Earworms Loc: Sacramento, California

Yeah, that way if he gets tired of it or loses interest, then it is no major loss. On the other hand, if he progresses then upgrades are warranted.

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

If your grandson wants a Sony Mirrorless, then either he has seen the prices of the top of the range Sony's and the blurb that accompanies it.....or he means a simple pocket sized point and shoot. Decide which...!

The Sony credit card sized cameras are fantastic. You can put them into the same modes as any other DSLR and they also have video. They will not break the bank! Better perhaps to teach him composition....it is the one area that markedly improves anyones photos.

Have fun

BebuLamar

I can use any DSLR you hand to me. I don't think I know how to use something like Nikon P900, Canon SX60.

jmvaugh Loc: Albuquerque

Yikes that's pretty harsh!

Earworms Loc: Sacramento, California

You, obviously are not a beginner.

BebuLamar

And yet still haven't mastered the so called bridge cameras. They are extremely difficult to use. They have lots of features that cause a lot of confusion.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

If it means anything, I saw a NY location scout using a mirrorless. The one nice thing, too, about mirrorless is that they are far less obtrusive than the standard DSLR. For a teenager, it would mean that it would be easier to take a mirrorless to activities, etc. I would, however, suggest adding a decent small flash to whatever you get him. It's important to learn how to use flash, esp. in social situations. For a kid his age, a camera with wifi capability would probably be important.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

I would abstain from introducing the 14-year old to the concept of "upgrade" altogether. Next thing he will think the camera he received isn't any good and he will want a newer model, even if the newer model won't actually improve his photography skills any more than an old model.

CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

I wonder if he has been taking pictures with anything. Has he got the photography bug or has he just seen some gear he thinks is cool? My daughter at 13 started eyeing and borrowing my Nikon DSLR. She couldn't set it down and she had the eye. Bought here a few kit cameras over the years and last week, at 25, she bought herself a Nikon D7500 and her dream lens. I'm the proud dad. Get him a real DSLR (or mirrorless) if you think he will use it. If he doesn't, oh well. The simple cameras, if you mean point and shoot, are a pain in the butt and not simple at all if you want to learn and grow.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

I've had bridge cameras, DSLR's and mirrorless, as well as compact P&S cameras, and the fact is, if a camera of any style offers the usual control features--PASM, auto, selectable exposure modes, AF modes, none is more complicated to learn and use than any other. The only difference lies in where the controls are located on the camera. One has only to study the camera and read the owner's manual to learn how to use the camera, followed simply by practice, practice, practice. I just don't see how a DSLRis harder to use than any other camera, or how a bridge camera is either harder or easier to use. In the end, the controls all do the same thing.

That said, if your granson wants a DSLR, he's obviously taken the time to study them. Get him a decent camera, one that will last a long time, and one that he can grow into. It's cheaper than starting out cheap and having to constantly upgrade. As for the Sony mirrorless, better to start out with something like an A6000. While it's not a DSLR, it will do pretty much everything a DSLR will do, at least for the average person. Going into Sony full frame mirrorless is a very expensive proposition. Still, mirrorless or no, the A7xxx series are good cameras, and the A7 with the kit 28-70 lens can be had very reasonably.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

No. Get him a Sony DSLR or get him nothing. You'd spend hundred on a camera he doesn't want and then spend hundreds more on a Sony.

Lots of good Sonys. Get him involved in the selection process.

https://www.sony.com/electronics/dslr-like-cameras
http://www.digital-slr-guide.com/sony-digital-slr.html
https://www.adorama.com/l/Cameras/Sony~Digital-SLR-Cameras


Read comparisons and specs, and decide what features are important to you.
(Reviews) https://www.youtube.com/user/TheCameraStoreTV/videos
http://www.cameradecision.com/
http://cameras.reviewed.com/
http://camerasize.com/
http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM
http://snapsort.com/compare
http://www.dpreview.com/products/compare/cameras?utm_campaign=internal-link&utm_source=mainmenu&utm_medium=text&ref=mainmenu

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

To me more advanced it a super zoom pocket camera of hi quality. DSLR or Bridge bulk would limit his street real life photography. All it takes for loss of a DSLR is a quick sit it down turn back and it is gone... the young have sticky fingers....

Play up the composition aspects of photography. To me that is Key. I have Sony A65, and a Canon Bridge, but my pocket 24/7 Super Zoom camera is the most used. Even on Autopilot, the Sony HX50 [old now] takes excellent shots quickly. Noise etc is for post. He lives in a cell phone photography world... a DSLR makes him an odd ball... a pocket Super Zoom ... just close enough to cell phone size to not really be intrusive.

Komposition is King .... a free works that discusses and demonstrates in pictures the art of Composition. a very interesting and complete work. again... FREE
http://truecenterpublishing.com/photopsy/article_index.htm

Why does he want the bulky cumbersome DSLR... if I were 14, I would want that zoooooom to reach out and grab that gal way over there or the fight with out being close enough to get hit.

alawry Loc: Timaru New Zealand

A lot of good advice handed out here. My first Digital camera was considered a bridge camera, Fuji s7000, but really, still only a point and shoot. Very restricted in aperture selection, "manual" focusing, depth of field, response time. Then went back into the Pentax camp, having had Spotnmatic and ME, I bought a 1sT Pentax DSLR. So much more versatile than a bridge camera, with real controls that give real results.

Al Freeedman

How much money has your grandson saved for this purchase, or is grandfather buying it?

In a year or so he will be thinking of nothing else but girls. Photography will be out the window
Try KEH, they have some great used, like new cameras & lenses.

Captain Al

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

It's a great shame there are no budget Russian DSLR's around. Zenits were cheap, robust, and you could learn a lot of the basics from them. Mrs. N. had an old HALINA (not so very different) and to this day is able to recognise a good exposure better than me when not relying on all the electronics!