Camera for my daughter

[marcr1230]

I'm at it again - daughter has requested a camera (digital) for an exciting upcoming year abroad.

here are some options

1. Pentax K-30, weather proof, takes AA batteries in a pinch, great reviews, simple operation, APS-C sensor - cons - 2 years old
2. Olympus E-M10 - nice size , 16 mp, M43, EFV - cons: might be too complicated, EVF may lag a little.
3. Canon T5i - can't go too far wrong here
4. Nikon D3300 - new, small

since this is not for me - need to separate my wants from a casual user.

ideally the camera would have wifi, gps, be reasonably small, good quality build , weather proof is nice to have.

doesn't seem like you can have all these for a price of $800 though.

personally I would go with the Pentax - although it's 2 years from initial announcement. I hate to buy things and have them discontinued the next week.

I'd get the body and zoom - 24-80 35mm equiv

what's the crowd sourced answer this year ?

 

[marcr1230]

here's last year's thread , never got a camera then:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131257

consensus was to take her to a store to handle the cameras

unfortunately even in Chicago, there aren't many/any places with a lot of stock

Best Buy, Costco, maybe. Central Camera never has anything I want in stock, much less 4 models to choose from. Calumet just died

not sure if Ritz/Wolf exists anymore

 

[mfogiel]

I would recommend an Iphone or Ipad mini - this way she can SEE the image from a certain distance, and learn the composition, plus it is easy to share the images afterwards. A DSLR for a kid will result in garbled machine gunning.

 

[GaryLH]

Maybe a Panasonic gm1 or Sony rx100 or Fuji x100/s or Sony rx10

The first two are pretty small but no evf.
The Fuji x100 can be found used at very good prices vs the x100s.
Sony rx10 has built in 24-100 (I think) constant f2.8 lens and uses same sensor as the rx100 mk2.

Of the ones u mentioned, I think the d3300 is about right, but the kit lens does not start at 24 fov.

As for the em10.. Menus are a bit complicated for a new user, but once setup, should be ok. The 12-50 Olympus zoom is only ok.

Gary

 

[Out to Lunch]

To stay around your $800 budget, I'd go for a second-hand Fuji X-100. Install the firmware and you'll have an excellent portable, light weight high class travel camera.

 

[j.scooter]

To stay around your $800 budget, I'd go for a second-hand Fuji X-100. Install the firmware and you'll have an excellent portable, light weight high class travel camera.

+1 Recently bought an x100 for my teenaged daughter. She absolutely loves it, takes it with her everywhere she goes and her friends think it is cool 🙂

 

[nikon_sam]

Why not a phone with a very nice camera in it...most kids carry them everywhere...

 

[______]

I recently went through the same exercise for my son. My recommendation was the Fuji X100s, but after going to the camera store with him, letting him handle a wide selection of cameras, and listening to his preferences, we went with the Sony RX100 II. I think he made a great choice, and I know he is happy with it. I guess I'll just have to get the X100s for myself.

 

[marcr1230]

Best Buy had nikon d3300 and canon T5i
The clerk explained the differences:
Nikon is like PC, Canon is like Mac
That's pretty much it

 

[danielsterno]

FYI- I have a 15 year old and got her a Nikon 3100 a few years a go and its a good first camera and holds it own, I guess the 3300 is the latest upgrade- good to learn on for your daughter- came with the kit zoom….. good luck-D.

 

[maggieo]

To stay around your $800 budget, I'd go for a second-hand Fuji X-100. Install the firmware and you'll have an excellent portable, light weight high class travel camera.

+1 Recently bought an x100 for my teenaged daughter. She absolutely loves it, takes it with her everywhere she goes and her friends think it is cool 🙂

I'll third that idea! Or, if she needs a zoom the X20 is a fantastic camera, too.

 

[daveleo]

If she has patience to learn the menu setup, the Fuji X100 (used) would be my #1 choice (mine is always with me).

But . . . don't overlook the Pana LX7. Seriously. The LX3 made some of my best printed pictures. Never never should have sold that camera. Check out the LX7 before making up your mind.

 

[marcr1230]

Ok - we pulled the trigger, the winner is:

Pentax K-30 and DA 18-55 3.5-5.6

$600 out the door with extra battery, lens shade and AA battery holder

I'm already planning on adding a prime 50/1.8 (maybe old manual focus)


Thanks!

 

[ruby.monkey]

I wouldn't bother with a manual-focus lens if I were in your shoes - even on my K5 with an O-ME53 magnifier fitted it becomes a chore to focus accurately due to the small size of the finder; and replacement split-prism focussing screens can be expensive, and will obscure a large proportion of the centre of the finder.

If you really want a fast short portrait lens for that set-up then the 50mm f/1.4 SMC-FA is usually reasonably priced, and gives excellent results as long as you remember the hood.

 

[liamC]

k30 has peaking I think..
for entry level dslr, these is nothing better..

 

[Scrambler]

I do think the beauty of the Pentax system is the lens compatibility. You should find a suitable prime lens either AF or MF. Unless they have changed things, the camera should have focus confirmation with MF lenses. With my old K100 the bigger issue is getting correct metering with manual aperture lenses.

Gotta love shake reduction in a 60's lens tho.

 

[hausen]

I recently got my daughter the Sony QX10, brilliant idea for females because fits in handbag and attaches to her smartphone and she can up load from there. She loves it and her friends love it and I become the cool Dad.

 

[noisycheese]

Since she wll be travelling, a camera that uses AA batteries would be a very good idea. They should be available about anywhere at a reasonable price. That may not be the case with some camera specific batteries.

Just something to consider...

 

[rwintle]

If you want wi-fi, beware the low-end Nikon DSLRs. While they say they can do wi-fi, they need an additional adapter ($) which sits in a port on the side (i.e., open to dust, water, etc.). I think the D5000-series (are they up to 5300 yet?) has it built-in (my D5000, several years old, certainly does not).

On the other hand, Wi-Fi and GPS eat batteries, so I'd balance that too. If any of the options use good old AA's, that is well worth considering, especially if she's going to be traveling for any amount of time away from anywhere she can plug in and charge up.

EDIT - noisycheese just said that, sorry. 😉

 

[Ko.Fe.]

DSLR is too bulky.
Any advanced compact will do. Like x20.