Need a camera for a 4yr old

[NaeNae]

I'm looking for a camera for my DGD4. She already has the fisher price, but we are wanting something smaller. She uses our camera's already. Any ideas?

 

[Disney*Dreamer]

A cheep point and shoot, or how about one of the little Disney digital cameras? My son is 6 and uses an old point and shoot. http://disneyshopping.go.com/webapp...N=0&Ntk=p_categoryID&Ntt=14682&Nu=p_productID

 

[wenrob]

Well, I was going to suggest the Kid Tuff ones but seems you have that covered, lol. My little ones are going to be three and I can't wait to get them those. Does DGD like it?

We never had the Disney digital ones but we did have the film versions for my DD and Niece when they each were five'ish. They did not last long at all and they were pretty careful with them. So I'd find as many reviews as you can as to whether they're tough enough.

Sorry I was no help, good luck!

 

[ChrisinNJ]

Well, I was going to suggest the Kid Tuff ones but seems you have that covered, lol. My little ones are going to be three and I can't wait to get them those. Does DGD like it?

We never had the Disney digital ones but we did have the film versions for my DD and Niece when they each were five'ish. They did not last long at all and they were pretty careful with them. So I'd find as many reviews as you can as to whether they're tough enough.

Sorry I was no help, good luck!

I didn't realize you have twins. My boy /girl twins are 7, will be 8 in November. My youngest is 4.

My DS loves to take pictures as well. I have been debating on getting him a small p&s camera. So far he uses mine, and he is pretty good with it too!

 

[wenrob]

I didn't realize you have twins. My boy /girl twins are 7, will be 8 in November. My youngest is 4.

My DS loves to take pictures as well. I have been debating on getting him a small p&s camera. So far he uses mine, and he is pretty good with it too!

Yep, b/g too, three at the end of Nov. They look nothing alike, lol. They're not quite ready for point and shoot as they still toss stuff when they're done.

Sorry....back on topic....

 

[ChrisinNJ]

Yep, b/g too, three at the end of Nov. They look nothing alike, lol. They're not quite ready for point and shoot as they still toss stuff when they're done.

Sorry....back on topic....

Mine are end of November too. November 27th. Thanksgiving this year. They were due on Jan 15th, but my water broke on Nov. 25th, which is both my hubby & his Dad's b-day. We almost had 4 people, 3 generations with the same birthday!

 

[NaeNae]

Well, I was going to suggest the Kid Tuff ones but seems you have that covered, lol. My little ones are going to be three and I can't wait to get them those. Does DGD like it?

We never had the Disney digital ones but we did have the film versions for my DD and Niece when they each were five'ish. They did not last long at all and they were pretty careful with them. So I'd find as many reviews as you can as to whether they're tough enough.

Sorry I was no help, good luck!

It has held up very good. It takes good pictures and is good since it has a view finder for each eye. Little ones have a hard time just looking with one eye. It's now time to pass the FP camera on to little sister, DGD2.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I don't have a child's camera suggestion other than it depends on age and desire to learn. For a 4yo I'd guess a simple, sturdy camera would do, but I'd make sure to try and find one that has really good battery life.

OT - Just wanted to chime in to say hi again to Nae Nae...

and to say that I also have boy/girl twins who are almost 11yo.

 

[Groucho]

A used basic PnS is probably fine. My 3-year-old uses our old Minolta X20, which has so-so image quality, but good enough for what he's doing - he's not exactly pixel-peeping yet! It's also good in that it doesn't have a lens that extends out of the body, just a small sliding "trap door" with a mirror behind it, the lens itself is hidden inside the body.

This has had a sensor that went bad and was fixed under warranty. I considered selling it as we were onto newer cameras by then, but it would have only fetched $35 or so on eBay last year. So, we hung onto it and it's worked out very well, he loves using it. It's probably going to be a better camera overall than the ones specifically designed for kids.

 

[thomas998]

I would stay away from the kiddie cameras... we bought our 5 year old a hello kitty camera thinking she would be happy... well she used it a few times and then didn't want to use it anymore. The reason, she was upset with the shutter lag and the poor quality of the pictures. Frankly I tried using it and if it was my only camera I would have stopped using it too.

I would suggest you give her your camera when you upgrade your own equipment. Our daughter is now owner of our old nikon D50 and quite happy. In the end if you want your kid to enjoy taking photographs you have to give them something that will work. A little cute camera that doesn't work worth a flip wont do anything but convince them not to take pictures.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I would stay away from the kiddie cameras... we bought our 5 year old a hello kitty camera thinking she would be happy... well she used it a few times and then didn't want to use it anymore. The reason, she was upset with the shutter lag and the poor quality of the pictures. Frankly I tried using it and if it was my only camera I would have stopped using it too.

I would suggest you give her your camera when you upgrade your own equipment. Our daughter is now owner of our old nikon D50 and quite happy. In the end if you want your kid to enjoy taking photographs you have to give them something that will work. A little cute camera that doesn't work worth a flip wont do anything but convince them not to take pictures.

