Help Me Please!!!!! I need a good camera for a 12 year old

[alyssapa7]

:?Ok so here's the deal, my daughter is 12 going on 13 and is extremely interested in photography! She is currently taking the most amazing photos with her little cell phone.......1.3 mpxl. She has expressed her interest and I would like to take advantage of her artistic ability and allow her to develop it. Concerns Though:

1. :|I want a high quality camera but don't want to spend a fortune. She wont be blowing these up to cover a wall so I dontthink we need an extremely high megapixelcamera.



2. High durability, although she is talented, she does take after me in the fact that she is a cluts. I'm afraid she will break it or drop it.



3. It has to look cool.......she's gonna be 13......need I say more!!!!!!!!

4. :yawn:Short delay! She needs a camera that will take quick pics! She shouldn't have to wait 5 minutes before it actually takes the picture!!!!

I have looked into the HP R727. It is reasonably priced and has photosmart editing right in the phone which will allow her to edit right away without having to wait until she gets home but I'm not sure about durability. Of course according to her, it's not toocool lookingeither but I told her she can't have it all!

Please someone help me!!!!!!

[flippedgazelle]

Well, I guess a few questions are in order...

1. What's your budget? The HP R727 is $220-ish online. Can you go higher?

2. What kind of pictures is she interested in taking? Low-light photos, action, outdoors, wildlife, etc?

3. Is she interested in photography or snapshots? By "snapshots", I mean leaving the camera in "Auto" mode and taking pics of friends and places she goes without much concern for composition, lighting, dof, etc. Do you think she's interested in learning about aperture, ISO, etc?

4. What is "cool" to her? To some, "cool" is a small, thin camera with a huge LCD and modern, almost Apple-esque lines. To one teenage girl - and a bunch of 20-something men - I know, my Canon A620 is "cool" because it looks like a "real" camera that has advanced controls and a swivel LCD screen.

Fortunately, most new digital cameras are pretty quick on the draw, with only minimal shutter lag and focus time, so I think you are safe there.

[mtclimber]

alyssapa7-

First, please know that the colors and typeface you are using will cause you to get very little attention on the forum simply due to the fact that your post is very hard to read.

The HP R727 is a good camera, but it tends to have a fragile LCD screen. If you get one you must be sure to get the HP insurance so they will send you a new camera least the LCD screen get cracked or break. HP does not finx the R727, they just send out a new camera providing you have the HP insurance. If you don't have the insurance, they will not fix the camera.

Using http://www.pricegrabber.com, the lowest price I could find for the R727 was $210. For LESS money you could buy the very highly rated, 7+mp Canon A-620, now low priced at $204. Those prices do not include S&H charges and are internet prices. Read the reviews on these two cameras at www.steves-digicams.com.

MT

[peripatetic]

I'm in a similar position (although with a 2 year old !! - who just loves taking pictures, and although she's not dropped our cameras yet I fear it is only a matter of time).

A camera that has caught my attention is the new Olympus 720SW.

Water-resistant and shock-proof from a height of 1.5m, it also looks pretty cool. Pretty reasonably priced too.

[rey]

I bought my 12yr old niece the Canon A520 last year. It tooks nice pictures, but it eventually broke. She said it fell from her bed (to a wood floor), and now the lens won't come out. I sent it to Canon last week, hoping they can fix it, as it's still under warranty. Anyways, keep durability in mind when buying camera for kids their age.

[alyssapa7]

Thank you for the feedback!

I'd like to stay under $300. She enjoys taking pics of landscape and wildlife ....but i will never forget the time she got real close to some curtains and took a pic that looked abstract because her phone can take pics in negative form. I guess those type of featurs are very important to her too. To be able to see pics a different way through her lens.

[flippedgazelle]

Many cameras now offer various color modes that allow you to adjust a photo "on the fly". You can also do many fun things with even a cheap - or free - image editiing program.

For something stylish, perhaps something from Casio's Exilim line will fit the bill. http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_...-z600_pg5.html

For a solid camera that is a bit more rugged and also is great to learn on (as I am doing) like MT I'd recommend the Canon PowerShot A620.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/a620.html

[flippedgazelle]

Some samples:

a frog

[flippedgazelle]

One of my cats, Yeats, in the evening and with a little bit of Photoshopping:

[flippedgazelle]

One of my favorite fishing spots - please excuse the poor composition. This one was done completely in Auto mode, as was the frog: