Digital photography for kids?

[ibogost]

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I want to get my 8 year-old a camera and some books and resources for Christmas this year. He recently inherited my wife's old iBook so I want to take advantage of the opportunity to have him learn about photography generally and digital photography in particular. I know there are reasons to start with film, like a Holga or whatnot, but I'm pretty set on digital for practical reasons. I also want this to be something we can do together, but that he can also do on his own.

 

My question for you folks is, what equipment and materials would you recommend? I'd like to get him a simple camera but one that he can really learn principles of exposure on. Obviously I'm not going to get him an M8 , but I also don't want to get just any old POS point-and-shoot.

 

I'd also like to get him three books, one on the history of photography, one on technique, and one with a collection of different examples from well-regarded photographers. He is young but reads at a very advanced level so I don't want kid-book crap in this case. Plus we can read these together.

 

Anybody done something like this? Any suggestions? Budget is undefined but, you know, he's a kid.

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[goodbokeh]

I would get him a camera he can have fun with, even in the rain. I got this for my daughter and she loves it. Comes in various colors: green, orange, blue, black and silver:

 

Olympus | Stylus 790 SW Digital Camera (Orange) | 226110 | B&H

[Marquinius]

I'm sure there is a second hand Canon 300d or Nikon D70 or something like that out there for a very reasonable price. I was just a little older (9 or 10) when my mother bought me a SLR and I still have fond memories of all the playing and shooting (B&W) pictures.

[MitchoIankov]

Hi Ian,

 

I am talking from my experience (10 years old daughter).

 

Kids do not understand yesterday. For them there is only now and tomorrow.

 

My daughter has been using an old 3.1 mega pixel Nikon for 2 years now. She takes pictures of her friends and lots of short video clips (no sound on that model). She has a mobile phone with a camera as well.

 

For today’s generation (with Nintendo touch screen, Wi-Fi, voice recognition) still pictures look like a really old and odd thing (black and white pictures are the dinosaurs).

 

Do not try to bore her with aperture, speed or even focal length. Today zoom lens is the norm and the ‘correct exposure’ comes from the on camera computer.

 

Let her have fun with the camera. When looking at the pictures together try to explain why are not that good as they can be (camera shake, speed, flash, exposure) and introduce she to digital editing.

 

Any modern digital camera will do. Small (pocket size) and shock proved will be used more often and longer.

[wintersway]

I gave my nine year old daughter my old D70 w/kit lens. She takes some awesome shots too!

[flavio]

Ian,

my 12 year old daughter after some years using digi Olympus and Fuji FinePix A310, just last saturday got a brand new Fuji FinePix Z (1 gb card) because... it is a lovely green! but she likes it and get some good pictures. i hope she'll keep up shooting as it seems right no. From her point of view the big display is a good thing to realize about what she is shooting, improving her photographic skill.

[sean_reid]

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I want to get my 8 year-old a camera and some books and resources for Christmas this year. He recently inherited my wife's old iBook so I want to take advantage of the opportunity to have him learn about photography generally and digital photography in particular. I know there are reasons to start with film, like a Holga or whatnot, but I'm pretty set on digital for practical reasons. I also want this to be something we can do together, but that he can also do on his own.

 

My question for you folks is, what equipment and materials would you recommend? I'd like to get him a simple camera but one that he can really learn principles of exposure on. Obviously I'm not going to get him an M8 , but I also don't want to get just any old POS point-and-shoot.

 

I'd also like to get him three books, one on the history of photography, one on technique, and one with a collection of different examples from well-regarded photographers. He is young but reads at a very advanced level so I don't want kid-book crap in this case. Plus we can read these together.

 

Anybody done something like this? Any suggestions? Budget is undefined but, you know, he's a kid.

 

My daughter started photographing when she was seven and at about ten she learned a lot about technical craft including aperture, shutter speeds, ISO, depth of field - all that. It didn't bore her and she was glad to have the control once she knew what it could do for her. Also, at ten, she began her own very extensive documentary project on the last working dairy farm in the town of Rockingham, Vermont. Of her own choice at about ten, she now works only in RAW and is getting better and better with C1.