I agree. I bought one of those Disney cameras last year when my good one broker, and couldn't stand the thing. I would never buy it for a child, because it just does not take good pictures.

 

[sherry7]

......I would suggest you give her your camera when you upgrade your own equipment. Our daughter is now owner of our old nikon D50 and quite happy....

Your 5 year old carries around a DSLR? I'm envisioning a small child with a camera almost as big as she is, lol. However, I'm impressed that she is able to use it properly.

To the OP...in my opinion, I'd look at ebay and get her a cheap, used digital camera. Odds are, it's going to get dropped anyway. Even if it's only a 3 megapixel camera, it's still going to print out decent 4x6's.

On our first trip to WDW, my DS was 12 years old. That was back in 2001, and digital cameras were still darned expensive then...I didn't even have one yet. He wanted to take pictures, so I bought a him a few cheap disposable cameras to use. Honestly, I'd have to say that it was a big waste of money, as he took some of the worst photos I've ever laid eyes on. He had fun though, so that's what matters in the end.

 

[Groucho]

Your 5 year old carries around a DSLR? I'm envisioning a small child with a camera almost as big as she is, lol. However, I'm impressed that she is able to use it properly.

I recently showed my three-year-old how to look through the viewfinder in my SLR. Now he always wants to. I also showed a few slightly older (maybe 6-7-year-old) kids of a friend who also got a kick out of it. My 3-year-old works his digital PnS pretty well, he could certainly handle an SLR, and probably better - his biggest problem with the PnS is shutter lag and holding the button down long enough.

I'm sure that most 5-year-olds could do fine with an SLR in Auto or P mode.

 

[fishynancy]

How about this one? It is cute..
It is Disney Princess Pix-Click Micro Digital Camera.
The deal i find for it is only $22.
http://www.dealstudio.com/searchdeals.php?deal_id=121809&ru=283

 

[fitzperry]

How about this one? It is cute..
It is Disney Princess Pix-Click Micro Digital Camera.
The deal i find for it is only $22.
http://www.dealstudio.com/searchdeals.php?deal_id=121809&ru=283

It's cute, but that's about it. My 5yo has one (or had, I have no idea where it is now). IIRC Dh bought it for her because it matched her mp3 player, which also didn't work well. Sorry to be harsh, but it was a total waste of money.

Battery life is atrocious. It has very little memory, and little kids like to push the shutter button A LOT. She would fill it up in 5 minutes (assuming it's the same one as my dd's, it only has internal memory and doesn't accept a memory card). Also, it's so small that she has difficulty holding it steady so virtually every picture she's ever taken with it is blurry (OTOH she takes pretty nice pictures with my dslr). I also wouldn't buy a child a camera without an lcd. In my experience, young kids are at least as interested in seeing the picture immediately after it was taken than they are in seeing it later on the computer or in a print.

I would think you could get a decent quality used digicam on eBay or Craigslist for not much more money that would function much better.

 

[atpatt]

My 4 year old has a vtech kiddie cam that he carries around, but it is pretty crappy as far as pic and video quality. Ds8 has a little Fuji Z20fd but I don't think its sturdy enough for a 4 year old.

But this is:

http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-Stylus-Digital-Camera-Optical/dp/B000LXXJ1I

I bought it last year for the beach. Both of my kids use it with no problems. I don't have to worry about them dropping it or it getting wet. The LCD screen is pretty large and they have managed to put a tiny scratch on it. It takes cool underwater shots and video, which they love.

The pictures aren't the absolute best ever, but it takes good pix, with the typical p&s low light issues.

 

[Groucho]

Don't underestimate your kids... hey, when my kid was two, he even played with a rangefinder a little.

I don't let him use the DSLRs but he is allowed to hold the wireless flash sometimes.

But seriously... as I said before, I think an older, cheap PnS is going to be a much better choice than a "kid's camera".

 

[ChristusG]

When our DD turned three, she wanted a camera. We looked at all the "kiddie" ones but the reviews said they took awful photos. So we got a used $35, 2mp camera on ebay. A kodak easyshare so it was really simple to use.

It was great in theory. However, the problem we have run into with a regular P&S camera is that DD is constantly putting her fingers over the lens or the flash because she doesnt know what to do with her hands. The kiddie ones have grips on them to hold.

So I dont know which way to go. Her Easyshare broke for some reason and now she's asking for another one.

 

[Donold_Fan]

My 5 year old was given a diposable 35mm for his birthday party from his daycare lady. He finished taking all the pictures and keeps asking me to get more batteries for his camera.

So I've been looking for a cheap P&S for him. I just found a deal on another website for $15 for a Polaroid i733 (7mp) and jumped all over it for him. Hopefully it's rugged enough to last for a couple of months anyway.

I let him take pictures with my p&s and it's quite interesting. He likes to take pictures of the insides of mouths and of people's rear-ends. On our last trip to WDW, he must have taken pictures of 10-12 peoples behinds as we stood in line for Dinosaur. Hopefully he starts to appreciate other subjects as he gets older.