Inexpensive Camera for 6 yr old boy?

[NaplesRI]

Can anyone give advice on a "decent" camera for a 6 yr old boy? I'd love to spend no more than $50-$60 if possible. He won't be gentle, but he does know how to take pictures, so I'd like to take a chance on this.

I don't want to buy a Fisher Price or other "kid" camera, I want one that will take a decent pic, but in case it's a flop I dont want to have spent a lot.
Any advice or recommendations?

 

[JanB]

There are a couple of Kodak EasyShare models in the $75 to $85 price range. That's just a little bit more money than you have in mind. But Kodak is a reliable brand and seems to be easy to use. We gave one to our pre-teen cousin a couple of years ago.

It won't necessarily be impervious to a 6-yr-old's abuse. But a protective case would help a lot with that.

I would look on Amazon or Wal-Mart websites to get an idea of the models and features.

 

[encinc]

We bought a discontinued HP camera at one of the local "big box" stores for around $50. So far, it is standing up well to my 6 year old's use. He loves having his own camera, and some of the pics have actually turned out better than ours. I'd say your best bet is to watch for clearance specials.

 

[ZoZo]

I'd just buy him a couple of disposable cameras. They actually take fairly good quality photos, and you can get them for $7 to $8 each (try Costco). No need to invest in a "real" camera for a child that age, especially since you don't know how it's going to work out.

 

[dbarker]

Kellogg's is running a promotion right now. Send in so many tokens and get a Disney disposable camera. I am saving tokens to get DH10 his own camera for our vacation in June.

 

[TheWog]

you can check a Big Lots or similar type store. They sometimes have cameras for around that price or less. Circuit City may also have something in that range for their going out of business sale. Do you have an old film camera? We did that for our son when he was that age when we got a digital and he loved it.

 

[poohfriend77]

We got a Kodak Easyshare for my DD for Christmas 2007, just before she turned 5. It still works great a year later. We probably paid around $80, but they are on sale all the time, and you might find an older model on clearance somewhere even cheaper.

A couple tips that worked for us: We got her a neckstrap, and she knows she has to have it around her neck before she takes a photo. This eliminates a lot of the accidental drops (although it has bounced a couple times and works fine). We also bought a padded case, and she's SUPPOSED to keep it in there when she's not using it. That has helped keep it in good shape.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We bought DS8 a Kodak something, I don't know exactly what model it is. We got it refurbed from Kodak's website, but if you don't want refurbed, they also had some that were clearanced, I assume they were the ones the were older and had never sold or whatever. We paid around $70 or so, and he loves it! We did buy him a neckstrap for it, he carried it for 10 days at WDW with no problems.

 

[saxman]

My vote is for disposable, especially one that takes outdoor photos. My DS 5 used one last year and took nice photos for a child.

 

[tinkerlisa]

Kellogg's is running a promotion right now. Send in so many tokens and get a Disney disposable camera. I am saving tokens to get DH10 his own camera for our vacation in June.

My son has enough tokens for his! He is super excited. he says that he is happy he can have is own camera for our trip in Sept!!!


Ohhh yeah dont know if somebody already posted this but kodak also has an underwater disposable camera! I used it before and took some cool pics with it! i plan on getting one for my next trip.

 

[NaplesRI]

I think the only problem with a disposable is that you have to bring it in to be developed, right?

He's used to seeing the pictures on the camera right away as everyone in the family has a digital camera.

How do the disposable digitals work? Can you erase a bad pic and take it over? DO you upload to your computer or have to send it in to "be developed"?

The disposable may be a good idea, as he will probably be too excited to take many pictures, plus if he ever lost it, he would cry, and Grandma and Grandpa would not be happy with their decision.

 

[*Valdez*]

My suggestion would be to buy one of those Disney Digital Cameras for kids. I bought one for my niece for her last bday on clearance for about $19 regular only about $38. It holds up well and takes pretty good pics. It is also nice that it has Mickey on it. Good luck, but I am sure he would be good with almost any camera.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SAKS9U/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&s=photo

 

[Lori1960]

I would check ebay for a digiatal camera.I would not buy disobale cameras cause then you will need to get them delevoped and that will cost alot and you wont find out until after they are devleoped if any pictures are good at least with a digiatal one you will see the pictures ahead of time and you can delete what ones arent good

 

[mommyof3rookies]

We got our kids a couple disposables each for our trip. We've used these in the past in a pinch and MOST of the pictures come out great for a film camera. But more importantly they will have pictures THEY took themselves and they'll learn what they may have done wrong(like not staying steady for the shot) and next time they'll be better at it. We all started on film cameras and worked our way up from there, why take the learning experience away. I learned alot from film cameras before I went digital and now I have my digital slr, I would like my kids to learn the same way, without spending big bucks in the process. I have 3 kids, each disposable was $6, they each have 2, then developing will be around $4 for single prints, that's $60 instead of around $180 for 3 digitals and memory cards. My kids do love to see the picture instantly but there's a lesson to learn with not having instant gratification, IMO.

 

[thriftynotcheap]

I just bought one of these from buy.com $19.99 at 75% off for my 5 year old. It a pirates of the carribbean digital camera. I thought it was perfect for our trip!! HTH!

Wouldn't let me post link. So go to buy.com & search for Disney-3MP-Digital-Camera

 

[NaplesRI]

I just bought one of these from buy.com $19.99 at 75% off for my 5 year old. It a pirates of the carribbean digital camera. I thought it was perfect for our trip!! HTH!

Wouldn't let me post link. So go to buy.com & search for Disney-3MP-Digital-Camera

I think those are so cute- I was looking at them on Amazon- but they got some really bad reviews- have you tried it yet?

 

[3boymthr]

We gave our kids our old Kodak digital. We then bought ourselves a new Kodak. We chose Kodak because it was the same brand we had so I knew how to use it and because then I wouldn't have to deal with multiple types of media cards. We chose to give them digital because it only cost me for the 10 pictures out 100 that they took that were actually worth printing.

 

[thriftynotcheap]

I think those are so cute- I was looking at them on Amazon- but they got some really bad reviews- have you tried it yet?

Sorry Naples. I posted right after I purchased. I did notice the reveiws, but also noticed that the reviews were about more than one camera. Apparently Amazon is known for linking more than one product's reviews together. I'll post after I get it, although I did do the SSS so it might be a few days.

 

[*Valdez*]

I think those are so cute- I was looking at them on Amazon- but they got some really bad reviews- have you tried it yet?

The one I bought for my niece was the silver Mickey Mouse one, I got it for her in February of 2008 and it is still going. The pictures come out decent for a 2MP camera and it holds up well. Her parents love it. Just thought I would let you know.