Help !! Need manual camera for gift...

mghanermghaner Registered Users Posts: 93 Big grins
edited October 27, 2006 in Cameras
My daughter is really getting into photography. She will be 11 in November and I want to get her a new camera. The digital she is using now does not have much in the way of manual control.

I want a camera that she can have manual control on but hate to jump to a D50 or Rebel at age 11. I would like to stay under $400 and was thinking about a coolpix 5000 or something but I really dont know that much about the little cameras.

Can one of you help me out with this??

Thanks so much, Mike

BTW, if you go to my site you can see some of her pics. Kendalls Gallery is the one with her pics in it. She would love some comments should you care to encourage her.....she is my retirement plan.............. :-)
"I feel way more like I do right now then I did earlier today"
http://www.mikehaner.blogspot.com

Comments

  • marlinspikemarlinspike Registered Users Posts: 2,095 Major grins
    edited October 26, 2006
    In point and shoots, where noise is such an issue, I always felt Canon was best. I used to have a Canon G5, it was quite good for a point and shoot.
    http://davidson.smugmug.com
  • mghanermghaner Registered Users Posts: 93 Big grins
    edited October 26, 2006
    marlinspike wrote:
    In point and shoots, where noise is such an issue, I always felt Canon was best. I used to have a Canon G5, it was quite good for a point and shoot.

    Does the G5 have manual contorls and if so is it dials or menu driven. I would prefer one that is not menu driven for all the adjustments.......I have a little canon ps that has some control but it is all menu driven. That is too much for her to deal with, the dials would be much better. I think my old sony 828 had dials for the manual control but it is a little too much $$ at this time.
    "I feel way more like I do right now then I did earlier today"
    http://www.mikehaner.blogspot.com

  • marlinspikemarlinspike Registered Users Posts: 2,095 Major grins
    edited October 27, 2006
    Yep, it had manual controls (well, if you put it in manual mode, it had the full gambit of Canon dSLR controls - auto, P, Tv, Av, M - so it's a good bridge). It is adjusted not by dials but by dial. It has a wheel at the top of the grip, and when in M mode it would adjust either speed or aperatue (depending on which one was outlined in a box on the screen) and you would push down on that wheel to switch back and forth. Canon has since replaced it with a G6 and now a G7, though only the G7 is currently available new, but I'm guessing used won't be a problem (?). I can't imagine the G7 is very good in the noise department with 10MP on such a small sensor.
    http://davidson.smugmug.com
  • Art ScottArt Scott Registered Users Posts: 8,959 Major grins
    edited October 27, 2006
    The KM A1, A2 and A200 are pretty much the same as the Canons mentioned above...and also use CF cards (not SD)..very low noise ( I sold pics from A2 at 30 X 40 inches....they also have flex focus...not a number of point you can select to focus at....but true flex focus...that focus point can move all around ..... lens is a 28 to 200, and the macro works like a dream..also Anti shake....I was able to handhold at night for upto almost 1 second ....but only once or twice to prove to a collegue tha it could be done....I am a tripod / monopod fanatic.....

    I'll bet you could get one for $400 or less on ebay....

    Edit: DANG ALMOST FORGOT....they shoot in raw as well as 3 or 4 jpg modes.....great little P/S.......
    "Genuine Fractals was, is and will always be the best solution for enlarging digital photos." ....Vincent Versace ... ... COPYRIGHT YOUR WORK ONLINE ... ... My Website

  • handlebarhandlebar Registered Users Posts: 31 Big grins
    edited October 27, 2006
    The canon a620 is also a great little camera with excellent manual controls and great manual focus even in the macro mode. You can even ad a tc to the front for additional control. pretty neat camera for p/s. and has a swivel lcd.
  • bhambham Registered Users Posts: 1,303 Major grins
    edited October 27, 2006
    Having used a few Canon Powershot G3, G5 and now owning 6 G6's, I definitely would get one of these. They are great. The only menu driven items are ISO and setting the file recording size and quality. Like it was said above the dials give you very similar controls that would be on a Rebel or EOS series 20D,30D,40D with Nighttime, Landscape, Portrait, Auto, P, Tv, Av, M, Custom 1, Custom 2 (These are on the G6). And the battery is the same as the 10D, 20D, etc. It has both a viewfinder for shooting or you can use the display screen.

    You can find a good number on ebay both used and referbished. You may pay closer to $500 for a factory refurbished one, but could also get a deal on a used one.
    "A photo is like a hamburger. You can get one from McDonalds for $1, one from Chili's for $5, or one from Ruth's Chris for $15. You usually get what you pay for, but don't expect a Ruth's Chris burger at a McDonalds price, if you want that, go cook it yourself." - me
  • mghanermghaner Registered Users Posts: 93 Big grins
    edited October 27, 2006
    Thank you, in looking on Ebay it looks like the G5's can be had for around $300 so that looks like a very good bet. the KM's seem to be few and far between but also look good. Any other ideas would be great but at least I have a few to look at now.

    Thanks so much for all of your help. I could I guess give her the D50 when I get the new Fuji S5pro when it comes out but I think the P&S would be better at age 11.

    BTW, did you take a peek at some of her shots????
    "I feel way more like I do right now then I did earlier today"
    http://www.mikehaner.blogspot.com

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