Mrs MTQG’s daughter has got a birthday coming up and it looks like various relatives are clubbing together to buy her a camera.
None of us know anything about cameras, so I could do with some advice.

She thinks she wants a DSLR, but I reckon they’re a bit pricey and a bit bulky for a young novice. Something more convenient and less of a disaster if it ends up getting lost or dropped would be better.

She’s typically vague about what she actually wants it for, ducks on the river, dogs playing, that sort of thing probably, and possibly taking pictures at bike races.

Any recommendations ?

Nikon Coolpix- seen them in Sainsbury’s for £59.99.
Easy to use and really good picture quality- video too, and of course they come in lots of ‘cool’ colours 😆
And it has wide/ zoom focus too which is important for good pics. Oh and the flash isnt too bad for a compact 😀

Not one they can spray with hair laquer so the lens cover won’t open 🙁
Just experimenting they were …

My daughter’s 13 too and is getting quite good with my Panasonic GF2. Really enjoys using it.
So much so that I have to retreive it from her if I want to take it on a ride. 😕
That or another micro 4/3, would probably be ideal.

Not one they can spray with hair laquer so the lens cover won’t open
Just experimenting they were …

😯

Kids eh? 😆

you can try Olympus Pen or similar cameras

Thanks for the suggestions so far.
I think £240 was mentioned as the maximum, adding up all the money from various relatives, so that’s an absolute maximum. Personally, I think that’s a bit much and she ought to start with something cheaper.

http://www.cameras.co.uk/specs/nikon-coolpix-l120.cfm at £130 looks good to me.
21x zoom for taking pictures of ducks on the far side of the river, down to 1cm distance for pictures of ladybirds.
Does that look like a good choice ?
Second hand would be OK, is it worth looking for something better but used at around that price ?

I’d go for a second hand bridge camera. I loved my Olympus C5060Z to bits – full manual control, excellet macro, and they are going for £50 odd on ebay now. However I appreciate that she may well WANT a DSLR.. but it may not be the most appropriate. More difficult to carry around of course, and you’ll want another lens for the inevitable macro shots, and another for wildlife etc etc.

I’d also have to have a proper long talk about having expensive kit if I were you.

Also consider a cheaper camera and a day of photography lessons…

Samsung EX1 – and an external flash.

Nice wide lens, manual controls, belting medium sized camera.

Don’t bother with a run of the mill compact as an i-phone will give almost as good results. By all means go compact, but make sure it has PASM settings if she wants to learn photography.

look carefully at reviews of samsungs – they seem to have an alarming ability to eat batterys !

second the bridge camera idea

i picked up a fuji s5600 for 99 quid from the fuji clearance store and its been an awesome camera for the last 4/5 years – still better than a 99 quid compact these days

slight thread hi-jack..

I’m looking for a camera for a two year old.. mine insists on documenting everything.. visitors.. new possessions.. new clothes.. interesting weather..

my knackered old mobile cannot possibly soak up any more teething drool though and a dedicated unit would make him more independent..

If going down the bridge route, I’d avoid Fuji, as they really need to be worked to get the best out of them – the HS20 is better used on the 8mp setting, rather than 16mp for example due to the small sensor.

I was considering a Sony HX100V before getting my DSLR – slightly over budget at £270 but gets good reviews

Yunki they do kids cameras. Ours was 330 – nice and tough but a bit crap when you consider what you can get for £50 in a real camera. Still, does the job and is indestructable.