Kids with Cameras

I grew up with an SLR in my hand at an early age. A Nikkormat with various lenses. The only rules I had were:

• Keep the neck strap on at all times
  
• Don't change lenses without supervision
  
• Don't change film without supervision
  

aacmckay wrote in post #2239713
I grew up with an SLR in my hand at an early age. A Nikkormat with various lenses. The only rules I had were:

• Keep the neck strap on at all times
  
• Don't change lenses without supervision
  
• Don't change film without supervision

That was a heafty camera for a kid to handle. I know when I was around 3 or 4 my dad would let me shoot the camera on a tripod with a cable release. When I got older he'd let me take pictures under supervision.

I'd have no problems handing a kid a modern dSLR with a smaller lens. I know when I my uncle had his ELAN7e, and his 10D that he used to let me use them. He had the battery grips and hand strap, so he just made sure that my hand was strapped in good. Plus I was in my later teen years then. He trusted me, but he also understood that I didn't have to cash to replace it if I broke it, so he made sure I took precautions.

I think the neck strap rule is a pretty good rule for just about everyone, sometimes you can't shoot with the strap on or whatever it may be, but it definitley is something that helps you out when shooting and trying to avoid accidents.

JaGWiRE wrote in post #2240127
I think the neck strap rule is a pretty good rule for just about everyone, sometimes you can't shoot with the strap on or whatever it may be, but it definitley is something that helps you out when shooting and trying to avoid accidents.

Agreed, I still use a neckstrap all the time. But when you're a kid you don't think of these things, so my dad just made it a rule that he enforced.

aacmckay wrote in post #2240221
Agreed, I still use a neckstrap all the time. But when you're a kid you don't think of these things, so my dad just made it a rule that he enforced.

Hey, I'm a kid, haha. Or atleast I like to think of myself as one .

Only time I probably will never use a neck strap is when I am using a tripod. With a monopod I still like the neck strap, gives me a sense of security.

JaGWiRE wrote in post #2240249
Hey, I'm a kid, haha. Or atleast I like to think of myself as one .

Only time I probably will never use a neck strap is when I am using a tripod. With a monopod I still like the neck strap, gives me a sense of security.

Heh, I think the same way too, just a kid that can afford cooler toys!

I've used cameras with hand straps before and I don't use a neckstrap in that situation. I prefer this, but I keep spending money on lenses instead of a batterygrip and handstrap for myself. I figure I'll get them when I upgrade my camera.

I got my oldest son a refurb HP something or other for Christmas when he was four. We chose the camera we did because it was cheap, and it looked like a brick, with nothing hanging off or that would pop up that could be easily broken. The battery cover is now held on with a rubber band (their design flaw, nothing he did), but he still loves to use it three years later. We love to see his perspective on the world and what's important, and how that's changed over the last three years.

As that camera is very simple -- the only options are on/off, zoom, and flash -- he's outgrown its capabilities. Since I've moved from a P&S Nikon Coolpix 4500 to the 20D, he now gets to use the much more sophisticated 4500. It has the full range of program modes, plus manual capability. He can choose an appropriate shooting mode and go to town with it, or I can manually choose settings for the situation and hand it over. As he's now sufficiently computer savvy (he's been teaching his grandparents and his mom how to do things on the computer for two years :lol, he's able to learn how to do some PP work, too.

When he gets physically bigger, I'll let him use an SLR, too. Right now, if it's not on a tripod, it's just too big for him to be able to handle comfortably and safely. Something in the Rebel size might be possible, but the 20D just doesn't fit his hands right now, and would make it harder for him to take pictures. He does like to look at the pictures I take and we talk about why they look the way they do (flash, depth of field, shutter speed, etc.), and can experiment with those things on a smaller physical scale with the 4500.

Our middle son is now starting to get more interested in taking pictures himself, too. Right now he loves to borrow his grandparents' and auntie's cameras. Soon, we'll pass the HP down to him (he's now the same age that Brady was when he got his camera), and start the cycle over again. In four more years, if the HP has survived, our youngest son may get to do the same thing.

