Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2013/12/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Larry, Thanks. Cheers Jayanand On Thu, Dec 12, 2013 at 8:41 AM, <lrzeitlin at aol.com> wrote: > Jayanand's question about the most suitable camera to give to a young child > deserves a better answer than we Luggers gave. The best way to learn > photography is to take pictures. A lot of pictures. Forget about the old > cameras in your drawer, even the Leicas. Too much prior knowledge is > required about the mechanics of photography to make it a good learning > tool. > Loading the film, setting the exposure and focusing are all challenges. In > fact forget about any camera using film. For a child a day's delay between > clicking the shutter and seeing the picture is intolerable. I have five > grandchildren, all 12 or under and their span of attention is measured in > minutes rather than days. > > The best camera I have found for a young child is a cheap digital P&S. I > favor the Canon brand but any other will do. Many models are available > using > AA batteries, a real convenience, and costing less than 100 USD. Optical > viewfinders are favored by children. Sad to say these have almost vanished > from the more expensive P&S cameras intended for adults. Children's eyes > can > tolerate the small peepholes. > > Kids snap a lot of pictures and can see the results immediately on the > digital screen. This is important. Every few days an adult can extract the > memory card and load the pictures on a computer to view them on a big > screen. > > Finally, kids will drop cameras or find other imaginative ways to ruin > them. > The low cost of a basic P&S camera makes replacement tolerable. A good > camera alternative is a later model iPod Touch. The iPod camera is actually > better than the early Leica Digiflex. But even the cheapest iPod is a good > deal more expensive than a P&S. > > <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Kid_s+camera.jpg.html> > > Larry Z > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information