Fwd: [Leica] WTB - Starter Camera for 12 yr old

[alal at duke.poly.edu (A. Lal)]

Since this thread is still going strong, here's my $ 200 worth of input.

I was in exactly the same position when my son turned 12 last year. A
short session at B&H confirmed my opinion that the Minolta Maxxum 5 was
the very best, except for AF speed, of the entry level bodies from any
of the big 4 makers. With a consumer grade 28-80 lens and a set of
batteries it costs $ 200 a remarkable price considering what you get. It
is simple enough not to turn off a rank beginner, yet is sufficiently
sophisticated to be used by an advanced user. Look at the prices of used
Pentax K 1000s, Nikkormats, Canon TX, FTbs etc, and you will see that it
makes no sense to buy  used. Do you really want to get a beginner a an
'iffy' camera just to save a few dollars. And, unless my 12 year old and
his friends are atypical, DON'T even THINK of giving the birthday boy a
well used camera. 

_________________________________________________________________ 

-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+alal=duke.poly.edu@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+alal=duke.poly.edu@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
feli
Sent: 07 January, 2005 16:42
To: Leica Users Group; leica users group
Subject: Re: Fwd: [Leica] WTB - Starter Camera for 12 yr old


Get the kid a nice mechanical Nikon with a 2/50.
That way when they lose interest, after a few weeks, YOU
can pocket it. And if they stick with it and become rich and famous you
mooch off of them later on. Either way YOU win!
;-)

feli


-----Original Message-----
From: Neal Friedenthal <neal@nairobisafari.com>
Sent: Jan 7, 2005 7:03 AM
To: leica users group <lug@leica-users.org>
Subject: Fwd: [Leica] WTB - Starter Camera for 12 yr old


>A friend of mine has a kid just getting into photography.  They want to

>get an manual SLR camera with a 50 mm lens.
> 
>I was thinking of a Pentax ME Super, MX, Spotmatic or K1000, or an 
>equivalent camera from oly, canon or Nikon.
> 
>If you've got one you'd like to part with let me know.  Their budget is

>around $100, but after he told me the tale of the $1000 drum set that 
>is no longer used, I understand why he is limiting his initial 
>investment.

Check out  http://www.kievcamera.com/cameras.php?cat=3  the Kiev 19M,
Nikon AI mount, TTL meter, and best of all only $99.



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