"I want a simple SLR" says my 15y/o son. Err, no you don't!

[Lee Rust]

Pentax MX or ME. Aside from available lenses, etc, the very small size of these cameras is their most unique quality and would increase the likelihood that the camera goes where he goes.

 

[Sirius Glass]

<< Now everyone will jump in with their camera of choice and tell you that is the only camera for your son. >>

 

[Ian Grant]

I think the mistake is getting something where he doesn't have to think, I really would get a simple manual SLR like a Pentax MX or as you already have Olypus gear an OM-1.

He won't learn anything just shooting on Program or any other type of automatic, and it really isn't difficult to grasp the concepts quickly at that age.

Ian

 

[Sirius Glass]

I think the mistake is getting something where he doesn't have to think, I really would get a simple manual SLR like a Pentax MX or as you already have Olypus gear an OM-1.

He won't learn anything just shooting on Program or any other type of automatic, and it really isn't difficult to grasp the concepts quickly at that age.

Ian

He will learn what he wants to by learning about the programmed modes and taking light readings, and then learning about Sunny 16 and using the manual mode. Provide him with the camera and he will learn what he wants to know and as much as he wants to know. If his interest turns out to be always shooting automatically, the end of all life of earth will not be the direct result of that.

 

[keenmaster486]

Here's an idea.

If he really wants to get into shooting film, and he really wants to do it with minimal mental effort -

Get him a Kodak Brownie box camera.

Simplest possible system. He can experience the magic of film starting at the very bottom of the ladder and working his way up.

Get him the manual for it too. They did a good job of explaining things.

For that matter, an old Kodak How To Make Good Pictures book might be helpful as well.

 

[gary in nj]

I have two sons that enjoy photography. One is a high school senior and the other an Image science major at RIT. All three of us own Nikon DSLR's. Last year my oldest expressed an interest in film photography. I made a few suggestions and let him use my three film cameras (see signature). He flat-out rejected the two cameras with program modes and asked if I could buy him an SRT201...which I gladly did. As an image science major it makes sense that he'd gravitate toward the camera that allows him total control.

My youngest "was" a program mode shooter on his Nikon D5300. It took a lot of work to ween him off P shooting and using A or S priority. He now has a good understanding of the elements that make up capturing an image and is a better photographer for taking the time to acquire the knowledge.

I say get your son what he asked for; a basic manual camera. I can't think of a better way to learn photography. Everything he learns and masters will make him a better photographer; digital or analog. You mentioned that you "tried" explaining aperture. Abstract concepts are better learned through experience, rather then through discussion. For 100 years kids learned basic photography by actually using a camera. I'm sure your digital kids can learn these concepts too.

 

[rrusso]

I'd just let him use one of your manual cameras, and teach him sunny 16 - and when one number goes up, the other goes down - doesn't get much easier to do manual than that. No need for a meter, and if the camera has one, tell him to ignore it and use sunny 16.

Give him a roll of HP5+ or Tri-X to start - something forgiving - and there will almost certainly be usable negatives.

Just shoot stuff around the house - the mailbox, the car, his bicycle, whatever.

You can develop the film and then show him and say "Look what you did..pretty cool and easy, huh?"

 

[Ko.Fe.]

My wife and I used SLR in simple mode for several years. It was Canon EOS 300 with kit zoom lens set on the green box and build in flash. Portraits taken by my wife with this camera and in easy mode made me comeback to film later on. My wife and I never have any problems with this camera. We have it on travel all over Europe and else.But expensive batteries . We still have this camera, it works, but I'm not willing to pay for those overpriced batteries. Well, grip for AAA batteries is still available and cheap.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

I was surprised in that suggestions were all over the board. For a reasonable and dependable SLR I would suggest a Pentax K-1000. If you want to teach your son photography you do him no favors giving him a fully automatic camera. Also this is an analog site suggesting a digital camera is rather gauche.

