Afternoon all,

My 14-year old son has had a strong interest in all things aviation for some time now and over the last 6 months he has become a keen plane spotter (not my cup of tea at all, but there are far worse things a 14 year old could be doing with his spare time!)

It's his birthday in a couple of weeks and he wants a camera. Despite being dragged hundreds of miles to Jessops in Leicester, on many occasions, by my Father many years ago (he himself was a very keen photographer with his own dark room etc.) I have absolutely no idea where to start and Jessops have now disappeared from our High Streets. I'm not wanting to spend a fortune, after all this might be something he moves on from in 12 months time, but I want a decent quality camera that will allow him to take some great photos at airports and air shows.

Also any advice on compatibility with laptops or any other download facility would be welcomed. He doesn't have a laptop at present, but needs one so anything that may come as a package would be ideal.

I hope I'm not asking too much or indeed, being too vague, but I know there are some keen photographers on here so any advice is very much welcomed.

Thanks all,

Cheshire

I have a Canon SX60 Powershot Digital SLR thats been very good .. (I rarely use it apart from holidays as my phone camera does a splendid job for everyday stufff)

I have a spare battery so when out and about if it dies then 5 seconds later its back up and running.

I don`t profess to be an expert on cameras but reckon this style of camera would be a good starter camera, and am sure there would be some great 2nd hand bargains out there on E-bay (other auction sites are available) etc.

You have just made me look at it and I found both batteries dead so am charging them as I type

If you live in or around Burnley, Burnley Camera Club meet regularly and its members will help.
https://www.burnleycameraclub.com/home

Wilkinsons has closed in Burnley and their nearest shop is in Preston.
https://www.wilkinson.co.uk/products/?g ... gL4evD_BwE

Try second hand from MPB. Good selection of cameras from all major brands with lenses and accessories. First camera could be a fixed lens point and shoot, or a cheaper mirrorless with a kit zoom. Just try amd ensure its a camera system he can add to and increase the versatiltiyty of over time. Also not too big or it'll never get taken out. Small interchangeable lens system like Fuji, Panasonic, Sony for my money.

You might need to spend a lot of money on an SLR, and a suitably large lens, if you're wanting decent shots at airshows. Second hand would be the obvious option

A compromise might be a super zoom bridge camera. The sensor isn't as good as an SLR but the built in zoom lenses are insane. Mine (Nikon p950) zooms to 80x magnification but there are even better ones out there now.

Prices are much lower too

I got mine from this place. They import them for a low price and provide a UK warranty. Think I got at least £150 off mine compared to anywhere else I could find
https://www.cotswoldcameras.co.uk

These shots were taken on the full zoom. Not bad picture quality for the price point. A good SLR would be better of course but I can't be bothered lugging all the gear up mountains

Croydon Claret wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 26, 2025 9:30 am

You might need to spend a lot of money on an SLR, and a suitably large lens, if you're wanting decent shots at airshows. Second hand would be the obvious option

A compromise might be a super zoom bridge camera. The sensor isn't as good as an SLR but the built in zoom lenses are insane. Mine (Nikon p950) zooms to 80x magnification but there are even better ones out there now.

Prices are much lower too

I got mine from this place. They import them for a low price and provide a UK warranty. Think I got at least £150 off mine compared to anywhere else I could find
https://www.cotswoldcameras.co.uk

These shots were taken on the full zoom. Not bad picture quality for the price point. A good SLR would be better of course but I can't be bothered lugging all the gear up mountains

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Great photos - great advice.

Great pics Croydon , I see Barclay Hills has changed a lot since I last lived there ........

dandeclaret is your man, a fine photogrpaher and expert a long lenses

I used to work in the field (on the technical side) and did some amateur photography in the past. Highly suggest second hand / used camera and a nice piece of glass (lens). Lens' will outlast the camera many times over if kept well, though it can be a bit confusing early on as you may get sucked into a brand because of compatibility, though there are plenty of lens adapters around.

A DLSR has a mountain of settings, some of it can be quite overwhelming at first, especially when you are trying to get used to the golden triangle of aperture/ISO/time. So when starting off, the latest and greatest technology comes second if you can't get your head around the basics.

I was always a Canon person just purely because I had to maintain a lot of them in a previous line of work (Nikon heads please lets not start a war ) and you could pick up a nice used 5D/7D body and a long but cheap Sigma lens to get started and take it from there. I am at work at present but might try and find some models on ebay for you in the few hundred quid rang. I really would not be spending more than 3-500 on a beginner setup, unless the lens was a bargain.

