Kid's camera that isn't a "kid's camera"

[pennyg]

I posted this in the budget board but it was suggested I also ask here.

We are looking at getting each of our girls (6 & 8) real cameras for our trip. DH says under $50 each but I think we could go to $75 if need be but I hope one of your suggestions might have a good Black Friday deal.

They do know how to take care of a camera, they have had one of the little rugged ones for years, it just takes very poor quality pictures and they are always disappointed when they see them. All they have to do is push the button.

Does anyone have experience with any inexpensive cameras that would be easy for them to use? They do not need a lot of bells and whistles (I'll probably check the camera to make sure they keep it on auto for shooting anyway). I will only have a week to teach them how to use them (focus, etc) before our trip.

Thank you for your help.

 

[havoc315]

Fearless RX100 photographer by Havoc315, on Flickr

 

[pennyg]

Thanks but those seem to be around $550 more than my budget...

 

[hakepb]

I doubt there will be anything great, so I would probably stay with Olympus or Fuji as a 1st choice. They seem to do better with low end cameras and have pleasing JPG engines. Samsung, Panasonic and possibly Canon next.

And while Sony and Nikon make really nice expensive cameras, their corporate structures only result in cheap cameras that are, well ...cheap in every way.
And I'd avoid names like GE and Vivitar

 

[LittleMissMagic]

That's a small budget. I think it's unlikely that you'll

The first camera that came to mind is the Nikon Coolpix S30 because it's waterproof and shockproof and small for little hands. That would be fun because they could take underwater photos. Still, it's a point-and-shoot camera, and I'm not sure if that's what you were hoping for. It runs about $100, but there might be a Black Friday deal, and you can buy in bundle on eBay and Amazon. Or you might get a good deal buying used.

Are they good sharers? Would they consider doubling their budget by agreeing to share? My sister and I are about the same age difference, and we learned pretty young that if we agreed to share, we could get nicer things. It usually ended up that one of us had a greater interest and everything just worked itself out.

 

[pennyg]

Thank you. We are just looking for a point and shoot. They can share, but they both are really interested in taking pictures. They have been sharing the little camera they have now, but it doesn't work when they are doing different things at the same time (both had field trips to different places on the same day last year). I also see this as a starter camera for them. If they prove they can keep up with it and take care of it, they will get a better one in a couple of years.

I was looking at the Sony Elph130 thinking it might have a fair price drop closer to BF.

Oddly enough, I had a Vivitar camera I used for 10 years without any problems. I got it in the 80's though so it was not digital, just 35 mm. It was a very easy little camera, simple flash.

My current camera is a 9yo Konica Minolta A200 that is on its last legs. It still takes great pictures, but I can't get any batteries to hold a charge in it for long and it is a bit heavy to cart around. A friend has a Sony Elph330 that she let me borrow and I loved it for most of ths shots I took. I ordered one for me for the trip so I don't burn through my phone battery taking pictures. Need that battery for MDE app.

 

[hakepb]

I think Elph is a Canon model line.

FWIW, yes Vivitar was a good film make back in the day. Now its a name owned by Sakar International (per wikipedia)

But most importantly, get an external battery pack for the phone. Then you plug it in and the phone gets a charge while its sitting in your pocket or purse.

Something like this: (just an example)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0013G8PTS
(That's about what I paid for a lower capacity one ain a local store)

 

[Frantasmic]

http://reviews.cnet.com/best-budget-cameras/

 

[pennyg]

I think Elph is a Canon model line.

FWIW, yes Vivitar was a good film make back in the day. Now its a name owned by Sakar International (per wikipedia)

But most importantly, get an external battery pack for the phone. Then you plug it in and the phone gets a charge while its sitting in your pocket or purse.

Something like this: (just an example)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0013G8PTS
(That's about what I paid for a lower capacity one ain a local store)

You are right. Just typed in the wrong thing.

 

[jiminyfan]

My son always got our hand me downs, but if you do not have any as it seems look for a cheap used camera.

Looking at my local Craigslist I see at least 5-10 cheap ones available, Ebay also isnt a bad place to look.

Since it is for children, I would recommend getting a fixed lens. We got my son a Fuji and it worked great while he was younger as it was one less thing to worry about. vitiar also produces good cheap cameras - Target has one for around $50.


Good Luck!

 

[pennyg]

Thank you

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

My kids each have their own P&S's but when we go out together they use my backup camera, its worthless sitting in my bag So I let them have some fun. I put it in AV and they know which settings to change...

 

[photo_chick]

YOu know, not too long ago I'd have said you won't get anything decent for $50 to $75 and you'd do just as well using a smartphone camera. But we picked up a Canon A1400 for my son to take to camp and I've been pretty impressed with it. It's very bare bones but has all the features most kids need and for the $60 we paid it's a solid quality little point and shoot. It's got a large enough aperture on the wide end (f/2.8) so that it does decently in low light and the noise is fairly low for a point and shoot. It also takes decent video (good for posting to the web, not for making a movie). There were other cameras with similar specs and performance in the price range but I chose this one for it's easy to use large buttons for the operation controls (they're labeled really well, too) which I think is a pretty large consideration when buying a camera for a kid.

There are tons of cameras out there though that will get the job done so figure out what kind of features are important to you. That will go a long way to finding the right fit.

 

[pennyg]

Thank you

 

[S. C.]

69.00 (47% off)
Canon Powershot ELPH 115 Digital Cameras

http://www.amazon.com/Camera-Photo-...K1H5165QJETEDQ8&pf_rd_i=20&pf_rd_p=1690286822