RKL349 Loc: Connecticut

Fujifilm X-A5.

Quinn 4

$500.00 camera for a seven grader, that only for a low level camera. What am I missing here?

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

They don't look like a real camera like she said.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

The used market...

Diocletian

Regarding ...working mainly through the menus... I have a Sony a6000 that I have set up with back button focus, I set the f-stop with a dial on the top of the camera body and the shutter speed with a dial on the back (I mostly use manua mode).

Yes, the things that change infrequently are accessible through the menus - like setting up hdr - but alot of the other stuff can be changed with dials on the back. So once you have your camera set up the way you want, it doesn’t operate that differently from your standard dslr.....in my experience.

lsaguy Loc: Udall, KS, USA

When I was an active parent. Shopping with my teenagers was a dreaded task. We fought over $100 jeans and everything else. In desperation one year I made up a list of "you must buy at least these" and the caveat that "all the money must be spent on cloths" and handed them cash. I included $10 so they could go to the food court. It was a miracle. My son came home and was so excited to show me all the bargains he found. He'd fulfilled the list and more. My daughter found cute little cut rate boutiques to shop at always came away with more than the list. End of problem.
Tell your granddaughter what her budget is. Tell her what you would look for and why. Don't be long winded about it, hit the high lights. Tell her to do the research herself and show her some camera review sites and KEH and whomever else you trust. Warn her about places like 42nd Street Photo and Abe's of Maine. Tell her when she's made a selection you'll buy what she's selected, NO QUESTIONS ASKED. Then follow through. I think you'll be pleased with how wise your granddaughter will become. Good luck

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

One year we gave my teenage son $150 to go to the mall with his friend and buy school clothes (this was about 25 years ago). He came back with an iguana and a terrarium tank and extras and transformed his room into a jungle habitat.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

My experience and preference is to have more controls without having to go to the menus. For one thing if you are out in bright sunlight it is nearly impossible to see the menus on the screen. With back lite subjects is often hard to seen what is inside the view finder depending on the position of the sun or lights.

delkeener Loc: SW Rhode Island, USA

You haven't mentioned whether it is for digital or film photography.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

DMF

"It's like music lessons- you gotta buy them an instrument and it's best to start early and see where the talent takes them."

Good advice, thanks. Doug

Diocletian

Well, there is that....on the other hand I prefer (not bright sunlight, obviously) the electronic viewfiinder and 'live view' which allows me to see what exposure is, what the photo will look like, before I snap the shutter.

I agree, this particular camera is not 100% perfect. But then again I remember the weight of the Nikon around my neck and the headaches I'd get. Yeah - Nope, I prefer the Sony for what I want to use it for.

I still kind of disagree about the menus...but it's probably just what we're used to.

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

I have two suggestions
#1 Right off I suggest a bridge camera such as a Canon SX40 or 50 - great camera with all the bells and whistles ever needed - size is great also
#2 a used Canon T3i kit with the 18-55 & 100-300 or a tamron 18-200 w/VR -

mtbear

An Argus C3, stainless steel tank and reels, a brick of Tri-x, changing bag and other paraphernalia to develop and contact print B&W. She can use the changing bag to load the reels and contact print in the bathroom. Probably less than a $100. After she has burned the brick she'll be ready for a digital P&S.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

That would have been great advice... in 1968. That was when I borrowed a Canon FX SLR and spooled 100' of Tri-X into snap-cap cartridges, and proceeded to learn. I was 13. My parents made me buy my own gear from selling photos after that.

I would go on, a decade later, to a 33 year career at three of the largest photography companies in the USA, leading one of their labs through the film-to-digital transition, then training school photographers for seven years.

BUT, for the past 13 years, I have failed to see why film is relevant to learning photography. It's great if you're taking an art class because you want to learn film, and great if you can't or won't make the jump to digital, but it is wholly unnecessary to the process of learning digital photography.

The modern generations are hooked on digital devices. (So am I, for that matter, having used computers for most of my life, now.) Bits simply beat atoms for speed, flexibility, sensitivity, and versatility. Why ask someone to take a step backwards before going forwards? That could possibly piss her off, or frustrate her away from a wonderful hobby.

Photography is photography, regardless of the medium. Digital cameras can be "dumbed down" to "meter-less manual" mode if that's the concern. I whole heartedly recommend getting her something that she can truly use, and build off of.