New 520's all working well

I mentioned in a previous post that I teach a small photography class at my daughter's middle school, and that the school bought 6 520's last month. We've used them on two outings so far, once in nasty rain at a farm (I gave each kid a large microfiber cloth from Costco to keep the cameras dry) and today in great sunshine in town. The cameras work great, no problems.

The most difficult thing is keeping the settings straight. I'm amazed what settings they manage to change without even trying, like today when one camera was getting near black photos and I thought it might be malfunctioning until I noticed it was on shadow priority metering. So I do regular settings checks, and periodically ask them to tell me what shutter speed and f stop they are at (to avoid shooting all day at iso 1600 and f22, for instance).

I've been very pleased with the image quality. In fact, between my 420, my 620 and these 520's, I think it's a little more fun to use the 520.

Some sample shots below from various students...

Trespassing...



Watch your hands...



One student was showing us a horse she cares for...



Rooster in rain...



The kids like all kinds of close-ups...



Hard to argue with the weather today...



Where Sarah Palin spent a few nights...



Lonesome dandelion..



A couple wanted to shoot from the trees. I handed the cameras to them after the climbing...



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John Krumm
Juneau, AK

Wonderful shots, wonderful camera. It's nice to hear that the class is working out well. What cases did you end up getting for them? Just curious.

Regards, Conrad

John,

I'm glad you're able to provide this opportunity to these kids...they are lucky to have you.
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Justin
E-1 +12-60 + 70-300
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinger

that lonesome dandelion is a very nice pic!

Photography is a hobby, nay, passion for life. I'm glad to hear that these kids have you to mentor them. The dandelion picture has great potential.

Regards

Alan
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Alan Atendido
E-500, E-510, 14mm-42mm, 40-150mm, 12mm-60mm SWD, FL-36

Ah, John:
You make the ex-teacher (32 yrs in Da South BronX) in me proud !

Looks like fun...

Love Vjim

32 years? You must be magic : ). I'm a former High School English teacher, not too many years, and should probably get back into it before my wife makes me take a greeter job at Walmart.

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John Krumm
Juneau, AK

I think we ordered the ones recommended here, the Lowepro 120's, something like that. Not here yet...district orders take forever.

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John Krumm
Juneau, AK

these are great,, I have the same camera,, I think it was fantastic, you were able to get these for these students tell your students, other adults in US are also trying to use this camera to make great shots, it does not come the first time, it take practice ,
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Brad Ross

Great pictures! You may have some talent on your hands. Good luck with the class and my hats off to your kids. The dandelion pic is very artistic!

Thanks Justin. It's a fun little arts oriented charter school. In addition to photography they've had a "rock band" class (learn one song pretty well in 8 weeks, perform it for the school), a wood shop class, and a digital storytelling class that has turned into mostly a stop-motion animation class.

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John Krumm
Juneau, AK

I thought it was cool too. I took them down to the cemetery where there are usually massive dandelions this time of year, but the groundskeeper was too quick with the mower.

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John Krumm
Juneau, AK

Thanks Alan
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John Krumm
Juneau, AK

Thanks Brad. Certainly does take practice. I have a whole bunch of f16 shots from my first week with the 420, thinking I needed to use "sunny 16."

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John Krumm
Juneau, AK

Thanks, some of them do have good eyes for composition, and they like to experiment, which is key. On our first day my daughter used my wife's Lx3 to shoot this reflection shot I thought was kind of neat...



And last fall we just used point and shoots and got some decent shots, like this one with an Olympus swim cam...



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John Krumm
Juneau, AK

Nice pics! I have taken several art courses over the years. The classes I learned the most from taught composition first and technical skills second. Anyone can learn to use a tool. An artist takes it to another level. This is evident in thier compostion and technique. It looks like you are taking an artist's path to teaching your students. Those kids are lucky to have you. We need more teachers who will go outside the textbook to teach their students. Keep up the good work.

What lovely images. Agree with Vurelis... Work on the person and the tool becomes an extension of the person.

Regards,

Alan

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Alan Atendido
E-500, E-510, 14mm-42mm, 40-150mm, 12mm-60mm SWD, FL-36

Great Teacher! Kids have a different perspective and view on what is interesting in their eyes. I also let my 10 year old shoot with my 520 and I'm surprised by the things she captures that I didn't notice even when we are shooting in the same area.

More power to you!!!
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Done my first 10,000