[rrstuff]

Maybe an olympus E-Pm1? Very light and inexpensive, you can get a 14-42 zoom, or a 17mm F2.8 and an optical viewfinder. Kenmore camera just sold an E-Pm1 with a lens for $130.

[LFLee]

Seems expensive to feed.

The Photography of 4-Year-Old Hawkeye Huey, Son of Nat Geo Photographer Aaron Huey

[surfar]

Original Q, a miniature DSLR!....wish I had that tech when I started...beats a Kodak box brownie!

[jtkratzer]

The Photography of 4-Year-Old Hawkeye Huey, Son of Nat Geo Photographer Aaron Huey

Interesting read and I agree with everything in the article, especially the bonding part. Between photography and archery, those are two things my children see me do a lot. I agree with the film part. I'm moving away from digital myself. I was just in Morocco and only used the digital camera one evening when we went out late and I had to bump the ISO to 12,800. My 400 speed film set at 200 wasn't going to cut it. Being something other than a professional photographer of that guy's caliber, maybe income is a different level than mine, but how do you teach a kid to make the shots count? I want her to be less bound by a financial limitation at this point and enjoy the process of looking through a lens and making images. I only briefly searched for the model after your first suggestion, but it looks like $15+ for every 20 shots. Maybe there's a bulk option or a way to get the cost down, but I love the idea, like film, that there is a somewhat permanent product, not a digital file. Maybe it's also a way to start understanding money and budget.

[Ttedders]

My son used my K100D Super when he was about that same age. He took some wonderful photos and enjoyed using the camera. I still have it and it works like new. If you haven't found anything, I may be interested in selling it.

[photoptimist]

Interesting read and I agree with everything in the article, especially the bonding part. Between photography and archery, those are two things my children see me do a lot. I agree with the film part. I'm moving away from digital myself. I was just in Morocco and only used the digital camera one evening when we went out late and I had to bump the ISO to 12,800. My 400 speed film set at 200 wasn't going to cut it. Being something other than a professional photographer of that guy's caliber, maybe income is a different level than mine, but how do you teach a kid to make the shots count? I want her to be less bound by a financial limitation at this point and enjoy the process of looking through a lens and making images. I only briefly searched for the model after your first suggestion, but it looks like $15+ for every 20 shots. Maybe there's a bulk option or a way to get the cost down, but I love the idea, like film, that there is a somewhat permanent product, not a digital file. Maybe it's also a way to start understanding money and budget.

How do you teach a kid to make the shots count?

Very gradually! Imagine trying to teach her basketball but limiting her to only 36 shots per week. I doubt she'd learn basketball.

The key to learning anything is lots and lots of practice. But it's not just about randomly shooting everything. Instead there's the key element of feedback -- looking at each picture and thinking about what's good, what's not so good, what can be better, and what might happen if one changed the aperture, shutter speed, angle of the camera, or took the picture in the morning instead of the evening, etc.

The cool thing about digital is the ability to look at the picture immediately and get that feedback immediately. Imagine trying to teach her basketball but not telling her if the ball went in until the following week. With digital, the feedback can be instantaneous. One can take 3 different shots at different apertures, see the results and let her explore the difference that DoF makes. Or she can experiment with shutter speed play with the shutter speed and see how things blur or are halted. So much of photography is learning how to the world through the camera's eye.

Let her have fun but also prime her for looking at the images with an eye toward shots that count.

[jtkratzer]

How do you teach a kid to make the shots count?

Very gradually! Imagine trying to teach her basketball but limiting her to only 36 shots per week. I doubt she'd learn basketball.

The key to learning anything is lots and lots of practice. But it's not just about randomly shooting everything. Instead there's the key element of feedback -- looking at each picture and thinking about what's good, what's not so good, what can be better, and what might happen if one changed the aperture, shutter speed, angle of the camera, or took the picture in the morning instead of the evening, etc.

The cool thing about digital is the ability to look at the picture immediately and get that feedback immediately. Imagine trying to teach her basketball but not telling her if the ball went in until the following week. With digital, the feedback can be instantaneous. One can take 3 different shots at different apertures, see the results and let her explore the difference that DoF makes. Or she can experiment with shutter speed play with the shutter speed and see how things blur or are halted. So much of photography is learning how to the world through the camera's eye.

Let her have fun but also prime her for looking at the images with an eye toward shots that count.

This was my thought with digital vs film, but the instant film gives immediate feedback, but little to no instruction on how a camera works or how to interact with how the photo turns out. I think one way to make that engagement happen and let her talk about what she sees is using a small memory card that fills up before there are hundreds of images. I just want it to be fun. I'm not so concerned with defining good or judging (I'm not exactly qualified), but want her to just enjoy it and know that part of art is making what you like. There are plenty of other opportunities to be told what's right/correct vs wrong. If we're spending time together and she enjoys it, that's all that matters.

[AstroDave]

Another line of cameras to consider: the Canon G series. I have a G15 and it takes absolutely wonderful pictures.

When we travel, I take my K1 and my wife uses the Canon. It is usually in P mode - you pretty much point and shoot. She doesn't want to fuss with aperture or shutter speed (although she is a Co-I on a Hubble Space Telescope camera!). But, if you want to, you can set all the camera parameters: ISO, T, A, exposure compensation or even go complete manual. It's also nice and compact and light weight.

