Advice/Help for a young beginner.

[Tam]

Hi photographers! First of all I have no skills or knowledge of such things. But I'm asking for my son who has been enrolled in a local photography class for about a year now. He is 14 and enjoying it but hampered by the quality of his camera which is basically my bridge camera for taking pictures of birds in garden (feathered).
We would like to get him something a bit better but have a little budget and well equipment is VERY expensive!
Any help advice welcome. Second hand seems the only option? Thanks Tam.

[Avulon]

Second hand is the best option in many cases. But it will depend on the sort of photographs he's trying to take in what situations. Does he want/is able to carry a large amount of heavy kit for a shoot. Or does he need to be light and quick? Depending on what he's trying to do will make a big difference in the camera. The best advice I would have thought would have come from the tutor in the photography class. If the only advice from that quarter is to get the latest semi-pro DSLR and lens collection then find a better tutor.

You say budget isn't large, so I think I'd look for camera's with good sensor size like micro four thirds or larger and an interchangeable lens system. Either an older entry-level DSLR like an early canon Rebel that hasn't seen a lot of use or a mirrorless (rangefinder) style. You should be able to find something between three and five hundred with a kit lens and maybe an extra lens and accessories. Once you have a camera with a reasonable sensor and interchangeable lens system. Lenses can be added to the kit as you need and they become available/affordable. Whatever you buy it's important that full manual control is available (including focus) to the user and the ability to shoot RAW (i.e. not converted to JPG only in the camera).


P.S. From experience Birds are very difficult subjects. Small and very mobile. Long fast lenses (read expensive) and stability of shooting platform is important. Not the easiest of subjects for a beginner with limited gear. Pick something larger and less likely to move or runaway/fly off and it'll be much less frustrating.

[Rocket]

I agree with the all of the above.

I found one way to capture bird pictures without breaking the bank on long, sharp and fast lenses was to get the camera close to the bird and fire it remotely.

Most of my shots are taken a few feet from the bird with a 60mm (approx) lens

See here

http://www.paulstickley.com/birds


If you want birds in flight then it will most likely get expensive.

[Avulon]

Originally Posted by Rocket

I agree with the all of the above.

I found one way to capture bird pictures without breaking the bank on long, sharp and fast lenses was to get the camera close to the bird and fire it remotely.

Most of my shots are taken a few feet from the bird with a 60mm (approx) lens

See here

http://www.paulstickley.com/birds


If you want birds in flight then it will most likely get expensive.

Very nice - thanks for sharing. Yes tripod and remote view/shutter using tablet or phone is an option - make sure camera has wifi?

[clf]

As with the above, all good advice. One thing I would say to extend further on what has been touched on. Get him into a shop to feel them, touch them and see how comfortable he feels with them. (although if you dont plan on buying in a particular shop, dont waste the time of the sales man - speaking from experience there)

If he doesnt like to handle the camera he wont use it.

When I sold cameras, the first question was always 'what is your budget?' next was 'what it was for?' I never cared for bonuses or targets on particular models, but I did sell more than others lol

Avoid the Canon Rebel by the way (although Rebel X and other model designations will be fine). the rebel is the US version of the 300D. I have one, (my 2nd) and it is too slow especially in RAW mode, 3 sec start up time, and at least 3 seconds between shots )

The bridge camera will be fine for bird shots, providing he puts in time for learning techniques. But he will have a higher fail rate with it and it will be limited in what he learns at the course. They will likely be set up towards SLR settings.

My first suggestion, going blind would be THIS , but have a look at the Nikon options too. They feel different, for me, I never liked how they handled compared to Canon. Others feel differently to me.

MPB.com have quite a lot of examples, and their grading/descriptions I have experienced, are very harsh. ie any cameras I have bought from them, have been better than described!

Set a budget, and aim for a camera body, a wide angle and telephoto zoom. (covering the range of at least 18-200mm)

[stevestrat]

Trouble is, even a used digital SLR with wifi will make your eyes water, cheapest on the bay at the moment is £720 For that kind of money you can get a good DSLR with a variety of lenses, accessories etc. I picked up a Canon EOS400D with charger, couple of lenses, battery pack and bag for under £400 a few years ago. Obviously there are newer models around now.

This is what's its capable of, an Eagle we spotted on a holiday on Lewis a couple of years ago.

[clf]

Originally Posted by Avulon

Very nice - thanks for sharing. Yes tripod and remote view/shutter using tablet or phone is an option - make sure camera has wifi?

Don't worry about wifi for now, it is nice for when you are relatively close to the hardware. Learn technique first. There are a lot of alternative options anyway, that can be added later (eg Hahnel Giga wireless remotes with longer ranges than wifi ) Tethering to a laptop is another option, and faster than wifi. If using a tablet/phone for wifi tethering, speed will be an issue, and will be no faster than the bridge camera.

A decent tripod will be a worthwhile proposition, but dont waste the money on a cheap (less than £50 new) one. That cost will pay for the remote, and he will likely want a better tripod very quickly after. Going from a basic tripod to a 'good' one is a revelation (better than I anticipated!)

[Rocket]

Originally Posted by Avulon

Very nice - thanks for sharing. Yes tripod and remote view/shutter using tablet or phone is an option - make sure camera has wifi?

I do have WiFi and I can fire the camera using my phone but find I can get better results on a long USB cable to my PC. This enables 11fps shooting whereas the WiFi is much slower.

On my old Pentax DSLR I used trap focus to fire the camera.

It is very much dependant on your particular camera and location etc.

I have tried infra red remotes bouncing of mirrors and all sorts

A reasonably fast shutter is needed to capture the figity birds so the tripod is there just to replace hand holding and any old thing will do for those shots. For many i used a cheapo video tripod someone gave me.

[Rocket]

This video came out yesterday it describes buying cameras for all price ranges and for shooting different subjects.

The prices are in dollars but the numbers usually convert directly into pounds
i.e. 200 dollars = 200 pounds (approx)

It should give a good idea of what is out there.

The canon models will have a different name in the UK but a bit of googling will make clear what the UK name is.