Ebay is the place or fb market place some real bargains out there secondhand.

If you can find a secondhand bridge camera, then that would be a great starter. They tend to have quite a good focal length on them which you will need for air shows. The Canon sc70 was mentioned above and they certainly a capable piece of kit. There are many secondhand bodies and lenses available but it can get a bit expensive for some of you starting out and might not stick at it so I’ll try a bridge camera, if he likes it in a year or two time you can upgrade to a DSLR and zoom lens.

Thanks everyone, some fantastic tips, pointers and advice there which has helped me narrow things down!

You can always rely on Up The Clarets!

UTC!

Cheshireclaret wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 26, 2025 10:24 pm

Thanks everyone, some fantastic tips, pointers and advice there which has helped me narrow things down!

You can always rely on Up The Clarets!

UTC!

Great thread, I found one of my batteries dead as a Dodo and wouldn't charge ... bought a spare on Amazon that was delivered this afternoon ... found it was 2 batteries so now I have 3 So thank you for making me look at my camera before we go to Devon in a fortnight

For a youngster, don't go down the DSLR route, Croydon has it nailed with the P950 type of camera. DSLR's / mirrorless are heavy, expensive and he needs to gain experience before you jump in.

Best review website out there is: https://www.dpreview.com

Braver then me…... by Andy Pritchard, on Flickr

For record shots of Aircraft a second hand DSLR with a zoom lens of x to 200mm is a decent starting point. 2 batteries minimum and a strap so he doesn't drop it.

Bridge camera's are also very good, have more zoom and less complicated to use. They are perfectly reasonable for general photography.
Downloading is very simple, you can take out the card and plug it directly into a laptop and drop everything with a couple of clicks. Free software in Windows will get him started.

The Sony alpha range second hand can be got relatively cheaply and decent starter DSLR

Long zoom bridge cameras have always been my choice for non-professional in the past.

Panasonic Lumix did a great range of stuff with over 60x zoom.

I did quite a bit of long range cricket photos but in end it was all a pain in the arse. Had to use the your disk card from the camera into a PC then use some form of software to process and edit the images before sharing via various media.

My choice at the moment would be to get hold of a Google Pixel 9 Pro phone. Does everything a latest phone should do and the cameras are top notch. The In built editing and immediate sharing via social media can't be ignored.

Arnside.

Straight from a Google Pixel 6.

You won't go too far wrong buying used with some buyer protection. I sell cameras privately and of the 1000+ cameras and lenses I've bought and sold over the past 10 years only 3 or 4 have had a problem. Bridge cameras with super zooms are not my thing so cannot advise but my advice is don't buy new and do your research. As Andy (ALP) says DSLR's and mirrorless with big zooms can weigh kilos and can get very expensive for top end stuff.

You won't go too far wrong buying used with some buyer protection. I sell cameras privately and of the 1000+ cameras and lenses I've bought and sold over the past 10 years only 3 or 4 have had a problem. Bridge cameras with super zooms are not my thing so cannot advise but my advice is don't buy new and do your research. As Andy (ALP) says DSLR's and mirrorless with big zooms can weigh kilos and can get very expensive for top end stuff. That photo of someone atop a plane was taken on some very expensive gear probably in the £000's. Be prepared to accept that some shots you simply won't get with bridge cameras but he should still get some some decent shots in good light.

Yes, not a pro image but not bad from a cheap camera phone.

Hi Chesire Claret

Being an avgeek for over 35yrs & taken many images of aircraft around the world. Best advice I can give is with someone who is starting out taking pictures of aircraf, is to build up your equipment but also thinking what kind of shot he is after. Lots of locations can be very remote and some with easy access.

Myself use a Canon DSLR with a Canon Lseries 100-400mm lens. This gives me the option to shot landing and take off shots from a distance and also taxing and close range shots.

If you require locations around Manchester to take your lad to. The Viewing park of the Runway pub at Manchester isnt the place during the day as the sun is facing you. Your better off located on the Southside of the airport with the Sun behind you.

There are plenty of Facebook groups for Manchester Airport Photographers and the avaition community will gladly help you.


Commerical
DSLR - is more advanced users and this video is worth a watch for advice.

https://youtu.be/Njm5g-og5lw?si=ssx_LJ9bFU1e4UHK

Military

https://youtu.be/0u6iG2FIc2c?si=iPsPaWyK6nzAyoUY