Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/08/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]<<help your nephew understand the principles and possibilities offered by the various combination of settings such as focus, aperture, shutter speed, focal length.>> Remember, the dear boy is only 10. At that age, instant gratification, not all the technical numbers and dials, is what is appealing. I'd get him an Olympus Stylus, 25 rolls of film with developing and some photo albums. That will encourage him to shoot. As the prints come back from the lab, sit down with him, put the pics in albums and talk about what worked and what didn't. He'll learn far more this way than handing him a camera with buttons and dials that make no sense. This is the system I used with my own daughter (she's 17) starting when she was 7. Now she uses her own Canon Rebel 2000 and every now and again picks up my M6...when she can wrestle it from me. She just came back from Spain with 300+ images that were delightful. She's figured out the buttons and dials as she's moved up the line from point and shoot to SLR. It all takes time. Don't rush it. For a kid, the joy is in the pictures, not the tools. Lea JR Geoffrion wrote: > >My nephew recently celebrated his tenth birthday and seemed interested in > >taking pictures using my R8. Does anyone have a suggestion regarding a > >camera that might be a good 1st camera for him? Are there any good > >introductory books for a person that age? > > Despite what others have recommended, I would STRONGLY recommend and old > manual focus mechanical camera (like a Minolta SRT-101 or SRT-202, or a > Nikon FM or FM2). Although not as immediately gratifying as a digital > camera, it will help your nephew understand the principles and possibilities > offered by the various combination of settings such as focus, aperture, > shutter speed, focal length. > > In addition, you probably can get these camera relatively cheap and they are > robust (remember, he's only 10). > > Just my $0.02. > > Warm regards, > > Jean-René (JR) Geoffrion, PEng, CMC, MBA > Chicago, IL - -- Lea Murphy Whiny Dog Press 816-333-9111 Home: http://www.whinydogpress.com Newest: http://www.whinydogpress.com/new.html