Re: [Leica] Kids' cameras - a good rangefinder for kids

[Mark Walberg <Walberg@simmons.swmed.edu>]

>.....My son is angling for a
>"real RF" and I think he's going to wind up with a Canon 7 with my
>thread mount f1.2 on it.  While not a Leica, it's still high quality
>stuff (well, maybe not the lens) and pretty affordable and usable,
>particularly with the built in meter.....

  Well, in our family, I use the Canon 7 myself.

  I think the perfect starter camera for a kid is one with both manual and
shutter priority modes.  Something along the lines of the Canonet, Konica
auto S2, etc.  Even better if it has a selenium meter (no batteries).  The
shutter priority mode lets them get the reinforcement of getting properly
exposed pictures at the beginning while they are just learning the zillion
other things about how a camera works.  After they learn how to focus, how
the shutter release works, and after they get some impression of how the
viewfinder image translates into a photograph, THEN they can learn about
exposure. They will tell you when the are ready to learn exposure -"Dad,
what do these numbers mean?"

The well exposed pics at the beginning keeps their interest up.

   After looking for a good quality rangefinder for my 5 year old son that
he could use and take care of for his own, I found what I think is a
perfect rangefinder for a kid - a Fujica Auto-M (got one for $9 at KEH).
This is a solid metal camera that won't break easily.  It has a bright
contrasty RF patch.  The RF base length is much longer than a Canonet (but
the magnification is a bit less).  They increased the baselength by putting
the rewind crank on the side instead of the top.  The lens is very, very
good.
   It can be used as a fully manual camera.  It also has a selenium meter
and an interesting shutter priority mode.  The camera tries to use the set
speed.  However, if you use a speed too fast for the max aperture of the
lens, it slows the speed down so that you still get a picture with the lens
wide open.

  Now he is six, and can use the camera without help, and he knows how it
works.  He takes good care of it, keeps the lens cap on it when not using
it, remembers to take the cap off to take pictures (and reminds me to take
mine off soometimes), and doesn't lose the lens cap.

  The shutter priority mode helped him learn a lot about using the camera,
and rewarded him with pictures he liked - and some that I like a lot, too.
Now that he is comfortable using the camera, he is learning to set exposure
manually, and he has a lot of fun learning.  We had a lot of pictures of
the TV and pictures of pictures hanging on the wall at first.  Now, he gets
some interesting shots.  He really loves it when I turn the kid's bathroom
into a darkroom.

  After he's got exposure down with the Fujica Auto-M, I'll teach him how
to use the Konica IIIM, Canon 7, the Rolleiflex, the Nikon F2, the Crown
Graphic and Graphic view, and the pinhole cameras.
- -Mark Walberg