Choosing Camera for Son

[dcbear]

Just came across your site and thought you might be able to help. My son graduated from culinary school in May and is starting to put together his portfolio of the dishes he's making. I want to get him a digital camera for Christmas, probably in the 3-5 megapixel range. I've seen some of the bundled sets in stores that have the camera and printer included. Do you think these would be a good choice for my son? He doesn't have a printer with his computer right now. Thanks for your input!

[PopUpPirate]

Sometimes the bundles are cheap, sometimes not. Depends on the printer to be honest.

[PhilR.]

Unless he lives in a remote location where there just isn't anyplace to make prints, he would be better served if you put your money into a camera alone, rather than a combo pack. If you do get him a printer, then you doom him to put up with the high cost of paper and ink, and the very real possibility of dealing with malfunctions such as clogged print heads and the like. Then again, if he is well-off and doesn't mind the high cost, then the convenience of making a print whenever he wants might suit him.

Another thing to consider is that most combo packs include a printer that will only do photographic prints. Better to buy a regular printer that will also do photos, so that at least he can take care of all of his printing needs, if you decide to go that route.

PhilR.

[Need4Spd]

I know I always recommend the camera I own, the Canon SD300, for nearly everything, but seriously, your son needs good close focusing modes for taking pictures of his food preparations and the SD300 is terrific at that. It focuses down to 3 cm and even has a digital macro mode that lets you take a magnified picture of your subject. It's also small so he can take with him at all times. He can even get an underwater housing for it so he can leave it around the kitchen and not have to worry much about getting it wet (although that would make it quite bulky, and he'd still have to worry about hot things).

[dcbear]

Thanks for the information. Now my husband is looking at a Pentax S50 5 mg so that our son can have 8 x 10 pics made. Does anyone have any input? Thanks!!

[Jim Last]

Never used the Pentax S50 myself, but looking at a few reviews looks a reasonable camera for the price. :)