Camera for Teenage Photo Student

[Chris Photo Student]

My teenage daughter and I have enrolled in a series
of photography workshops that will be taught by
a professional photographer.

I am looking at various cameras to purchase, so that
both of us can learn the various aspects of digital photography.

Features that I think are specifically important are:
....Manual controls,
....specifically manual zoom, manual focus, aperture, and shutter.
....Camera should fit a teenage girl's hands comfortably and securely.
....Camera should be "fun" for her
....Should be a learning tool, but not overly complicated.

I am studying many cameras, among them, Canon 10-D, 20-D,
300 Digital Rebel, Olympus 5060, Olympus 8080,
Nikon D70, 5400, Fuji S7000, and the New Fuji S5100,
Konika Minolta A1, and A2, Kodak DX7590, DX7440
Panasonic FZ10, FZ15, FZ20

Finally, I am not real enamoured with the thought of taking
large 6 to 8 Megapixel RAW photos. For one thing, these require
huge amounts of memory, and more importantly, they require
"post-processing" using photo software. Learning to use Photoshop
is a different artform from photography, and for now, I just want
her to learn how to take a good photo. She will later learn
how to use Photoshop, and crop, enhance etc etc.

For our puroses, I would think 4 to 6 megapixel JPG photos
would be ideal and sufficient. Thank you for your feedbak in advance.

[George Riehm]

My teenage daughter and I have enrolled in a series
of photography workshops that will be taught by
a professional photographer.

I am looking at various cameras to purchase, so that
both of us can learn the various aspects of digital photography.

Features that I think are specifically important are:
....Manual controls,
....specifically manual zoom, manual focus, aperture, and shutter.
....Camera should fit a teenage girl's hands comfortably and securely.
....Camera should be "fun" for her
....Should be a learning tool, but not overly complicated.

I am studying many cameras, among them, Canon 10-D, 20-D,
300 Digital Rebel, Olympus 5060, Olympus 8080,
Nikon D70, 5400, Fuji S7000, and the New Fuji S5100,
Konika Minolta A1, and A2, Kodak DX7590, DX7440
Panasonic FZ10, FZ15, FZ20

Finally, I am not real enamoured with the thought of taking
large 6 to 8 Megapixel RAW photos. For one thing, these require
huge amounts of memory, and more importantly, they require
"post-processing" using photo software. Learning to use Photoshop
is a different artform from photography, and for now, I just want
her to learn how to take a good photo. She will later learn
how to use Photoshop, and crop, enhance etc etc.

For our puroses, I would think 4 to 6 megapixel JPG photos
would be ideal and sufficient. Thank you for your feedbak in advance.

Actually a good learning camera is the Canon A75. Jumping into a large, and more expensive ultra-zoom or dSLR is not going to teach composition or basic photography, and may even frustrate your student to the point of giving up.

The A75 offers everything she, and you, will need as a starter, including manual control. Note: True manual focus is generally not an option on all-in-ones (there are some exceptions).

After that, if the interest remains, you will probably want to make the leap to a dSLR. But by then you will know what everything does, and it will be relatively easy to adapt.