Any such thing as a decent digital camera for around $50?

[Jenny-momof3]

My 11 year old desperately wants her own camera. But man...this kid is SOO hard on stuff! She doesn't break things intentionally...she's just one of those kids that's really rough on things.

I'm just not willing to spend big bucks for something that might get broken fairly quickly. If I see that in a year or so that she's taken good care of it...then I will have no problem upgrading her to something better.

In the meantime...I'm trying to find a digital camera for her that doesn't look like you need to connect the dots in the pictures. Any suggestions for something in the $50 range? Or does this simply not exist?

 

[junebugs]

I just bought my 9 year old the Kodak EasyShare CD22 8.1 MP Digital Camera - Pink, from Toys R Us. It was 59.99, but I had a $10 off coupon and free shipping.

It arrived today and looks nice. It's small, but that was a selling point for me. It also came with a free camera case. I have a Kodak EasyShare myself and have always liked it.

I won't know how this one works until the holidays but it is cute and the price was right for me.

 

[Mkaz]

I was going to suggest the same thing junebugs. Kodak Easyshare is a nice camera for a young kid.

 

[bits-n-pieces]

I just bought my 9 year old the Kodak EasyShare CD22 8.1 MP Digital Camera - Pink, from Toys R Us. It was 59.99, but I had a $10 off coupon and free shipping.

It arrived today and looks nice. It's small, but that was a selling point for me. It also came with a free camera case. I have a Kodak EasyShare myself and have always liked it.

I won't know how this one works until the holidays but it is cute and the price was right for me.

My 11yo DD has had her easy share for over 2 years and it has been a great camera I have even borrowed it when I don't want to lug my DSLR around. She has been really good with it but, it has been dropped a few times and it still works great!

 

[FLAngie]

I just bought my 9 year old the Kodak EasyShare CD22 8.1 MP Digital Camera - Pink, from Toys R Us. It was 59.99, but I had a $10 off coupon and free shipping.

.

Where did you find the $10 off coupon? And did you spend the $100 to get the free shipping or is there another code for that?

Thanks!

 

[erincon23]

Kohl's will have their pre-holiday sales starting soon, I'd guess. A couple of years ago, I bought each of my boys a camera there -- they're DXG brand (one I've never heard of), and with all the Early Bird/Late Night discounts, I think they came to about $60 each. I think I've seen them more recently for less than that. They were nice cameras (one of the boys still has his and uses it; the other walked into the ocean at Castaway Cay with the camera and his cellphone in his swimsuit pockets), took good pictures, and seemed well built.

 

[junebugs]

Where did you find the $10 off coupon? And did you spend the $100 to get the free shipping or is there another code for that?

Thanks!

I got a promo code from retailmenot.com. A great site for online promo codes. But I checked and didn't see it there anymore. It must have expired. I did spend over $100 for the free shipping. They were having their buy 2 video games/get one free promo last weekend too. I guess I got lucky.

 

[FLAngie]

I got a promo code from retailmenot.com. A great site for online promo codes. But I checked and didn't see it there anymore. It must have expired. I did spend over $100 for the free shipping. They were having their buy 2 video games/get one free promo last weekend too. I guess I got lucky.

Thanks. I looked there first and was wondering if it was in a print ad instead since I didn't see a code. I love that site It sounds like you got a great deal!

 

[MrsPete]

In the meantime...I'm trying to find a digital camera for her that doesn't look like you need to connect the dots in the pictures. Any suggestions for something in the $50 range? Or does this simply not exist?

I teach photography, and I'm going to go with no, what you're describing does not exist. A digital camera in the $50 range is going to be very low quality and will give you low-grade, grainy pictures. A camera in that price range will not give good color saturation, and it will have a low-quality lens (so it'll be easy to get blurry pictures unless she holds very, very still).

However, for a child -- especially a child who's hard on things -- it might not be a bad choice. If she just wants to pop out images of her friends and won't particularly notice quality (and lots of people don't), then go ahead and get it for her. You might make a deal with her that if she proves herself with this one, takes care of it well for X amount of time, she can "move up" to a better one later.

Advice for shopping in this price range:

- Don't be afraid to look at refurbished cameras. They're budget-stretchers, and they're likely to be just as good as a $50 camera.
- Go for a model with AA batteries rather than a recharger. This'll cost less, and I think the ultra-small cameras with built-in rechargeable batteries aren't "quite there yet" as far as technology goes.
- Definitely look for an older model. Yeah, it won't have all the bells and whistles, but it'll get you more camera for the money. Other people have suggested Kodak Easy-Share. It's been around a while, so older models are definitely available. I have several myself (bought over a number of years), and all have been decent cameras.
- Pretty colors tend to cost money.

