Let's say you want a camera for a five year old...

[Jon Shiu]

I have a Olympus Stylus you can have. Let me know if you want it.

Jon

 

[cliveh]

I'd rather go about this as a learning experience for her. I've let her use the DSLR (with AMAZINGLY CLOSE supervision), but this will be her first real introduction to any film process. She was too young the last time I had the cameras out.

Get real, she will learn nothing about using film at that age.

 

[average-guy]

I started checking the local thrift store earlier this year for the same reason, finding decent P&S with a fast prime to teach my kids photography. So far I've picked up:

Olympus XA 35mm f2.8 for $4.00 (I believe this is the worlds smallest "manual focus" rangefinder. This one I claimed as "my" pocket camera)
Olympus Stylus Epic DLX 35mm f2.8 for $3.00
Konica Big Mini BM-201 35mm f3.5 for $4.00 with leather case. My kids like this one it's easy to hold
Plus two late model Pentax IQzooms, the last models made for $4.00 each

There are some great deals to be had if you check often. Also regarding 127 film, I believe Rollei still makes Retro 80 in 127 size. I last saw it on Freestyle photographic supply's website.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I started checking the local thrift store earlier this year for the same reason, finding decent P&S with a fast prime to teach my kids photography. So far I've picked up:

Olympus XA 35mm f2.8 for $4.00 (I believe this is the worlds smallest "manual focus" rangefinder. This one I claimed as "my" pocket camera)
Olympus Stylus Epic DLX 35mm f2.8 for $3.00
Konica Big Mini BM-201 35mm f3.5 for $4.00 with leather case. My kids like this one it's easy to hold
Plus two late model Pentax IQzooms, the last models made for $4.00 each

There are some great deals to be had if you check often. Also regarding 127 film, I believe Rollei still makes Retro 80 in 127 size. I last saw it on Freestyle photographic supply's website.

I'll try a shop in Des Moines. I've been to Ames and here recently and I've found NOTHING like those. Most of the ones I find here are of the cheap, horrible variety. :/

 

[average-guy]

With the high prices that some of these camera's fetch on Ebay, I wouldn't doubt that people aren't going around to thrift stores looking for them to resell. I don't live in a large city, so maybe there aren't as many people trolling the thrift stores here, or I'm just lucky.

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

Yea its impossible to find any of the nicer small point and shoots in a major city. Most are picked up quickly, and stores such as good will seem to have them online now.

You can try ebay and look for one in a design she might like together. Maybe one with cartoons on it or in bright colors. Just to get her to really like to carry a camera around and snap images. Image quality on a basic point and shoot is decent, so I wouldn't worry about it until later as she gets better. You dont want too technical a camera that might frustrate and drive her away from photography all together, or one that is really bland, boring, and clunky that she might not like having around. Water resistant and with automatic flash is a definite plus.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Yea its impossible to find any of the nicer small point and shoots in a major city. Most are picked up quickly, and stores such as good will seem to have them online now.

You can try ebay and look for one in a design she might like together. Maybe one with cartoons on it or in bright colors. Just to get her to really like to carry a camera around and snap images. Image quality on a basic point and shoot is decent, so I wouldn't worry about it until later as she gets better. You dont want too technical a camera that might frustrate and drive her away from photography all together, or one that is really bland, boring, and clunky that she might not like having around. Water resistant and with automatic flash is a definite plus.

She took the ugly Bilora Bella to bed with her today. I think she just wants a camera. Heh.

I showed her the Konica and she kinda got this awesome look on her face and said, "YES I WANT THAT!" really loud. If no-one outbids me It'll be hers. One of the nice things about this camera: it's not a very sought-after one, but the image quality is pretty damn good according to those who *do* have one.

 

[lxdude]

She took the ugly Bilora Bella to bed with her today. I think she just wants a camera. Heh.

It is clear that you are doing an excellent job raising your child.

 

[winger]

It is clear that you are doing an excellent job raising your child.

Yup. I started with a Kodak Instamatic and put many rolls through that until I was about 10 (4th grade, whatever age I was) and started using my dad's Pentax SLR on a family trip. The Instamatic was great for learning back then - you didn't have many choices, just whether or not to use the flash. Too bad the format is dead now. I've never used a P&S film camera so I can't help with your potential shopping list. Hope you get something that works well and that she has lots of fun!

 

[Brian Miller]

Stephanie, I have a couple of 35mm point & shoots that are doing nothing in my closet. One is a Pentax WR90, weather-resistant, with flash, which was the second camera I bought (the first was in a bubble pack, and the third is my Pentax 6x7, which I just had overhaule.). The other camera is a tiny Yashica with a Zeiss zoom lens. The camera was used by a friend to photograph his journey on the Pacific Crest trail. It's fully functional and the lens is perfect, but of course the finish is worn.

Let me know if you want them.

 

[Nelson]

I started on an Argus C-3. It forced me to learn very quickly the basics of focus, aperture and shutter speed. By starting that way, I quickly gained a better appreciation for photography that has always stayed with me. I then followed the digital revolution for a while, but now I'm coming back more and more to film.

Had I started with a digital camera, I probably wouldn't have learned the discipline that I need to be a better photographer. At the cost of film, I learned that every shot I took cost money, so I was careful how I took pictures. Had I used a digital camera, I would have just learned to "spray and pray" and not care about composition or camera settings. Even now if I do shoot digital, I still use the same discipline that I learned when using a manual camera.

 

[Alan Gales]

I started my daughter out with a Polaroid when she was little. She is now 18 and owns an Olympus OM1 outfit. When she gets time, she says she wants to learn how to use one of my "big" cameras (large format).

