Which camera for a 15 year old newbie

My wife and I want to buy at least a 3 mp digital camera for our new
15 year old daughter (we will adopt her hopefully). She will visit us
soon and she is very creative and really interested in digital
photography. She needs something small she can carry around easily
and something somewhat simple though she is a bright girl and will
figure it all out in short order. I am looking for something in the
$200-$300 range or slightly more if it will get her something special.
I have a canon S9000 printer so hopefully she will also be able to
print some of her pictures during her visit.

What would you recommend since the technology has changed so much
since I bought my last digital camera.

 

Canon A95 is quite a good candidate ?
You will be amazed even my 8y.o cousin can do with modern gadgets these day


=bob=

 

I would recommend a good P&S camera to start with. If she is already
knowledgeable, then something like the Kodak DX7590 would be great. If
she is just getting started, the DX7440 would do well. These aea bit
above the price you mentioned, but you can probably find the earlier
models (DX6440 and DX6490) within reach of those prices. Many other
companies make comparable cameras in the same price and feature
categories, but Kodak does well in the ease of use area, and support is
generally good.

 

I was in Wal-Mart the other day and was amazed at what they had in your
price range, and the cameras were very compact and most were name-brands
we've all heard of. Look for something with at least a 3x optical zoom.
Optical zoom is much sharper than digital zoom. Some cameras combine both,
so lean towards the "optical" number. For example, a camera may claim 6x
zoom, while it's a 3x optical combined with a 2x digital zoom. Another 6x
camera may be 2x optical and 3x digital.

Also, don't go too small. They are a bit hard to handle and the LCD screens
are very small. Well, for us old folks, anyway.

 

Canon A85 or A95.

 

I just got one for my son for his 4th birthday. It's amazing, in a few
minutes he was able to operate it quite well. Works the zoom, takes
pictures, switches it to playback and show me all the pictures he took. He
grudgingly let Grandma try it out, and chatised her for getting her fingers
too close to the lens He'd sleep with it if I'd let him.

 

You may have created a monster. Grin.
I usually let one of my great nieces use my camera at family
gettogethers as she can get pictures of the little kids I wouldn't be
able to manage (can't crawl under the tables, etc.) to get. It's
amazing how good the kid is at taking well composed pictures. I think
some people are just 'naturals'.

 

My 18 month old daughter already knows she can see pictures of herself after I
take them with my Nikon D70. She doesn't know how to take a picture yet, but
shes worked out that I press buttons. The D70 is a bit heavy for her currently.

She'll get to play with my Kodak DX6490 in 6 months max.

 

Canon S1 IS for its image stabilisation and moives?

David

 

Canon A95.

Good battery life, good display and Very decent image quality...also
flexibility for control of image.
AA Batteries (buy her a couple sets of NiMh batteries with a charger and
she's all set--Make sure you don't let her settle for normal Alkalines
because they do NOT work well, and cost $$).

 

You may get some pictures with interesting perspectives...

 

Mark²,
can't add much to what you said because I think you hit all of
the most important points. The swivel LCD is great too because it
helps frame shots when the camera is held down low or above people's
heads in a crowd, above a fence or etc....

My 18 year old nephew purchased an A95 primarily on my
recommendation & he is very pleased with it. With Digital cameras,
computers or any new technology device, the sooner you get children
into it, the easier it is for them to learn it. This is true about
learning a 2nd language too, start them as young as possible & they
will absorb it like a sponge.

The A95 is a great camera & I hope Canon does not covert it's
successor to SD flash memory as they seem to be doing with most of
their P&S line. Some of us like me, like the option to use the same
CF cards that we have in our DSLR's, in our P&S cameras as well.

Anytime I photography an big event, I almost always give a P&S
camera to very young person to take pictures. They love it & they
often take hundreds & I am always amazed at how well many come out. A
kid with a camera, is hard to say no to & people tend to light up
around them. The lower & often unique camera angles are often
incredible. Over the years I have never sold a digital camera but I
have given them away to family members or friends, especially children
& they love them & often get better pictures than I do.

Maybe says a lot about how bad I am or hopefully just how good
they are at seeing the world from a totally different/new respective.
Either way, it's a win-win & I love seeing their pictures.

A95 it difficult to beat for the money & it also is a feature
rich camera "if" more control is desired. Lastly, yes I too own an
A95 camera & use it for many things, primarily when I want or need to
travel light (without my DSLR gear). The "C"ustom mode is great for
pre-setting the camera focus & other settings for quick candid shots,
no focus delays or possibility of error.

Respectfully, DHB
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President,
or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong,
is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable
to the American public."--Theodore Roosevelt, May 7, 1918

 

Cute, but you gotta teach him how to hold the camera. Grin.