Middle School Photography

[jdwright]

Hi all,

I'm a teacher at a middle school and have been asked to teach a basic photo class over a couple weeks. There is some funding for equipment and I have a full lab of capable computers.

I'm here for two reasons:

1. what camera would you currently buy for teaching the basics on a basic budget (8 cameras for under $1000)?

2. I've not taught photography much, though I think I have a good feel for the core concepts (aperture, shutter speed, ISO, composition, etc.). So, I'd be happy to accept any suggestions or experiences with teaching photography with middle school students.

I always seem to get valuable info here, so thanks in advance for your help!

 

[PurdueRy]

8 cameras for under $1000 total? That's getting pretty darn basic. I would think if you want to actually teach how to use aperture, ISO and shutter speed to affect exposure you'd want something with manual controls and I doubt something at the $125 price mark would have that.

Of course you can teach composition with any P&S...but given that you want to teach more than that I'd say it's gonna be difficult on that budget.

 

[jdwright]

I hear you for sure, and I wish I had the option to buy some basic SLRs, but I have heard that there are cameras out there in this price range with a variety of manual settings. I looked last year and had settled on the Panasonic Lz8 before funding was withdrawn from the project. It seems to be pretty flexible, and would be able to demonstrate some interesting techniques. I also have my d90 and my partner has a 5d so the kids can see the difference in quality and control.

It could be that there is not a good choice out there. But, hopefully someone has some ideas =).

J

 

[whoiswes]

don't suppose film cameras would be an option? i'm sure you could scrounge up some venerable K1000's for that (or even be able to borrow them from another school/institution). hell, when I was in HS our photo class had enough K1000's for all 30 students to have on the entire semester, plus spares.

I know film is not as easy as digital but if it's an option...

 

[jdwright]

BTW, just got an update that the budget is "under $150". There were some "SLR like" cameras at newegg.com that were very close to that range.

 

[jdwright]

@whoiswes: part of the class will also be editing photos on the computers in my classroom, so digital is probably the way to go. Thanks for the suggestion though =)

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: jdwright
I hear you for sure, and I wish I had the option to buy some basic SLRs, but I have heard that there are cameras out there in this price range with a variety of manual settings. I looked last year and had settled on the Panasonic Lz8 before funding was withdrawn from the project. It seems to be pretty flexible, and would be able to demonstrate some interesting techniques. I also have my d90 and my partner has a 5d so the kids can see the difference in quality and control.

It could be that there is not a good choice out there. But, hopefully someone has some ideas =).

J

That LZ8 looks like it fits the bill. Has all the manual exposure modes needed. I'd say you found a good one there for only $100 a pop.

 

[jpeyton]

You can *easily* buy 8 film SLRs with basic lenses for under $500.

If you're thinking about teaching them the basics of photography (aperture, shutter speed, ISO) with a cheap digital camera, it won't work. The whole point of teaching photography classes on a film camera is that it forces the student to think of their settings and composition before taking the shot. With a digital camera, there is no penalty for taking bad photos, no incentive for thinking about your settings before pressing the shutter, and lots of chimping afterward.

And I always thought it was fun to see those developed rolls of film come back and the surprised looks on the student's faces when they saw how their pictures turned out.

Film developing is dirt cheap; $4 roll at Costco, probably the same at Wal-Mart, and even less at online development places (especially when you're developing in bulk).

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
You can *easily* buy 8 film SLRs with basic lenses for under $500.

If you're thinking about teaching them the basics of photography (aperture, shutter speed, ISO) with a cheap digital camera, it won't work. The whole point of teaching photography classes on a film camera is that it forces the student to think of their settings and composition before taking the shot. With a digital camera, there is no penalty for taking bad photos, no incentive for thinking about your settings before pressing the shutter, and lots of chimping afterward.

And I always thought it was fun to see those developed rolls of film come back and the surprised looks on the student's faces when they saw how their pictures turned out.

Film developing is dirt cheap; $4 roll at Costco, probably the same at Wal-Mart, and even less at online development places (especially when you're developing in bulk).

Yup... when I took photography class in HS, we used film manual cameras. With a P&S I doubt any of the kids are gonna learn the basics of shutter, iso and aperture when they can just let the camera do all the work and take casual snapshots instead of consciously thinking about how they want to take the photo.

 

[996GT2]

I personally have the LZ8, and while it's a great camera for casual shots, it's not the same as a film or digital SLR. Yes, it has the manual and semi-manual exposure modes, but those are of limited use as changing the aperture will not really give you shallow depth of field (due to the small sensor). In addition, noise becomes an issue after ISO 200, and pictures end up looking more like watercolor paintings than photographs by ISO 800. The manual shutter speed control is nice, though, and you could have some fun with that, but I would say film SLR is the way to go if the school can't afford digital SLRs. You can always buy a film scanner and scan the photos in if you wanted to edit them on a computer later.

 

[Madwand1]

Traditional technical photography, while an important skill for those going forwards, is probably by large wasted on the vast majority in middle school. And nothing will fail to get their interest more than manual film cameras. Learning about composition, lighting and how to use a limited P&S can however be useful to everyone.

Get some discounted last years' budget models with basic features, forget about sensor and lens quality for the most part, and have fun teaching them about photography while not getting hung up on the transient details of the equipment.

 

[twistedlogic]

Originally posted by: Madwand1
Traditional technical photography, while an important skill for those going forwards, is probably by large wasted on the vast majority in middle school. And nothing will fail to get their interest more than manual film cameras. Learning about composition, lighting and how to use a limited P&S can however be useful to everyone.

Very good point. Not many students are going to care about all the technical mumbo jumbo. And the ones that are interested can be shown with your D90 what a DSLR is capable of.

You can teach them that the gear doesn't always matter, thats its more about composition, framing, and lighting. Teach them that the most important aspect of photography is whats behind the camera.

 

[jdwright]

What we're talking about here is a two week class/club situation. My goal for the class is not so much to prepare them to be highly technical shooters. It is mainly to give them a taste of how different settings can affect the resulting photo and some basics of composition. If they become interested and want more technical skill, there are elective classes at our high school that would fit the bill.

@Madwand1: Your comment is basically what I had in mind. In the past I have sent kids to a dark classroom and had them play with long exposure and flashlights, or sent them out to do thin depth of field shots, etc. Stuff they might be able to do with their own cameras.

@996GT2 and others: Thanks for the update on the Lz8. Again I haven't really settled on a camera, but I'm leaning toward something along these lines. I can appreciate the passion about the film cameras, but I don't think they fit into the basic time frame of the class. The idea is mostly to get them excited about taking pictures =).

 

[shortylickens]

UPDATE!
We need one.

What happened?

 

[jdwright]

I'm currently looking at the Finepix s1500. 33-396mm, 2.8-5, Some fun macro settings, etc. I think this is probably the direction we'll go, and from newegg at $165, it's about as well equipped as I'll get. I'm not that concerned with IQ - I think it will be fine for my needs.

So there you have it!

BTW, I still haven't made the purchase (class isn't until after 1st of the year). So, if you have further thoughts, I'm open to them =).

J