Instant photo's are great for kids who lose interest fast. If my daughter was little today I would buy her a cheap digital.

 

[BrianShaw]

I started on an Argus C-3.

... but at what age? I don't think that is likely within the capability of most 5 year olds (and I speak from more experience than just having been 5 at one point in my life).

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Here's what we've decided:

If the Konica doesn't pan out for any reason, I'll look for something else. The Instax (with some film) will be a Christmas gift. We'll shoot Tri-X first in the Konica and I'll develop it and let her watch me do the contact sheet. She'll have fun, I'll have fun. Mother daughter time for the win!

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

She took the ugly Bilora Bella to bed with her today. I think she just wants a camera. Heh.

I showed her the Konica and she kinda got this awesome look on her face and said, "YES I WANT THAT!" really loud. If no-one outbids me It'll be hers. One of the nice things about this camera: it's not a very sought-after one, but the image quality is pretty damn good according to those who *do* have one.

The bella doesn't look bad at all! You should take a look at the Konica airborg! I think whatever you decide on will be a good choice as you have researched quite a bit, and plus you have this forum! Your daughter is lucky to have such a caring and thoughtful mother!

 

[cliveh]

The bella doesn't look bad at all! You should take a look at the Konica airborg! I think whatever you decide on will be a good choice as you have researched quite a bit, and plus you have this forum! Your daughter is lucky to have such a caring and thoughtful mother!

Even for a five year old, the Konica airborg will put her of shooting film for life.

 

[average-guy]

Here's what we've decided:

We'll shoot Tri-X first in the Konica and I'll develop it and let her watch me do the contact sheet. She'll have fun, I'll have fun. Mother daughter time for the win!

I wish you the best of luck, I'm starting the same adventure with my kids. After a recent career change allowed me to slow down and do something I've been wanting to do for several years, teach my kids (all girls, ages 4, 7, 9, & 11) how to shoot, develop, and print. By Winter's end, I think I'll have plenty of help in the darkroom and good times/memories.

 

[ME Super]

When my son was 10 (almost 11), his mom and I got him a Kodak digital P&S for Christmas. I saw right away he had an eye for photography. At age 12, he had earned some report card money, and I asked him if he would rather have the money to spend or if he wanted me to buy him a camera like mine with the money. He picked the camera and now has a Pentax ZX-30 SLR with a 70-210mm lens. He feeds it slide film. I bought my daughter the same model SLR for her 16th birthday with a Pentax 28-80mm lens. And because all the film cameras in the house are Pentaxes, we can swap lenses back and forth and I don't have to buy them duplicate lenses.

I wouldn't have given either of them their own SLR at age 5. They weren't ready for it. A rugged P&S is definitely the way to go at that age.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

For what it's worth, in case anyone wants to see what the thing can do, this is the page of pictures shot with the camera on Lomography. I don't think she'll be disappointed, and neither will I. Heh.

 

[Diapositivo]

If I were you I would rule out instant film for cost reasons. A 5 years old is going to take many insignificant shots before she begins really thinking in terms of composition, or "moment" etc.

I think film is a good idea if you can develop the film yourself (keeping the cost low) and especially if you can involve your daughter in the developing process. That should be very interesting, not to say fascinating for a 5 years old child. And if you can print B&W it is going to be even better.

Maybe a few months with a digital camera would be better for the immediate feedback. That could help raising interest and "engagement". After which, the actual wait time and the surprise effect of film development could in turn help raising interest and engagement.

Any compact point and shoot would do the job. Just take the cheapest you find on a second-hand sale.

 

[dsmccrac]

Stephanie, I will be interested to hear how this works out. My mom started me out in the late sixties on her ridiculous brownie six-20 when I was a bit older than your kid!

Looking back (and having just resurrected it, see below for a pic from my first roll in 40 years) part of me thinks 'was she crazy?' As a brownie with its viewfinders is a bit confusing for a kid to use. While this was a while ago, it was a crazy camera for a kid. We weren't poor so she could have got me an instamatic or some other easier to use camera (I am guessing she originally loaded the film for me). But I think she had her reasons. Much like your child, I learned on an anachronistic camera. I think my mom wanted me to learn the basics without stuff getting in the way. I always thought my dad was 'the photographer' in the family but now I understand how she got me going.

So if you are lucky your kid will be telling someone 40 years from now: "I can't believe my mom started me on that crazy Konica (which I have just started using again)" haha

 

[dsmccrac]

Having just written that nostalgic post, haha, I don't think it matters what tool you use. It is great that you are doing stuff like this with her and whatever the tool in the long run will foster her creativity. But don't get her a six-20, haha, getting her to re-roll 120 may be pushing it ;-)

More in the "haha" department: I just realized my avatar pic (a pic i use a lot for this sort of stuff) is one my brother took of me with the six-20! Clearly the few images I have fr it still are important

 

[MattKing]

Sounds like a fair trade to me ....

 

[rwreich]

My 4yo son loves shooting with the Nikon OneTouch Zoom 90. It's small enough for his hands and importantly, there is no shutter in the back that he can touch.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Well, I got the Konica, so I'm going with that. Comes with a strap and a case, everything was CLA'd, seals were replaced, and I got all this for the amazing price of $16.99. I'm going to enjoy watching my daughter take photos with it. She'll probably want to take it everywhere.

When it gets here we'll have the talk about it not being a toy and how we'll work to get some fun images. I guess I have to order some more 35mm film. Heh.