jccash Loc: Longwood, Florida

Have him join UHH. Best camera forum out there. We could use some younger people. LOL

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Time for old fogies and their DSLRs to read about teens
https://www.surfnetparents.com/599/best-digital-cameras-for-teens/

jzehaz Loc: Pleasantville, NY

Your link is over 9 years old - Adorama and DPR have newer lists for suggested "best" cameras for teenagers.
Hundreds of opinions...

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Holy CRAP, that was rude and uncalled for.

Dennis

jt54 Loc: South East TN

I bought my daughter a Nikon D5500 for her 15th birthday. She loves it and had learned many of the cameras functions well enough to explain them to the mother of one of her friends. One thing I did, as we both got our cameras at the same time, was to download a copy of Moose Winans cheat sheets specific to our cameras. This has shown us how to set up for different circumstances. By doing this we have learned to set up many of our shots by ourselves. This cameras is very user friendly. So, don't be afraid to go this way. Kids will surprise you.

Boris Ekner Loc: From Sweden, living in Guatemala

Here's my answer to a similar question in another thread.

Here's what I did:
-Budget: no more than $500. (This was the most important criteria I had.)
-Searched for $500 DSLR's on eBay & Amazon in order to understand what I might get.
-Found some favorite models that I compared side by side at cameradecision.com. I refused to have any brand preferences.
-I read plenty of reviews on the cameras I found interesting.

My priorities were; very good professional reviews, the highest pixel count possible, RAW format option, wifi, built in GPS, fair prices & f/values on future lenses.

Nikon D5300 turned out to be the final option. With my personal preferences, and budget, it was by far the best option. Price paid: $449 on eBay, including an 18-55mm lens, plus some other (now useless)-stuff in the bundle.

I've had the camera since January 2017, and I have no regrets on my purchase. On the contrary, I'm very happy with what I got for the money spent.

Later I've bought a 55-200mm(used) and a 35mm(used) lenses. A better speed light/flash, a good tripod, petal lens hoods, third party battery grip, extra batteries, twin charger, better/faster memory card, and some other stuff. All from eBay who time after time confirms to have the best prices.

Your best option is probably not my best, and vice versa. It is not about the camera as much as it is about the photographer. Just as a good stove and pan isn't enough to cook you a good dinner, right?

In order to update my knowledge I started off with reading Nikon D5300 For Dummies as well as Stunning Digital Photography by Tony Northrup. The third book was Secrets To The Nikon Autofocus System by Steve Perry, which is my favorite so far. It was all well invested pennies. At the moment I’m reading Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. As knowledge has no weight it is easy to carry...

http://backcountrygallery.com/secrets-nikon-autofocus-system/

Best of luck on your pursuit of your best camera. ...and don't rush it to get one. Take your time, i.e. weeks, to learn about your options and what you favor.

Examples of pictures I've shot are found under my name at 500px.com as well as at Instagram.com. 

500px.com/borisekner/galleries

instagram.com/borisekner

A very informative D5300 Review:
https://sleeklens.com/nikon-d5300-review/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly-blog&substat=blog

PS
I had the same procedure when I looked for, and bought, my sons camera. (He turned 6 at the end of July) The budget was no more than $80, had to be fully automatic, as well as having manual features to grow with as he gets older and if his photo interest persists. Best option: a used Fujifilm Finepix S8600 (it's a bridge camera), for $76 on eBay. 
And there are instructive videos on his camera on YouTube for him to watch later.

PPS
Here’s a different opinion on this issue.
https://petapixel.com/2017/03/24/battle-micro-43-camera-outsold-full-frame-dslr/

---

With courtesy of Jim Stascavage:

"For anyone wondering how big a crop sensor image can go, here is a photo I took with a D7200 a few years ago that makes up a 12'x16' [3.6x4.9 m] wall in our office break room."

-

He shot the picture from another water vessel, while it was moving!