 

Her current camera is a Canon G2 which has been great. The lens is fast (F/2.0) and it has manual controls for everything. It was also fairly inexpensive so if its lost or damaged its not the end of the world. She's 12 now and is starting to prefer the R-D1, however and will probably be using it more and more now.

 

If you do buy him an SLR later on, a K10D with older manual focus lenses could also be a great learning tool (a modern K1000).

 

I do like the suggestion above, however, of having rain seals on the camera if possible.

 

Henry Horenstein wrote a good introductory technical book on photography that might work well. Ansel Adams' series is probably still the best set of technical books yet done but they might be heavy going for even an advanced 8 year old.

 

As for examples, I'd suggest going to the library one afternoon and looking through monographs of work by different photographers. See what he likes and then maybe start with a monograph or two by that photographer. Collections of work by different photographers would probably teach him less than monographs can (esp. those that were prepared by the photographer him or herself).

 

Enjoy. My grandmother started me in photography at eight and my father introduced me to the darkroom at ten. I never looked back.

 

If at all possible, stay away from most of the magazines, many of the how-to books, etc. They mostly teach cliches that one later has to unlearn.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[sean_reid]

Hi Ian,

 

I am talking from my experience (10 years old daughter).

 

Kids do not understand yesterday. For them there is only now and tomorrow.

 

My daughter has been using an old 3.1 mega pixel Nikon for 2 years now. She takes pictures of her friends and lots of short video clips (no sound on that model). She has a mobile phone with a camera as well.

 

For today’s generation (with Nintendo touch screen, Wi-Fi, voice recognition) still pictures look like a really old and odd thing (black and white pictures are the dinosaurs).

 

Do not try to bore her with aperture, speed or even focal length. Today zoom lens is the norm and the ‘correct exposure’ comes from the on camera computer.

 

 

Not all kids are the same, despite the best efforts of television.

 

My daughter is fascinated with yesterday and has worked mostly in black and white since she was about ten. The technical aspects of photography don't bore her because she realizes that the camera is drawing pictures according to what she tells it to do.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[sean_reid]

These two are from the Fisher Farm project. Cheyenne was ten and working with the G2. ISO 400 is really more like an actual 800 and she normally left the lens set to its widest and got a full F/2.0 in those dark barns. Chey has had access to my collection of monographs since she was five and also looks at paintings in books and at the Met when we're in NYC. She understands form better than I did at 18.

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[ibogost]

Thanks Sean. I suspected you in particular might have some good suggestions. The G2 is an interesting idea. I think they are still readily available used in good condition. Does the "G" series continue with the G2's optical finder and manual controls?

[sean_reid]

Thanks Sean. I suspected you in particular might have some good suggestions. The G2 is an interesting idea. I think they are still readily available used in good condition. Does the "G" series continue with the G2's optical finder and manual controls?

 

Yes, they do. In fact, I'm testing the G9 right now. Its not a great optical finder but it does exist. You can probably find a good G2 for $150 or so.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[earleygallery]

I got my first camera when I was about 7 I think. A Polariod B&W model. What my father was thinking is not that different to giving a child a digital today - being able to see results (almost) immediately. Kids are pretty impatient most of the time!

 

I was able to see what I was doing right or wrong and of course could take another shot if it was wrong. I must dig out some of those snaps, they're in a box somewhere!

 

The big advantage with digital of course is that they can go through this process over and over. I had to be careful with my 8 shots per pack of expensive Polaroid film!

 

A teacher friend set her class a photo project and asked me to pop in and talk to the class to give them some hints/tips and show some of my photos. They were all really interested in the images, not the equipment.

 

For a first camera, therefore, I would keep it simple. Get your son to learn about seeing images first, he can move onto the finer details later. Sean's idea about using the library is a great one (I do this myself, I'm lucky that my local library stocks plenty of photographers books). Also take him to some photo exhibitions.

 

If you are looking at a s/h G2, also consider the Leica Digilux 1 or Panasonic LC5. They are very good cameras, sturdy, and can be auto everything or fully manual. They can be picked up for very good prices now. My godson grabbed my LC5 when we were at a rugby match and took this shot of a total stranger sitting along the row! (he's getting a digi camera for xmas too - godson not the stranger!).

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[earleygallery]

In fact there is a D1 for sale on this very forum!

