First Camera
 

I want to get my 15 year old son a camera, not mega expensive and not too many bells and whistles.

Not too worried about brand budget is £150 max and happy with used or refurbed

Do you want him to get into photography, or to be able to photograph things?

My grand-daughter was given a nice digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR), and within a year has no interest. I think, if they have not expressed a wish for it, then a digital compact is good enough. Not too expensive so that when it's dropped you don't feel too much pain. If he won't mind second hand have a look on the auction/selling sites for someone who has "given up".

If he has an interest in it, and listens to suggestions, then there are plenty of second hand DLSR's as people "upgrade".

Good luck.

He wants to learn to take better pictures then just "snapping" on his phone, he's a huge super car nut and wants to take better quality photos

Ive just got myself this camera. It ad some good reviews and a few things your son my like its a Canon PowerShot SX610 H, On sale at the mpment with amazon uk for £131.99. Will but a link below.I'vegot it to save carring my Big canon DSR around .
Some of the things your son my like about it, 20.2,18x optical zoom,Sharp results in your photos and movies with intelligent IS,Shoot high quality images in any light with HS System, With the Active Tag NFC in the SX610, by tapping an NFC-capable smart device to the camera, it will now automatically begin transferring images to the smart device.built-in Wi-Fi with new Active Tag NFC connectivity.And it will fit in your pocket.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-111C0...0+HS+PowerShot

That's a good suggestion, a friend of mine uses one of these for our coaster trips and it is easy to keep in a pocket.

The DSLR is a lot more bulky but one can keep an eye open for some like this, especially as the seller has not shown in the title that there is another good lense with it.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Canon-EOS-...kAAOSwSlBYtzfG

Also on the same site is this, and certainly shows what is out there if one doesn't mind second hand.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CANON-POWE...kAAOSw4A5YuZRl

I'd suggest taking your son into a good camera shop, telling the assistant what the camera would be mainly used for, and the price range. He should be able to bring out a few different cameras for your son to try out.

Your son would be able to hold the cameras and see if his fingers were comfortable using the controls. No matter how good a camera is, if it does not feel "right" in the hand, he will never be completely happy with it.

If he gets the "bug" it will not be long before he is looking for something a bit more upmarket, so ask if the shop would be happy to take it back as a trade-in for a better camera later on. Most decent shops will stand by their merchandise and be willing to exchange it (at a cost) for something better.

I did that, on advice, for my first camera and the Yashica was the only one that felt right as soon as I picked it up. After a year I traded up to a Contax 139 Quartz (Yashica electronics), and later bought another. I still have them.

I'd never buy a car that I didn't feel comfortable in, nor a camera that didn't feel right in my hand, irrespective of make or magazine reviews. We are all different.

Jim

Agree with what Fifer says above, especially regards the 'feel' of a camera. However, your budget may restrict the creativity and the ability to learn from photography, for a new camera.

Avoid the 300D Canon that Planenut mentions. It is an amazing camera, i have had two, and sought out the second a few years ago - and still got it. HOWEVER and this is why I say to disregard, it is slow, 3 seconds start up time, at least 10 seconds between shots in RAW mode. Plus even the youngest will be 12 years old now. From that era, a 350 or 400 D would be a better bet.

But overall I wouldnt recommend a DSLR as a beginner's camera for a 15 year old. A DSLR is a camera that you have to plan around. It is big and bulky and can be delicate (imagine him going to a concert or festival with it etc. even just going out with his mates).

I havent had experience with the Canon SX 610, but have had experience with older versions. They certainly are great cameras. I am a Canon man primarily. However basing it on my previous experience with older models of the SX range and this looks similar to the more compact versions, they can be a pain to hold and use. (I loved the SX200, it gave great results, although limited in its control, but I couldnt hold it comfortably without worrying about it slippihg from my hand).

My recommendation, if you can get your hands on one is a Samsung WB250F. My first experience with this camera was on the day we reopened Jessops under Peter Jones, a couple were interested in a camera for £150, but wanted the Panasonic TZ30 (which was £100 more). So trying to persuade them to be a little more realistic with their budget, I started to demo the Samsung. An opening offer of £129 with free case, they were not tempted. But as I demo'd it, I realised how close to spec to a DSLR it was (image quality will never be DSLR though). It had full manual control of exposure, flash compensation, with a directional flash, a 1cm close focus (important to me) and a shockingly sharp lens. At 3200 ISO chroma noise is better than the Canon 300D! (but there is 10 years of technological advancement there lol Incidentally, the 300D doesnt have 3200 ISO, however the 10D firmware can be applied and make it so ;)). The Samsung has all the gadgets that a 15 year old would want too. It will fit in his pocket so he can take it out on a night out, yet when he wants to manually set it up to be creative, it has that too, and battery life lasted me roughly 300 pictures on holiday on a single charge. No video, but roughly half of those were with flash.

They dont seem to come up on eBay etc that often, although there are a few now.

The one thing I never liked about it, was that it was white. there was a navy version, but they were hard to get even back then.

This shot was taken in program mode, manual focus (oh yes, it has manual focus!) with if I recall, a -1/3 exp compensation.

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...0&d=1488568400

starter camera
 

I am looking for a compact camera ...would the Samsung WB30F be a good choice as starter camera ?

I certainly would,nt be showing that shot if that,s the quality of pics from that camera ????.
As previously said you really need to be looking at some physical cameras to see how they feel,but you need to keep in mind exactly what he wants to do with it if it,s just happy clappy pics then any reasonable bridge camera may suffice but if he is more interested in the technical/creative side of things then dslr is going to be your best option plenty of good quality second hand ones about.
My 12 year old grandson started with an old bridge camera but within month got fed up with the lack of control so ended up by a nikon dslr with extra lens his pics improved 10 fold.

I think a fixed lens camera (bridge or compact) would be ok, as would a DSLR or interchangeable lens mirrorless.

If he wants to do more than snapping the he will need more control. Any of the cameras above are available with loads of control including fully manual. Of course many of the cameras will not have the required control. It is not so much what type of camera but more getting the correct camera of the chosen type. For instance you can buy a brdige camera for not a lot of money with a poor lens and little control or you can get buy one with a Zeiss lens and will take better pics than most people would ever want and full control of most functions. Like this one https://www.parkcameras.com/p/701405...7xfhoCI-nw_wcB
Of course that is way over budget.


Size may be important (or not).

And liking the look and feel is important also.

If he gets the bug he will want something better after a while.

I started with a Kodak Instamatic:} Although I started early I had decades of no photography at all.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instamatic