I'm looking for a camera for my son. He is 2 1/2 years old. Always grabbing one of my p&s and clicking away. Obviously doesn't understand how to use everything but understands when you press the button a picture is taken and he likes it. Like to review them with me on the computer after and is enjoyable for both of us. i can't seem to find much real reviews on any of the kids cameras i've looked at. The lego/digital blue model and kidizoom are the 2 main players from what i have seen. Image quality would be nice but i realize at this price point and age level that may not be possible. Can anyone point me in the right direction to a good review or if anyone has purchased anything like these 2 that would be great.
I've had a few "kids cameras" for my girls and they have all been crap that got thrown out. They required custom software just to download the files and if the batteries died before doing so, you lost the images. I'm not saying there aren't good ones out there, but for the same money you can likely get a much better, older P&S, second-hand. I see decent cams on the local CL for $40 or $50 all the time.
In the end I just handed them my old Fuji FinePix 2600. They haven't broken it yet and have often taken some nice pics. They are 7 & 8, though...
My kids had the Fisher Price cameras at that age. I guess for a kids camera, they are okay - large, bright/colorful, rubberized grip, optical viewfinder, terrible picture quality, one out of the three broke pretty quickly.
I'd probably just give them the old p&s.
I agree that getting him an older P&S would probably better. I'm a Canon guy and I've seen A60 (2 MP) for $20 on CL, right now I see an 3 MP Canon for $30. An older A series is really cheap. Heck even the newer A590IS was only $50 used here, but I think that sold right away. I'm sure every brand has some older models for cheap, just hop on CL and try out before you buy.
Many friends have had the 'kids' cameras and advised against them for the reasons stated above. Canadian Tire often has some great deals on digital cameras... I recently bought my son a little Kodak camera that came with a memory card for about $70. He absolutely loves having his 'own' camera! Good luck!
I spent $60 on the rubber Fisher Price cam. Complete waste of money.
Then I got tired of the G9s limitations, so my daughter has been using that since she was 2.5 years old. At 4.5 now, she also has a 430EX and is getting good with bounce flash.
I looked at the "kid" cameras and they all seem to be complete garbage. My daughter's 3 and she has a Sony DSC-V1 a friend gave her; it's a tough little camera and has survived so far, and has the ability to actually make some decent shots.
Don't buy the kid's cameras. I bought a few of them and they were all bad: you couldn't tell what was on the screen, and they were so slow whatever my son tried to take a picture of, was long gone by the time it actually fired.
I ended up buying a $100 P&S (a Samsung) from Toys R Us, and it has been great. I bought it for my son when he was 2-1/2. I considered one of the waterproof/shockproof Olympuses, but at the price for the Samsung, I decided that if it broke I wouldn't be too upset, but it's still working after nearly 2 years.
sav1977 wrote:
Then I got tired of the G9s limitations, so my daughter has been using that since she was 2.5 years old. At 4.5 now, she also has a 430EX and is getting good with bounce flash.
And here I was wondering what would be the minimum age to get my daughter started in photography, thanks for answering that
I'd pick a used water-proof/drool-proof p&s, the type with rubberised grips and padding, give it a really good wash and let her go nuts.
Although it is a little spendy, I have considered getting my 19 month old a camera of her own for Christmas. She already understands how to take a picture and look for the review. Here is a nice shock resistant and waterproof P&S (I just wish they would have put a better LCD on it):
At 2-1/2, my son was able to turn the camera on, set the dial, take a picture, then press the buttons to display the picture on the LCD. And if he wanted to show you a particular picture he had taken a while back, he could scroll through the pictures and locate the one he was looking for.