 

[Helios 1984]

Why SLR in particular? You could give him a full manual Pen-S with a Sunny 16 paper taped on the back. He could bring it everywhere and shoot endlessly.

 

[M.A.Longmore]

Get the boy an RB67 !

 

[tedr1]

Perhaps the answer is simple and obvious, he wants to be like dad. Get him the same OM model you have. He may remain interested long enough to learn something about film camera craft. If not, you have a spare camera

 

[Sirius Glass]

Here's an idea.

If he really wants to get into shooting film, and he really wants to do it with minimal mental effort -

Get him a Kodak Brownie box camera.

Simplest possible system. He can experience the magic of film starting at the very bottom of the ladder and working his way up.

Get him the manual for it too. They did a good job of explaining things.

For that matter, an old Kodak How To Make Good Pictures book might be helpful as well.

Why??
Why??
Why??
Why??​

Why are you limiting the experience when with a moderately priced slr he can get the experience of the feel, focus and the use? If and when he feels like learning more he continues with the same camera rather than learning a new camera. I think your suggestions stokes your ego based on what you want to inflict on others. If a good slr becomes too much for him. Beside it can be sold for about what it costs if he looses interest.

 

[Pioneer]

My grandson and granddaughter started on Minolta Dynax 5000i cameras. We would go out together and I carried a K1000.

After a while they both became frustrated with the autofocus so I taught them how to shut it off and focus manually.

Soon they became interested in manual exposure so I "graduated" them to Vivitar V3800n cameras.

My granddaughter now shoots regularly with her iPhone and an old Ikoflex 1. She is in high school so the iPhone gets the most use but once in awhile I see her loading up a roll of 120 black and white and heading out the door. She likes the iPhone for the instant return but she is quite artistic and loves the look of black and white in her Ikoflex. She develops her own film and scans it. We did some printing in the darkroom but I don't think she really enjoyed that part as much as her brother did. At this point she seems pretty happy with what she is doing so I haven't tried to push her any further. She does however cost me a awful lot in printer ink. Everytime I get ready to print something it seems I need to replace a cartridge or two in the printer.

My grandson now regularly shoots an Agfa Isolette that we took apart together, cleaned the focus helicoid and the shutter, and replaced the bellows. We both had a lot of fun with that project. He does pretty well with it and fully understands manual exposure, depth of field, hyperfocal range, camera shake, etc. He takes pretty good portraits and (unllike his sister or myself) has no fear at all of walking up to complete strangers on the street and asking if he can take their photograph. If they say no (an incredibly rare occurence BTW) he shrugs his shoulders and goes to the next person. By this time he knows exactly how far away to stand and where to set his focus to get some pretty good shots. We will frequently sit together when he has his prints finished and discuss what is good about his work and what can be improved. He has also been learning how to work with flash so I had to find him an old flash and cord that would work with his Isolette. It is funny to watch him running around with a flash in one hand and his camera in the other firing off pictures of his poor dog. Lately he has been hanging around pretty close and asking questions whenever I am using the 4x5 field camera so that may be his next step. He is still young (12 years old) so his interest may move off into other things. But for now he seems to be enjoying photography and film.

I am proud of them both but neither started with totally manual cameras, nor did they have to learn it all themselves. We did it together. If your son is interested, get him a camera and then go out with him so he has someone to work with and ask questions when they pop up. If you show an interest in what he is doing you may be surprised where it leads. Of course, once in awhile you have to let him go out on his own as well.

 

[OlyMan]

Are you going to be teaching him to process his own film and make his own prints? Do you have a darkroom? If not, a dSLR and a subscription to Adobe LR/PS might be the way to go. You could let him use the D5000.

No, very likely he will get our local Max Spielman to develop and scan to CD. The D5000 is the antipathy of what he wants to use to learn because everything is buried in menus. He doesn't have any attachment to film, what he likes is traditional cameras with real dials and controls he can learn to use. If there was such a thing as a manual focus traditional-style SLR with a digital back, in the same way there is a Leica M10, he would be all over it like a rash. Come to think of it, I probably would as well.