And consider this: For $50, you could have 10 disposable cameras. How long would that last her? Aside from the environmental impact, you wouldn't have to worry about her destroying the cameras, and the photograph quality may be better than a $50 camera.

And a deal that may no longer be available: Back when I first started teaching photography -- that's been 9 years now -- both Eckerds and CVS had a "kids camera" deal. You bought a camera for either $10 or $20 (more expensive version had a flash, making it good for both indoor and outdoor pictures). It was a film camera. When you "took up" the pictures, you returned it to their store and had the film developed. As long as you had the film developed with them, they'd give you FREE film and batteries for as many times as you brought the camera in. You couldn't change the film yourself because opening the camera required a special tool.

Of course, that's also back when the film developing people used to pop the AA batteries out of the disposable cameras and sell them for .10 each. Those deals may be gone-gone-gone by now.

 

[Mkaz]

Best Buy.com has a Kodak Easyshare C142 10.1 megapixel for $64.99 in their outlet section. It comes in either red or blue.

 

[PaulaSue]

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[3pletprincesses]

If you check at walmart they often get samsung PL series. I gave several young famly members that camera and have the same one and live it. However they sell fast so keep and eye on sales. It takes better photos then my expensive Sony.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

Both my kids have digital cameras from Goodwill, both under $15. They're older models, about 3mp. Certainly not up to today's top standards, but satisfactory for the job. (I remember when digital cameras first came out, my first Sony had 3mp... for $600! whoa! )

I actually have a couple spares I've likewise found at GW. If one gets lost/broken, not a huge deal.

When looking- bring along some AA batteries so you can see if they work. (I'm leary of the proprietory rechargeables because you don't know how long they'll last or if replacements are still available.)

Check with friends, too, to see if anyone's upgrading their own camera and looking to get rid of the older model.

 

[Robinrs]

I make my living on eBay taking pics so I always need a camera. I ALWAYS get them on Craigslist. In my town there is always someone upgrading so I get their "throwaways", mostly VERY good cameras.

My most recent is a $400 Olympus camera I bought from a nice man who couldn't figure it out, kept it shelved and sold it to me for $50!!

 

[beaucoup]

About a month ago, DH picked up a Kodak Z915 off of QVC.com clearance section for $79.99, however I don't see them listed anymore. 10X zoom; HD video; AA batteries; lots of scene modes. Now I see it listed for $199.99??

You could try places like Overstock.com. Sometimes they are refurbished but still find for a child.

 

[need2cruise]

Next Friday and Saturday Sears is having a camera on sale for $49.99 10mp. Might be worth checking out for you?

 

[Jenny-momof3]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Going to explore all of the above and see what I can come up with.

 

[mrodgers]

If you want quality for little money, I'd say used is definitely the way to go.

My 10 year old 2 MP Fuji camera takes much better pictures than I've seen from any $50-100 camera on the market today.

 

[kelly1218]

I was going to suggest the same thing junebugs. Kodak Easyshare is a nice camera for a young kid.

I am on my 3rd Kodak Easyshare camera...>I LOVE them.

Now... let me explain.... the first one my daughter shut her locker door on...and shattered the LCD screen and broke the lens....the 2nd one was dropped off the motorcycle.... the 3rd...well, we just had a horrible accident with the back door of the Explorer.

Honestly though...I will look into another one, I think $80 was the most I spent on one...and that was the last one which was a 12MP.

It took great pictures!!! I use it on Motorcycle runs...and I just used it for the Philly 3 day breast cancer walk.

 

[BoogasMom]

I am also in the market for a digital camera for my DS7. He asked for the DSi for Christmas but I found out he only wanted it for the camera and the fact that you can manipulate the pictures you take with it. So, I talked him into an actual camera and hopefully I can find a good deal on one that is much better quality than the one on the DSi at a much better price and then a software package that will allow him to manipulate his pictures (draw on them, morph them, etc.) on our PC.

All that to say, I looked on Amazon and they have tons of used digital cameras for sale at really great prices. If you don't mind used, you may want to look there! Just do a search for their digital point and shoot cameras and sort them by price.