FYI
All Nikon's with cropped 24MP sensors has the same sensor as Jim's D7200.

jccash Loc: Longwood, Florida

I've been thinking about this subject.Why not a Nikon D300s or 300. that is a great camera that many pros used for years. It's in the $500 budget range and your grandkid can learn to shoot great photos with this camera.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/nikon-d300s-/272848764596?hash=item3f870dbeb4:g:RAUAAOSwnSxZghzD
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NIKON-D300-BODY-w-ORIGINAL-BOX-ACCESSORIES-LOOKS-GOOD-WORKS-GREAT-NICE-NIKON-/192306304213?hash=item2cc65954d5:g:Y5QAAOSw0bJZujNv

But I agree the Nikon D5300 is a good deal as well. Had a friend who decided to take photos of his daughter high school graduation and instead of paying a professional decided to buy a Nikon camera and after research he went with the D5300 and the pictures turned out fantastic...

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Let him go mirrorless. But have him look at Fujifilm, Olympus, and Panasonic. They and Sony make the best mirrorless gear.

Consider used gear from KEH, Cameta Camera, B&H, or Adorama.

A cheap Nikon or Canon dSLR kit may be okay if budget is important. But it isn't where the future is headed.

RRS Loc: Not sure

You know what Jerry, if that someone wants to pay for whatever they put in my cart that's fine, if not I'll decide what goes into the cart! I've been reading all of this and I have to ask, where are his mom and dad? I think it's a bunch of crap, "give him what he wants" that's the problem with this world today. If he wanted to learn to drive and I wanted to give him an older car that ran and all he wanted was a BMW, then he could walk. My 12 year old grandson has been going to Yellowstone with us for years, he has gone 5 times now. His interest for photography grew with him looking at the prints we made from each trip. I outfitted him with a Canon 7D with an 18-135 mm kit lens, things we had on hand, he shot 950 shots this June with us. He cuts our grass and then spends time with me learning Canon's DPP and also PS. I made him edit his work when we came home. He switched lenses with my wife and used her 300mm f/2.8 with a 1.4 shooting off a bean bag because he couldn't hold the camera steady enough to get what he wanted. Do you know how great it is to hear a 12 year kid after his first shot in the morning say "darn, need to open up 2/3 of a stop, too dark". Yes he does all of his own settings and he does not use "P" at all.Well he also went out and shot the Thunder Birds and only shot 650 shots but he also did all the editing on those too. The other thing that no one has mentioned is that besides the camera that a computer with the right software is a needed item if someone is really going to learn. I bought my first camera at a yard sale for $5.00 and went on from there, maybe this young man should save some money to offset whatever his grand father is able to spend. I don't know either of them or the situation so this is only my opinion, maybe his mom and dad can't afford to help. Glad that his grand father has an interest in him.

russchristopher

Unless your grandson is a savant already showing a precocious interest in photography, I would recommend a sophisticated P&S, like the Sony DSC-HX80, that sells for less than half the price of an entry level DSLR, has many features in common with the DSLR, and creates very professional photographic effects. And it does not require expensive ad ons. The DSLR world is the opening of a deep money pit. Additional lenses, filter kits, mountable flashes, and after market viewfinders can increase the cost of the camera from a basic $500 body to a $5000 camera bag full
of options. Unless you have an Ansel Adams there, I think the DSLR is an excessive indulgence for a 14 YO. Or, if he wants it bad enough, give him some seed money and let him wash some cars and mow some lawns to earn the rest.

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

Like the D850?

You must be a lot older than you look, given that you're here with us old folks! 🤔

ferdhart

Buy him a Sony A 6500 and a Zeiss Biogon 2.8/25mm ZM lens with a Novoflex Leica to Sony adapter. Because of his age and presumed computer literacy he will quickly learn the relationships between aperture, speed and ISO. He can skip the film experience. He can learn to be deliberate in composition and focus. He can add other Zeiss MF lenses and use them with the same adapter and eventually, if his interest continues, move up to a full-frame mirrorless Sony.

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

Even an A6000 + kit lens will get the young fellow off to a good start for less money, until it's clear this is not a temporary infatuation.

OviedoPhotos

Has he taken an art class or two? Since photography is "art with light" this would help him. My uncle gave me a brownie camera, which I still have, in the late 60's along with taking me to an art class. The class helped me to compose the photos better. Back then this was in days of 15 exposure rolls of 126. Although one can chimp with digital it still pays to compose the shot.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

I I were interested in photography as a youth and had researched what I wanted and some old worthless fart thought I should have some other POC just because they thought they knew better I would hate it.