 

[OlyMan]

My grandson and granddaughter started on Minolta Dynax 5000i cameras. We would go out together and I carried a K1000.

After a while they both became frustrated with the autofocus so I taught them how to shut it off and focus manually.

Soon they became interested in manual exposure so I "graduated" them to Vivitar V3800n cameras.

My granddaughter now shoots regularly with her iPhone and an old Ikoflex 1. She is in high school so the iPhone gets the most use but once in awhile I see her loading up a roll of 120 black and white and heading out the door. She likes the iPhone for the instant return but she is quite artistic and loves the look of black and white in her Ikoflex. She develops her own film and scans it. We did some printing in the darkroom but I don't think she really enjoyed that part as much as her brother did. At this point she seems pretty happy with what she is doing so I haven't tried to push her any further. She does however cost me a awful lot in printer ink. Everytime I get ready to print something it seems I need to replace a cartridge or two in the printer.

My grandson now regularly shoots an Agfa Isolette that we took apart together, cleaned the focus helicoid and the shutter, and replaced the bellows. We both had a lot of fun with that project. He does pretty well with it and fully understands manual exposure, depth of field, hyperfocal range, camera shake, etc. He takes pretty good portraits and (unllike his sister or myself) has no fear at all of walking up to complete strangers on the street and asking if he can take their photograph. If they say no (an incredibly rare occurence BTW) he shrugs his shoulders and goes to the next person. By this time he knows exactly how far away to stand and where to set his focus to get some pretty good shots. We will frequently sit together when he has his prints finished and discuss what is good about his work and what can be improved. He has also been learning how to work with flash so I had to find him an old flash and cord that would work with his Isolette. It is funny to watch him running around with a flash in one hand and his camera in the other firing off pictures of his poor dog. Lately he has been hanging around pretty close and asking questions whenever I am using the 4x5 field camera so that may be his next step. He is still young (12 years old) so his interest may move off into other things. But for now he seems to be enjoying photography and film.

I am proud of them both but neither started with totally manual cameras, nor did they have to learn it all themselves. We did it together. If your son is interested, get him a camera and then go out with him so he has someone to work with and ask questions when they pop up. If you show an interest in what he is doing you may be surprised where it leads. Of course, once in awhile you have to let him go out on his own as well.

How very inspiring. I'm hoping my son takes to it like that.

 

[Chan Tran]

How very inspiring. I'm hoping my son takes to it like that.

Give him the D5000 and buy his mom the D5.

 

[OlyMan]

Perhaps the answer is simple and obvious, he wants to be like dad. Get him the same OM model you have. He may remain interested long enough to learn something about film camera craft. If not, you have a spare camera

Ha! Mrs Olyman would tell you I already have far too many spare cameras, but there is definitely a certain sense in finding him a nice OM-2SP or OM-40 (PC). I was watching an OM-40 earlier on ebay, tidy ones without lenses have recently been going for as little as £25 or less, of course I just happened to be watching the most popular one in recent history and I was comfortably outbidded in the dying seconds. So any camera which fills my original specification s still fair game. Been looking at an FG as well, and an X700, but both of them have a while to go.

 

[OlyMan]

Give him the D5000 and buy his mom the D5.

We have a saying in the UK: 'bugger that for a game of soldiers'. Happy to elucidate but I suspect you catch my drift.

 

[michr]

I found the Canon EOS Rebel flim camera to be a decent camera, with program, aperture, and time settings, automatic ISO detection, EV override, autofocus, metering, and autowind and rewind to be a very economical and easy to use camera. It's fully manual when you want it to be. These cameras can be had very cheaply these days. Another advantage is they're compatible with Canon EF lenses. I took some decent slides with mine about 10 years ago.

 

[Sirius Glass]

My grandson and granddaughter started on Minolta Dynax 5000i cameras. We would go out together and I carried a K1000.

After a while they both became frustrated with the autofocus so I taught them how to shut it off and focus manually.

