Hello Mike.
Just my two pence: My son, who is 10 now, was given an old Olympus
XA-1 for his sixth birthday. This was a good choice. It was small and
light enough to be handled be his little hands, but without being
vulnerable like the modern AF's (e.g. the Stylus Epic).
At present (since a year or so) he has upgraded to an old XA. Of
course I am biased giving him Olympus stuff - and I do own much of it
which makes it easier...
But I would definitely not start with any AF camera if you want to
make your daughter interested in photography rather than giving her
the means to shoot the odd picture.
You are right that ten is the right age to start learning about light
(apertures, shutter times, using a thumb rule or a meter). When she
has that age, you can also buy her a nice photography book specially
intended for the age group. Until then you will be the teacher!
About your other question: yes, a Stylus Epic is a nice camera, on par
(or about that) with the T-4 or T-5 of Kyocera/Yashica. The lenses of
thowe two are probably a tad better than that of the XA - which by
itself is still a very good camera too.
Good luck, Frank.
On Thu, 06 Jan 2000 09:02:20 -0800, Motor Sport Visions Photography
<msvphoto@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>My daughter turns 7 next Tuesday. She expressed a desire for a camera
>for Christmas and didn't get one. I'm thinking she should get something
>to play with and learn with for her birthday. She is too young for much,
>obviously... What got me to thinking more on this is that I recall my
>first camera being an Argus C3 some relative had kicking around. I got
>that when I was about 10 or so. That manual camera forced me to learn
>about using a light meter, setting exposures, etc. My question is since
>Nicola is too young to grasp all that I am thinking about a cheap point
>and shoot. I would even go for something like a Stylus Epic (they are
>only 89 bux now) if I thought it would be durable enough.
>
>On the same subject, my only "point and shoot" is an IS-10. The Stylus
>Epic has caught my eye as well as something to have all the time for
>those grab shots and for family snapshots. I have a broken XA2 that was
>my grandfather's that I hope to repair. So my questions are, is a Stylus
>Epic durable enough for a 7 year old girl? How do Stylus Epic owners
>like it and how does it comepare with the Yachica T4 (and the old XA
>cameras)?
>
>I once had the orginal Stylus and thought it was splendid. I lost it to
>my ex-wife and I replaced it with the first version Stylus Zoom...which
>was a disapointment (and mercifully stolen from me and replaced with the
>IS-10). Is the Epic (non-zoom) comparable to (or better than) the
>original Stylus?
>
>TIA for your non-OM (but Olympus related) thoughts...
>
>Mike Veglia
>Motor Sport Visions Photography
>www.motorsportvisions.com
>
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