 

Leica User Forum Classifieds - Leica Digilux 1 in box - Powered by PhotoPost Classifieds

[sean_reid]

Hi James,

 

I actually bought an LC-5 and a G2 so my daughter could try both. She preferred the Canon but the D1/LC5 is an interesting idea as well. What I don't like about the latter is the excessive smoothing, esp. at high ISO.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[sean_reid]

Also, I should have said above that I agree with the idea of putting emphasis on pictures, rather than learning the technical stuff. We don't have to look far <G> to see how easy it is for the interest in the gear, technique, etc. overwhelm the core task, which is making pictures. So unless he wants to learn all the controls and things, he could just work in program mode. I found that the best time to introduce technical things to children is when they need them, when there are certain ways they want a picture to look and the camera is not making the thing they want it to make. Then, one by one, they can learn technical things as those things are needed in order for the camera to do what they want it to.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[earleygallery]

Hi James,

 

I actually bought an LC-5 and a G2 so my daughter could try both. She preferred the Canon but the D1/LC5 is an interesting idea as well. What I don't like about the latter is the excessive smoothing, esp. at high ISO.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

 

Sean, yes that is a good point. I only ever use my LC5 at the lowest ISO, contrast and saturation settings, and highest quality settings, and TIFF rather than jpegs if I can help it. Its not the best choice for a 'print straight from camera jpeg' solution.

 

But, used in this way it produces very nice results, especially for portraits. I used it to shoot some photos at a party the other week - which I was paid for.

[graeme_clarke]

For my 8 year old grandson, who's asked Santa for a camera, I've just bought a Canon PSA 560IS - its got image stabilisation and an optical viewfinder as well as the screen, and it runs on AA rechargeable batteries. Cost new with the cashback offer was £90. 7.1mp. Amazing! We'll see how he gets on.

 

I saved up to buy my first camera when I was 9 - a Kodak Duoflex which took 12 x 2 1/4 inch on 620 film ( none of this 6x6 stuff in 1953). No controls whatsover - it was really a box camera made to look like a TLR. Cost second hand with a flashgun and case was £3.50. Given wages have risen about 30 times on average since then that's about £105 in present day money - and no films to buy and take to the chemists to be processed. That's progress.

 

Graeme

[ibogost]

For my 8 year old grandson, who's asked Santa for a camera, I've just bought a Canon PSA 560IS - its got image stabilisation and an optical viewfinder as well as the screen, and it runs on AA rechargeable batteries. Cost new with the cashback offer was £90. 7.1mp. Amazing! We'll see how he gets on.

 

Ah, I was wondering about the 560IS. Does it have the same manual setting abilities as the Powershot G? Even if he doesn't use them all at the start, I'd like to leave that opportunity open.

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[scott kirkpatrick]

Both my kids (10 and 7) are ready at any moment to grab one of my cameras to capture something that interests them. They have carte blanche with the GX-100, and have to ask nicely and let me supervise a bit with the M8 or E-1 and -3, but we have seen impressive observations captured on all of these. As Sean has said, technique comes up when there is a problem getting what they hoped to see, but they are not interested in it for its own sake. The great thing is that they both are excited to see "what something looks like when photographed." Their workflow generally extends from shooting to review on the back of the camera, and occasionally to a session of editing on the computer. They don't get to see really good prints because I don't print much. But they create artwork to the limits of their manual skills, which are impressive, and they naturally think to incorporate photographs in other constructions. They love video. A camera which cannot do video seems limited to them. They get project exposure to editing video in their schools now.

 

I think your involvement at the right level, and help in exposing them to the images by others are more important than the specific tools you choose.

 

scott

[ibogost]

This chap is £ years old. His main Questions are :-

1 Where's the button?

2 Where's the picture on the back?

 

I've appreciated the earnest responses to my question, but I'm not really sure how to respond to the comments like this in this thread. Are they meant to be serious? Wry and ironic? I just find them offensive.

 

This year, my eight year old son performed in the local professional Shakespeare company's production of Richard III. He also performed in his ballet school's production of The Nutcracker. He competed in the Math Olympiad and he scored high marks in his Latin and Greek courses.

 

You really think he can't understand the basics of exposure? Or the relationships between the material constraints of photography and its aesthetic output? Didn't all of us start somewhere, sometime?