Soon they became interested in manual exposure so I "graduated" them to Vivitar V3800n cameras.

My granddaughter now shoots regularly with her iPhone and an old Ikoflex 1. She is in high school so the iPhone gets the most use but once in awhile I see her loading up a roll of 120 black and white and heading out the door. She likes the iPhone for the instant return but she is quite artistic and loves the look of black and white in her Ikoflex. She develops her own film and scans it. We did some printing in the darkroom but I don't think she really enjoyed that part as much as her brother did. At this point she seems pretty happy with what she is doing so I haven't tried to push her any further. She does however cost me a awful lot in printer ink. Everytime I get ready to print something it seems I need to replace a cartridge or two in the printer.

My grandson now regularly shoots an Agfa Isolette that we took apart together, cleaned the focus helicoid and the shutter, and replaced the bellows. We both had a lot of fun with that project. He does pretty well with it and fully understands manual exposure, depth of field, hyperfocal range, camera shake, etc. He takes pretty good portraits and (unllike his sister or myself) has no fear at all of walking up to complete strangers on the street and asking if he can take their photograph. If they say no (an incredibly rare occurence BTW) he shrugs his shoulders and goes to the next person. By this time he knows exactly how far away to stand and where to set his focus to get some pretty good shots. We will frequently sit together when he has his prints finished and discuss what is good about his work and what can be improved. He has also been learning how to work with flash so I had to find him an old flash and cord that would work with his Isolette. It is funny to watch him running around with a flash in one hand and his camera in the other firing off pictures of his poor dog. Lately he has been hanging around pretty close and asking questions whenever I am using the 4x5 field camera so that may be his next step. He is still young (12 years old) so his interest may move off into other things. But for now he seems to be enjoying photography and film.

I am proud of them both but neither started with totally manual cameras, nor did they have to learn it all themselves. We did it together. If your son is interested, get him a camera and then go out with him so he has someone to work with and ask questions when they pop up. If you show an interest in what he is doing you may be surprised where it leads. Of course, once in awhile you have to let him go out on his own as well.

I did not get a response from my children like that. Maybe I will do better with my grandchildren.

 

[Pioneer]

I did not get a response from my children like that. Maybe I will do better with my grandchildren.

I hope you do. It is great fun. My wife and I have been blessed to have our grandchildren around us a lot without also having to be their surrogate parents. But not all of them have taken to photography like the last two did.

Sometimes I think that grandparents can get away with things that parents can't. I'm not really sure why, maybe it is because we have more time and have a little more patience to let them do their own thing.

 

[Craig75]

GIVE HIM ALL CAMERAS!!!!!



Pentax ZX-M (MZ-M). I have a bunch and if you were in the US, I'd send you one.

I learnt on a Pentax MZ-5N and it was such a nice camera. I'd still be using it today if it hadn't been stolen.

 

[wiltw]

I was surprised in that suggestions were all over the board. For a reasonable and dependable SLR I would suggest a Pentax K-1000. If you want to teach your son photography you do him no favors giving him a fully automatic camera. Also this is an analog site suggesting a digital camera is rather gauche.

I saw zero reference to the image recording medium of interest...this seems only to be simply a discussion of 'automated' vs. 'fully manual' in terms of its user interface -- which is agnostic to the 'digital' vs 'analog' arguments. Now under PHOTRIO, rather than 'APUG', that debate seems less relevant, although the OP did post the subject while in the 'analog' section of PHOTRIO.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I hope you do. It is great fun. My wife and I have been blessed to have our grandchildren around us a lot without also having to be their surrogate parents. But not all of them have taken to photography like the last two did.

Sometimes I think that grandparents can get away with things that parents can't. I'm not really sure why, maybe it is because we have more time and have a little more patience to let them do their own thing.

Yes we can get away with more, but if I am told specific things: what to eat, what not to eat, when to eat, when to take a nap, I do those things exactly. On the other hand I can surprise them with treats like surprises or doing different things or doing things different ways.