Thanks everyone for your answers, I really appreciate them The HP has been sitting in the shelf since march this year when I got my A610. The HP is a good camera for them to learn with. Now it's time to convince my hubby to let me give it to her. He's just worried cause it cost us $250 over 2 years ago!

elise1030 wrote in post #2240668
Thanks everyone for your answers, I really appreciate them The HP has been sitting in the shelf since march this year when I got my A610. The HP is a good camera for them to learn with. Now it's time to convince my hubby to let me give it to her. He's just worried cause it cost us $250 over 2 years ago!

explain inflation it's probably worth fifty bucks now... or show him the prices of some of the lenses on here... he'll be thinking the HP isn't that big of a deal in no time... But, a little big of advice...

make sure it has a neck or wrist strap... and make sure she uses it.

if she becomes careless with it.. Leaves it sitting around, lets other kids play with it, takes memory card or batteries out then it gets taken away, don't let her use it without supervision.. when you're shooting she can be shooting as well... and make sure she understands that the camera is a privelage that can be taken away at any time...

sari

Yeah it has a wrist strap on it so that's no worries at all. I'll definitely enforce her care with her and like the computer, it will be a priveledge. I have let her play with it before out of hubby view and she loves it. She just followed me around taking shots after I had taken shots.. it's cute actually!

aacmckay wrote in post #2240270
Heh, I think the same way too, just a kid that can afford cooler toys!

I've used cameras with hand straps before and I don't use a neckstrap in that situation. I prefer this, but I keep spending money on lenses instead of a batterygrip and handstrap for myself. I figure I'll get them when I upgrade my camera.

Same here, I need to buy a flash already, jeez. Hahaha. I definitley don't have my priorities straight, .

I was taught early on that a wrist strap (on small P&S) is a must.. now the neckstrap is as automatic as putting the seatbelt on - I don't even think about it.

Like the seatbelts....you may never need them (I never have, thank god!) - but the day you do.....you definitely want them to be on!!

JaGWiRE wrote in post #2241346
Same here, I need to buy a flash already, jeez. Hahaha. I definitley don't have my priorities straight, .

Getting a little off topic.... but I just got my first flash for my camera (had them for my dad's, but it didn't have built in obviously). The 580EX is super sweet and definitely worth the money. One of the best purchases I made. I kept buying faster lenses cause I was in denile about buying a flash. Bypass your next plans for a camera type purchase and jump the flash to the begining of the list.... you won't regret it.

aacmckay wrote in post #2241790
Getting a little off topic.... but I just got my first flash for my camera (had them for my dad's, but it didn't have built in obviously). The 580EX is super sweet and definitely worth the money. One of the best purchases I made. I kept buying faster lenses cause I was in denile about buying a flash. Bypass your next plans for a camera type purchase and jump the flash to the begining of the list.... you won't regret it.

Yeah, flash is something I definitley need for when shooting indoors, but I have no idea how to use one, etc, I'll have to learn and read-up. My sister left for New York tonight and will try to pick me one up. I'm going with the 430EX because I want to travel light and small.

BTW, more ontopic, I think giving kids SLRS without flash isn't a bad idea, you sure learn a lot without having something to help you light wise. Makes you think how you can use your gear to sacrifice for the lack of light, i.e. using something to allow you to use a slower shutter speed or raising the ISO.

I traveled around China and SE Asia with my family for the year last year. My 10 year old son carried and used my 10D (backup to my ID MkII), changing lenses and shooting independently. It was a great way for him to learn responsibility. I taught him how to handle it properly, how to make exposures, how to check them on the histogram.... We did a lot of shooting together, which gave me ample time to coach and teach. After just a bit of time I was comfortable sending him off alone with the gear. It's just a camera.

As these things would go, over the course of the year I was the only one to damage any equipment. I dropped my 24-70 on a sidewalk in Bangkok and had to have it repaired.

Greg

Sledhed wrote in post #2239700
My oldest daughter (9 yo) loves to shoot and she's pretty good, she is allowed to use the 20D when I am with her and she has her own little P&S. Here she is with the 20D and 300 f4L.

I really like that shot.Experience is everything so starting them out young isnt a bad thing.Alot more expensive than Barbies but far more rewarding.I know that in the months that Ive really gotten into the technical side of photography Ive learned so much.It is now in my veins and Im loving it.Going back to P&S,for me would be like going back to crawling,Im having too much fun running around,lol.Even for a todler giving them and disposible camera would be a great idea.No telling what their little eyes would see.