I'm looking for a starter body/lens for my 15yo daughter who is showing a real interest ( and eye ) for photography. I can spend around $300-ish so we're talking, obviously, used equipment.

All suggestions are welcome!

DennisC wrote:
I'm looking for a starter body/lens for my 15yo daughter who is showing a real interest ( and eye ) for photography. I can spend around $300-ish so we're talking, obviously, used equipment.

All suggestions are welcome!

Well, I started SLR photography with a d50 and kit lens I bought for around that price a few years ago. The D50 is still considered a great camera, often used as a backup for people with more recent designs. Since then I have bought better lenses, but the body continues to shine. The used ones get scooped up pretty quickly because of their reliability and wonderful output.

I'd say try to find a good prime like a 50 1.8 which can be had for around 100 bucks and is a great lens and a d50 or other similar older model camera. The D50 can be had for about 275 on KEH meaning you should be able to find one here for maybe 225 or so, which should give you a total cost of about 325 plus cost of a card, really affordable and you will be giving her one piece of equipment (the 50 1.8) that she can keep for a while as she upgrades her bodies over time and such.

Or just buy her a film body, with a manual focus, and make her use her pocket money for the film. Teach her the value of thinking about each shot How's that for being a good parent

agree on the D50 & prime lens,, besides the camera, the teaching of software PP is also very important as it can turn some borderline shots into some very respectable photos,, we all know about that,,


Derry

D60 + 18-55 (VR), later on you can add a 55-200VR and a SB600
At east a good starter kit, but I'm not sure if it fits you budget.

Hey,

D50 or D70 would be my suggestion... built in motor so lens selection is greater.

D50 with a 35mm 1.8

phatnev wrote:
D50 with a 35mm 1.8

+1

Folks

Thanks so much for your input.

Well, I see my thoughts were not out of line. I was thinking either a D70s or D50. The D70s is so feature-rich and, as someone suggested, she'd be forced to learn PP although, with the right settings, the D70s will yield nice JPEGs.

I was also thinking the 18-55, but, again, as suggested, the 35 f1.8 would force her to learn composition and she'd gain the flexibility of the fast aperture. On the other hand, the 35 f1.8 would push me over my limit.

Thanks again!

Can't really go wrong with either lens as a starter. Besides, if she's really in to it there are always christmas and birthday gifts to get her other lenses.

How about D70/D70s/D50/D100 with an older 50mm f1.8 AF (non-D) lens?

you can probably also pick up a used 28mm f2.8 for around $100-130 also. I sold mines recently on craigslist for $90 cause it had a chip on the filter threads.

Drop the extra cash and go for the D200. Dig around the buy and sell boards and watch for a good deal.

More cash up front? Sure. But there's some advantages:

1) Built in autofocus motor that you won't get with the D60, D5000, D40, etc etc
2) Meters AI lenses

Therefore you can save a lot of money and get older used glass (which is still optically superb and perhaps even superior) which will serve you well.

It's an advanced camera, sure. But that certainly doesn't mean that you can't just kick it to program mode and let the camera do the heavy lifting.

Plus, she won't outgrow that camera for quite a while.

DennisC wrote:
Folks

Thanks so much for your input.

Well, I see my thoughts were not out of line. I was thinking either a D70s or D50. The D70s is so feature-rich and, as someone suggested, she'd be forced to learn PP although, with the right settings, the D70s will yield nice JPEGs.

I was also thinking the 18-55, but, again, as suggested, the 35 f1.8 would force her to learn composition and she'd gain the flexibility of the fast aperture. On the other hand, the 35 f1.8 would push me over my limit.

Thanks again!

I think that if the money is a huge concern you should definitely just go with the kit lens, however I WISH so so much that when I started shooting I had just had a prime, a fast one too. Maybe a 50mm 1.8 would work? I eventually sold both my zooms(18-55/55-200) and bought a 50mm 1.8 . The only problem is that the 50 is a 75 on DX and thats why I'd suggest the 35mm, its such a great FL for a beginner(or anyone for that matter)

The downside of the 35 is that it is DX and doesn't have focus marks on it. The 50 1.8 though it is a screw drive lens, it's great for learning about focusing and other things as it actually has focus distance marks on it and is half the price of the 35.

phatnev wrote:
D50 with a 35mm 1.8

+1 This would be great, and probably within your budget.

dont get her zoom. that spoils everything. She will end up zooming here and there and not care for perspective, anything.
50 would be great but it is so damn long on DX :-(

I vote for new 35 and any body which fits in the rest. huge aperture and nice quality, that will be awesome start. practically equivalent to start with film camera and 50mm as most of us did

the 35mm 1.8 is a DX only and costs $200 so its probably out of your range. The 50 f1.8 is nice, but may be too long on a DX sensor, so....................

the 28mm f2.8D or non-D version. A decent used copy will probably be about $100-130 which should be sorta close to your price range.

sample: http://cgi.ebay.com/Nikon-AF-Nikkor-28mm-f-2-8D-Lens_W0QQitemZ160378103265QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCamera_Lenses?hash=item255747a5e1

You can pick up a Nikon-refurbished D40 factory demo, w/ 1-yr. warranty from Cameta Camera's eBay store for well under 300 bucks. Pick up a used 18-55mm off eBay or Craigslist, etc.

This is a kid. The most important thing is having fun. A zoom is going to be a heck of a lot more fun to use than a prime.

If I had a teenager who expressed an interest in photography, I would get this setup without thinking twice. Cameta is great to deal with. My D40 refurb had 30 shutter activations on it when it arrived. It looks like new, works perfectly. Cost me $225, and that's about what they go for, give or take a few bucks.

http://stores.ebay.com/Cameta-Camera_Digital-Cameras-Nikon_W0QQ_fsubZ3QQ_sidZ27280321?_nkw=D40&submit=Search

I would recommend the good ol' D40 + 18-55 non-VR kit. It's probably the cheapest deal you can find and can produce some good results (and teach!). Once she get's better, throw on a 35 1.8 AF-S and have an awesome prime shooting D40!