http://www.newport-pagnell.co.uk..

I was using my brother's AE-1 when I was 8 so I'm all for going DSLR with your 12 year old if they've expressed an interest in photography at all..

If it's strictly you trying to get them into it then maybe something cheaper but something still SLR-like in the super zooms like a Canon S3 if you can find it. At least with those you can get a little closer to greater creativity should their interest blossom..

There are some cheap entry level DSLRs out there so don't be scared off thinking they're too expensive. Even if they only get a single lens to use at first, it's more than enough to learn with...

Consider the Canon A460 ($100 - $115 USD). I just picked one up for my 8 year old and he loves it! His 12 year old brother thinks it's nifty as well..

The A460 has a 'chunky' form factor that makes it easy to handle, but it is still small enough to carry along.Kevin BarrettLowell, MIhttp://www.kbfoto.com..

Nokem wrote:.

At that age I would recommend an old manual film SLR with black&whitedarkroom equipment to learn the basics..

Shoot..

You have to be joking, right?.

A 12 y/o girl has a lot more fun things to do than fiddle about in stinky darkroom on a warm sunny day!.

The benefit of digital is that it opens up the joy of photography. Don't close it down by insisting that newbies have to mess around with developing film and printing in a darkroom, just to be somehow authentic..

All the basic principles of photography apply the same to digital as to film...

In that vein, the two cameras that come to mind, although perhaps not practical anymore, were the Olympus D-380, and the Sony Mavica FD200. Very different types of starter cameras, the first being very point-and-shoot, simple, and the people who still have them, love them. The Mavica was used in a lot of digital photography classes, has a lot of unique features (not the least of which was the ability to store to a floppy disk!) and one of the largest, brightest LCDs I've seen... I gave one to a friend when it was current, and she still loves hers. Both 2MP cameras... the Mavica has all kinds of options for expansion, the D-380 almost none.

On the other hand, I do not see that many options for low-MP cameras out there new today.....

Another possibility for a starter camera for a 12-year-old girl, Olympus D-535 Zoom. You *might* even be able to still find one still on the shelf somewhere.....

Ballybeg wrote:.

Hi,I'm looking to buy a 1st camera for my 12yr old daughter. Funds arelimited and I don't know whether to buy a cheap and cheerful or tryto go for something a bit more.Would appreciate any tips. Are all digitals at the lower end of thescale much of a muchness?Thanks.

Just whatever you do, don't limit the camera just because of the his/her age..

Like another person mentioned.. get something relatively inexpensive and see how the child interacts with the camera. If the child takes to photography like a duck, and is delving deep into the field.. then save up and get him/her something to grow into..

Http://www.pbase.com/teiladay/image/50702121.

Good Luck!.

Teila K. Day..

Wait for the new Canon 40D or Nikon D??? and then explain to your wife that your child is now old enough to learn about cameras and really need a decent one, something like your 20D! Obviously you will then be 'forced' to upgrade to the newer model!..

Well,.

Even if she only is 12 years old, she could still take it very seriously, yet at the same time manage to not treat it the best, if you buy her something on the really low end, she will treat it like something on the really low end. It just goes down to the type of person she is, if shes the type who would break an egg if she was supposed to take care of it, then I would suggest something that has a digital zoom, because the number one problem ive seen is how they get the lens stuck and it costs a lot to fix it..

Now I (still) have a Samsung Digimax A402, and it's a 4mp, and you could get it for well under $100 now, and yet to me it takes GREAT pictures, which is why ive waited so long to upgrade. Plus, it has built in picture frames with hearts and all that..

Personally, I love Samsung cameras, espically for someone whos just learning, the auto mode is just that, auto, just turn it on, aim, and click. You dont have to worry about anything, and the pictures turn out great (well I dont print big). The A402 is a great camera..

But if she is the type of person who you know she would take great care of it, then optical zoom is recomended. Again, I would have to say that Samsung makes a great simple, easy, and fun camera. The manual mode isnt great, but the average (i emphasize the word average) doesnt even use manual mode, and just wants to get the job done. Now the Samsung Digimax S500 (there may be a cheaper model) is about $119 in stores, and I like it a lot. And Samsung cameras seem pretty durable..

And I was at my local Wal-Mart, and I was looking at their cheapest display camera, a $99 Sanyo, and I was VERY impressed giving the price, it took GREAT pictures! I also liked the Polaroid too being cheap as well..

But bottom line, you should take her into a store, into the camea section, and pretend to be looking at memory cards or something, and take a long time, and when she gets impatient, tell her something like "well why dont you go play with some cameras or something while youre waiting." And make sure you take forever so she plays with a lot of them..

Really, thats a good way to pick out a camera. (To me anyway) it doesnt really matter what the reviews are, how many megapixels and whatnot, as long as YOU like the pictures it takes..

But, on the lower cheaper end there are some GREAT models:.

Samsung Digimax A402 (I recomend this one a lot)Low end Polaroid and Sanyo..

And I recently saw a Philips 3MP camera with a 2 inch LCD on sale at Meijer ( Meijer.com ) for $39.99..

But agin, it depends on the type of person..

And if you do get her a lower end one, give her a couple months or so, then take the camera when she not around, and look at the pics. If they are interesting, then it would be time for an upgrade.Hope this helped...

I just completed teaching a10-11-and 12-year olds at the local kids' college photography class. They were very responsible. They had 3 and 6 mp point and shoot cameras and had been taking pics for 2 to 3 years. Most got their cameras when they were in the first grade. Two of my students (10 and ll years old) are ready to advance to manual. They have outgrown their point and shoot cameras.

Has your daughter shown an interest in photography? As some of the posters have mentioned, please don't get her a toy. No one has mentioned fugi brand, which I have. Fuji has some camers that are very afforadable. It would be nice if she could have a camera that she can set the aperture. Most of all, she should have something she can learn on and have fun with.

Check out the reviews on these forums. Have a talk with your daughter and see what her thoughts are on the subject. Once you know what she is thinking and how interested she is, it will help you make a decision as to camera and cost..

Hope this helps.Beth..

Nearly all kids have a phone with a camera built in - and they use them..

I was lucky enough as a kid to be able to borrow my Dad's Polaroid. The film was very expensive, but he had a deal on out-of-date stock with a major supplier so we could mess around all day and stick our efforts to the kitchen wall or the refrigerator..

There was often a dispute about what one or other of us had actually photographed as things were mostly pretty blurry ..