Best low budget camera for beginner youth photographer

[CasChat]

Helllo!! I am 100% new to the camera thing so I’m needing some help! My 12 year old son has taken up photography as a hobby and has done some wildlife / bird photos as well as bucking bull photos at  a local rodeo. He currently has the Rebel T5, but it was used model that I had gotten him and photos are starting to look less great the more he uses it so I’m thinking it’s time to replace it.  I am wondering if someone could point me in the right direction for what camera model to be looking at that would capture the photos he takes most of. He does also do some portraits and family photos, but his main focus and interest has been rodeo and wildlife. I honestly know nothing about what to even look for in a camera to purchase one so any help here would be great :)!

[Tronhard]

Hi Cas and welcome to the forum:
I think the first thing is to bring your son into the conversation, given your admitted ignorance in this area, and the fact that he is the person using the camera. What would be helpful is an actual budget value - low budget is not very specific.  We need an actual value to give you the best options.
Can I suggest you both read the following article which is a guide for those considering camera purchases:
The questions one need to consider when buying camera gear 

I will say that this seems more like a lens issue than a camera one, and I would be interested in his perspective in that.

[March411]

Good day CasChat.

As Trevor mentioned some idea of what you would like to spend would be helpful. I am going to assume that you would like to consider mirror-less as that is the prevailing system and at your sons age one that he could build on without being concerned about the system going obsolete.

If your son intends to photograph wildlife at a minimum he would want a lens that is 400mm, most wildlife photographers want a little more reach but that is a good starting point.

Canon's RF100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM @ $650 US may be a good choice for outdoor photography such as wildlife and sports but @ f5.6 won't help much indoors without good light. Keep an eye on the Canon refurbished for lenses, they are priced well and you can purchase the Canon extended warranty (CarePak). The lower end of this lens being 100mm, he can also use the lens for portraits

As for the body, you will get what you pay for as it pertains to functions and features. Canon has a wide range of bodies and they all have the ability to take great images. Currently Canon refurbished has a R8 with a kit lens for just under $1400 US that would be a good investment for your son. It has a good feature set, is durable and overall has positive reviews.

Refurbished EOS R8 RF24-50mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM Lens Kit 

These are just some ideas since the budget is an open discussion. Personally if I was purchasing for my child the R8 would be a great starting point.

All that that being said I own an R50 that has worked well for me while traveling and hiking, it's produced some beautiful images. It's small, not what I would call sturdy and pretty lean when it comes to features but a great travel companion when I want to go light.

[CasChat]

Is the shutter speed good on the r8? He needs something that has good continuous speed for taking sport photos as the rodeos photos are all fast action. Especially the bulls. 

[Tronhard]

Hi again Cas:
Budget?   There is little point in us suggesting equipment if what we come up with is outside your funds?

[stevet1]

CasChat 

What you are looking for is called continuous shooting speed.

Almost all cameras coming out today have a continuous shooting speed of at least 12-15 shots per second. The R50 comes in at 12, the R10 comes in at 15.

The R7 is at 15 with the mechanical shutter and 30 with the electronic shutter. The R8 is capable of 40 shots per second using the electronic shutter.

But speed is not the only consideration. Think about it. In one second, you can fire off 30 pictures. You look them over, and decide you like one of them, but you've got 29 left over that you've either got to store somewhere, or delete. You multiply that by 5 or 6 situations, and you're talking about hundreds of pictures to deal with.

I personally feel that 15 shots in a second is plenty fast enough. That's the blink of an eye; but then, I'm not a professional and that's not how I make my living.

It's just something to take into consideration.

Steve Thomas

[March411]

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@CasChat wrote:

Is the shutter speed good on the r8? He needs something that has good continuous speed for taking sport photos as the rodeos photos are all fast action. Especially the bulls.

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The burst rate on any of the cameras Steve noted will be good for action photography including the R8. Your son should have no issues capturing the action.

One other factor to what Steve noted in his post is the quality and speed of the of the card used to capture/store the images. The speed of the cameras burst could overwhelm the SD card. When looking at your budget take the expense of the cards into account. As an example, and this is a good card, the SanDisk 128GB Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-II Memory Card - C10, U3, V90, 8K, 4K, Full HD Video, SD Card is about $130, a SanDisk 64GB Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-II Memory Card - C10, U3, V90, 8K, 4K, Full HD Video, SD Card is around $70. Since you are concerned that your son has a good burst rate a larger fast card may be appropriate.

This guy is a little over the top but offers a good review, he does talk about burst rate and SD cards.