[Leica] Leaner's camera

[lrzeitlin at aol.com]

To my mind the best learner camera for a fledgling photographer is a Barnack IIIC Leica, and a trio of good lenses, probably a 35mm Elmar or Canon, a 50mm Elmar or Summitar and a 100 mm f3.5 Canon. Everything is manual. You must learn about exposure, focus, depth of field, and everything else. Of course the camera uses film so you probably would need to know about film processing as well. With this kit you could take pictures rivaling almost anything on the LUG.

Of course if the classroom requirement is digital then I second Jayanand’s suggestion to go with an Olympus 4/3 format camera. EPL-1s sell for as little as $150 USD and can be equipped with just about any lens if a cheap Chinese adaptor is used. On my LUG gallery I show just such a camera with a variety of attached lenses. Most came from photo store scrap boxes and were CHEAP.
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Various+lenses+on+EPL-1/

Interestingly, Kodak engineers (remember them?) told me that there was no apparent difference in image quality between Micro 4/3 and APS-C. Manufacturers were hesitant to use the Micro 4/3 format because it meant signing up for the whole package, lens mount, sensor lens distances, etc. Only Olympus, Panasonic, and Leica seemed willing to be participants.

Finally, if your 15 year old is like my granddaughter, whatever you suggest will be wrong. Just let her choose her own camera with only a bit of gentle guidance on your part.

Larry Z