Camera purchase for a young girl

[redseal]

Looking for some advice on an inexpensive camera for my 12yo...

She has indicated (ever since we began diving in June) that she wants to learn underwater photography. As a leftie, she's an artistic type, and will probably continue learning and perfecting her skills. However, I'm reluctant to spend big bucks for underwater photog equipment if there's a decent quality camera and casing that's sufficient.

And the digital vs. 35mm is another tangent that I'm curious about.

I'd appreciate some good thoughts and sources. Thanks~

 

[clive francis]

it is a bit of an open ended question.............how long is a piece of string?

what is your budget?

as she is learning, going for a standard camera (35mm) would initially be cheaper, but then you have processing on top.

she might also get dishartened if all the photo's turn out fit for the bin!

digital is slightly more expensive, but only costs you the electric for charging the batteries.

look for a housing that will accomodate several different cameras.....i.e. the olympus pt-010, it is £220 in the uk, and probably the same in $'s.

this will house the olympus 20xx, 30xx and 40xx.

go to a camera shop that deals in second hand cameras and buy the 20xx this is a 2meg camera, will do everything your daughter requires and more, then in a year when she has mastered it, you can get a 40xx, by then there should be plenty on the secondhand market, and that is an excellent camera.

I have the 3040 and it is superb!, check my latest red sea photo's on my site (the deep blue).

the earlier ones were on an olympus c920 with the oly dive case, it was only 1.3meg but still took good photo's.

that is the cheapest way to go digital and still be able to upgrade the camera later, all the others are cases to suit 1 camera

 

[snuggle]

you can do what i did and look on ebay for an ikelite housing to house an older canon slr camera which you can buy for very cheap like i did..i paid 80.00 us for my housing for my canon ae1 and it workd excellent and takes very good pics as well.. just a thought ..hope this helps somewhat..

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

well I have to admit I understand your questions as i have asked something very much the same ,
first you wanting something on a limited budget, maybe digital or film and something that will workto get her stated, me too I havent been able to get any recomendations other than everyone says go digital buy time ,
you invest in camera 500 -1000 and case 200-400 and then strobes 300 plus you got a alot of money into it myself was wanting something to get me started not to rip me a new hole in my pocket . so now I am looking for something in the film dept then got to find case and strobes
just my two cent worth

 

[Dee]

You might want to look into either Ikelite's Auto35 or SeaLife's Reefmaster. With the Sealife, you have the option of film or the new digital. The Auto 35 is a film camera.

Both of these are relatively inexpensive. I know that can be a relative statement, but for cost vs. value, these are the best for getting started. There are others that are cheaper but the quality of the pictures is very minimal....in my opinion.

Medic....yes, we tend to recommend digital alot. Mainly because we have been the film route and know that digital is so much better, even for beginners. And there are digital cameras and housings out there that you can use without a strobe. Yes, you are still going to spend more than one of the cheap film cameras. I guess the goal is to try to save you from spending $XXX.00 dollars now when you'll shortly want/need to upgrade to something better. But I know how you feel, What may be the affordable digital way to go can still be more than the above mentioned started film cameras. And either one can strained a tight budget. My poor old budget has stretch marks!

 

[clive francis]

another cheap option is the olympus C300 and dive case, the case is £175 and the camera is £300, and they are not the cheapest supplier.

the case for the cannon s30/40 is £150 couldn't find a price for the cameras.

check all the underwater photography sites for prices of cameras and cases, then check specs etc, somewhere you will find a happy medium.

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

ok what do I need to look for in a digital camera what mega pixels do I look for, to bad they dont make a case for the fujifilm 2600 zoom camera all ready have that one . takes great land pictures too

 

[DavidE]

The "best" camera is one that a person knows how to use. This means that virtually any camera will work for you if it is accompanied by a course in U/W photography. Also, I would strongly suggest that you buy only cameras with a strobe.

I use an Ikelite Auto35 which is a simple 35mm camera with fixed focus and auto advance (typical of the $20 - 30 drugstore cameras). The housing and strobe bring the total price to about $400. The strobe is triggered by a photocell, not by wires connected to the camera. My results are better than many photos published in magazines but not as good as photos taken with equipment costing over 10X as much as my setup.

Sea and Sea, Bonica and others have comparable equipment but the biggest factor in getting decent photos is the photographer's understanding of underwater photography.:doctor:

 

[Dee]

medic13 once bubbled...
ok what do I need to look for in a digital camera what mega pixels do I look for, to bad they dont make a case for the fujifilm 2600 zoom camera all ready have that one . takes great land pictures too

What do you ultimately want to do with the pics? If you intend to print only 4x6's, a 2mpx would be all you need. I don't know your budget but you might want to look at the new SeaLife digital.

If you want prints larger than that, look for at least a 3mpx. And with the prices dropping, I'd go with a 4mpx. If you plan to eventually get a strobe, find out what kind of strobe connection any housing you may need has. All strobes are not compatable with all housings.

If you can give me an idea of your budget, I can be a bit more specific.

 

[clive francis]

DavidE once bubbled...
The "best" camera is one that a person knows how to use. This means that virtually any camera will work for you if it is accompanied by a course in U/W photography. Also, I would strongly suggest that you buy only cameras with a strobe.

i agree about the first bit, if you know the camera then you should be able to get good shots.

however the second bit is crap, going on a course doesn't make you a good photographer.

you need to understand the camera functions and practice and practice and practice, this is where the digital camera comes into its own, it can cost you lots in processing and diving as you have to spend lots of time underwater with a 35mm to start getting good shots.

with digital you get an imediate feed back of the picture and can adjust to suit.

a strobe is not essential, but can help improve. you seem to forget that beyond 3 - 4 ft a strobe is as much use as a chocolate fire guard!