Buying adviceCamera for my son for Christmas, wait for Black Friday or buy now?

Hi all, sorry if this has been asked a hundred times. My son is 15 and has got really into photography on his phone, mostly his mates skateboarding and the odd sunset. I'd like to get him a proper camera for Christmas. Budget is about £600, maybe £700 at a push.

Two questions really. What should I be looking at? Someone at work said a Canon R50 but I don't know if that's any good for skateboarding. And is it worth waiting for Black Friday, or do prices go up before and then "down" to the same price? I don't want to wait and then find they've all sold out.

Thanks in advance, Rachel

R50 is fine for that. Buy it when you see a decent price. The Black Friday "deals" on entry-level kits are often just the normal price with a red sticker on it.

mfrost said:

often just the normal price with a red sticker on it

Honestly this. Last year I watched a couple of kits from October through to December and one of them went UP by £40 in early November and then "dropped" back to where it started lol. Cashback is usually where the real money is, the big brands tend to run something around then.

For skateboarding though Rachel I'd look at used. £600 gets you a lot more camera at MPB than new

Thanks both. Used makes me a bit nervous, if it goes wrong two days after Christmas I'm the one getting the blame lol. Do they come with any guarantee? And how do you know it hasn't been dropped off a skate ramp by the last owner, which is exactly what will happen to it in our house

12 months on everything I've bought from them, and I've bought... a lot. Dont tell my partner

rachel82 said:

Used makes me a bit nervous

Used every time. A second hand a6400 with the kit lens is well under £600 and itll track a skateboard no bother. Skaters are quick but theyre not swallows

I have the R50 and it's awesome for a first camera!! Tracks my nephew on his scooter no problem. One thing though, get him a faster lens than the kit one at some point, the RF 50 1.8 is like $200 and the difference is crazy

OneMoreLens said:

Cashback is usually where the real money is

This. Black Friday here is heaps of noise and the only real saving I've ever had was cashback on a lens. Also seconding the a6400, my 6700 is the grown up version of it and a teenager will wreck the kit lens long before he outgrows the body lol

rachel82 said:

is it worth waiting for Black Friday

If it's a gift with a deadline, no. I buy gear for the business every year and the pattern is always the same. The popular kits sell through in the last week of November, and by early December you're paying more for whatever's left, or you're getting a bundle with a bag and a slow memory card you didn't want.

What I'd do: buy in October or early November from a big retailer, not a marketplace seller. Keep the receipt somewhere you'll actually find it. If the price drops before Christmas, a lot of the big shops will price match or let you return it unopened and rebuy. You get the deal without the stress of hunting stock on the night.

Also check the return window covers Christmas. Most extend it for gifts bought from November, but not all of them, and you don't want him opening a dud on the 25th with the return period already gone.

That's the only Black Friday strategy that's never burned me, man.

honestly a 15 yr old shooting skating is going to want video too. check whatever you pick does decent 4k and has a mic input, half of skate stuff is video now and the audio of the board on concrete is like half the vibe. ask him what his mates use maybe? kids know this stuff better than us lol

Oh he definitely films as well, I hadn't thought of that. So the R50 or a used a6400 seem to be the main ones? Which would you pick if it was your kid?

R50. Simpler menus, and the screen flips right round so he can film his mates and himself.

mfrost said:

R50.

I'd say the a6400 myself, only because there's fifty years of cheap old lenses he can adapt to it once he gets the bug... but I'm biased, I've a drawer full of the stuff and a teenager with a camera is exactly the sort of person who'll have a whale of a time with a £40 Helios. Just saying

Well I went for the R50 kit in the end, found it for £629 with a bag thrown in. It's hidden on top of the wardrobe. Thanks everyone, really appreciate it

Good call.

Good choice. Now hide the receipt better than I hide mine