I worry about the exposure details on the K1, but her artistic eye is much better than mine, so we both get a lot of keeper shots.

I also like the Q series idea. I have a Q7 and your daughter could have a lot of fun learning with one of those.

[gm4life]

Maybe a used Q with a lens or two? I have taken several great photos on my QS1 and the little 1/1.7 sensor. Even the orginal Q with the 1/2.3 sensor and a Q mount lens or two would give her a good little kit and be easy for a youngster to hold... Or the waterproof Panasonic Lumix idea they can be had new for 150 and take decent photos and are waterproof, but not kid proof. Might not be a bad idea if you want her to just learn do how to compose images etc.

[caliscouser]

Yep, the Q, tiny, fun, encourages creativity more than any camera I have ever used. Can be run in manual mode and do all the big boy stuff too down the road.

[leekil]

I first though that a 7-year-old doesn't need a DSLR, but you said she was already using manual metering -- nice.

I suggest a *istDS or one of the other *ist DSLRs, since they are pretty light. I suggest a DA 40, because it's small & light, but depending on how she changes the aperture, you might want an aperture ring? If you do, maybe an A or FA 50 1.7, which is also kind of small. Or a DA 35, which might have a bigger ring to grip for manual focus, but no aperture ring.

[link81]

My 9 year old uses an old *ist DS. With a kit lens and an old film lens.

[jbrill]

My daughter is about a year older than the OP's daughter. She's had a waterproof/shockproof P&S and an Instax mini 25 for a couple of years now.

About two weeks ago, I let her pick from the following bodies: K-01, K-5, and K-5iis. The K-5 and K-5iis were literally on the way out the door.

She chose the K-01 because it was easier for her to hold. The brick shape works in her favor in this regard and is not as heavy as the other two bodies. She is comfortable with using live view from her P&S. There are a number of manual and auto-focus lenses available to her. She described the DA 40mm f2.8 XS as "cute". The manual Zenitar-K2 50mm f2 may work well for small hands due to its size and shape (and it is inexpensive in case it suffers an untimely demise). Focus peaking should be a help with manual lenses. I am not sure how easy it will be for her to hold the K-01 with one hand while manually focusing a lens with the other hand due to the lack of a viewfinder (i.e., another point of contact for stability). I have used the Hoodman custom finder on the K-01 successfully when using manual focus lenses although it becomes more unwieldy and less portable. I am not sure how well it would work for a child. It is something she can try eventually.

She has not used it in earnest yet, so time will tell if it is a good choice.

[LFLee]

Interesting read and I agree with everything in the article, especially the bonding part. Between photography and archery, those are two things my children see me do a lot. I agree with the film part. I'm moving away from digital myself. I was just in Morocco and only used the digital camera one evening when we went out late and I had to bump the ISO to 12,800. My 400 speed film set at 200 wasn't going to cut it. Being something other than a professional photographer of that guy's caliber, maybe income is a different level than mine, but how do you teach a kid to make the shots count? I want her to be less bound by a financial limitation at this point and enjoy the process of looking through a lens and making images. I only briefly searched for the model after your first suggestion, but it looks like $15+ for every 20 shots. Maybe there's a bulk option or a way to get the cost down, but I love the idea, like film, that there is a somewhat permanent product, not a digital file. Maybe it's also a way to start understanding money and budget.

if you never shoot film yourself then is not easy to convince you of the idea.
b4 digital, how do people shoot film? instant film is a much faster learning tool than shooting roll film, I guess?
further, you can ask your kid to wash the car and reward them with instax film...

anyway, just an idea.

[jtkratzer]

My daughter is about a year older than the OP's daughter. She's had a waterproof/shockproof P&S and an Instax mini 25 for a couple of years now.

About two weeks ago, I let her pick from the following bodies: K-01, K-5, and K-5iis. The K-5 and K-5iis were literally on the way out the door.

She chose the K-01 because it was easier for her to hold. The brick shape works in her favor in this regard and is not as heavy as the other two bodies. She is comfortable with using live view from her P&S. There are a number of manual and auto-focus lenses available to her. She described the DA 40mm f2.8 XS as "cute". The manual Zenitar-K2 50mm f2 may work well for small hands due to its size and shape (and it is inexpensive in case it suffers an untimely demise). Focus peaking should be a help with manual lenses. I am not sure how easy it will be for her to hold the K-01 with one hand while manually focusing a lens with the other hand due to the lack of a viewfinder (i.e., another point of contact for stability). I have used the Hoodman custom finder on the K-01 successfully when using manual focus lenses although it becomes more unwieldy and less portable. I am not sure how well it would work for a child. It is something she can try eventually.

She has not used it in earnest yet, so time will tell if it is a good choice.

Thanks for the feedback. My daughter has been running around with a point and shoot since the fall of 2012. She was about 2 1/2. The B&W was one of her first outings with the camera and she loves going on this hike and always wants to bring the camera. At the time, she pronounced it "cramra." The other two are cell phone snaps from yesterday.


Shot taken with the ME Super my inlaws bought to take baby pictures of my wife in the early 80s. Looking forward to having my daughter use her grandparents' camera and seeing the images from it.