Childrens Digital Camera – Would You Buy One?
It seems that children grow up fast these days particularly when it comes to learning how to use twenty-first century gadgets. Recently my five year granddaughter has gotten very interested in taking photographs using my digital slr camera. She does a fantastic job and understands many of the functions but I was so concerned about her damaging my pride and joy that I began to research the childrens digital camera market.
Well that opened my eyes!
What I discovered was that these cameras are really only suitable for toddlers. Kids cameras are built to withstand a lot of abuse, they are big and colourful and very appealing to youngsters. What they are not good at is taking really good photographs. Now don’t get me wrong here. I guess I am approaching it from the point of view of what my needs are not the childs. Provided that the camera does a half reasonable job of taking a snap that can look okay when printed or on a computer screen then that’s enough. And many of the kids digital cameras on the market do the job fairly well so long as you manage your own adult expectations.
What I did find however was a big discrepancy in performance from one children’s digital camera maker to another. As always you get what you pay for so don’t expect a lot from a kids camera that cost only $20. Try to aim at the middle to high end, they go as up to $150 or so. Watch out for resolution too, you need to find a digital camera around the two or three mega pixel mark, don’t even bother with anything less.
So what about my five year old granddaughter? Well for me it was a no-brainer. I think that had she been a lot younger I would have taken a punt at a Fisher-Price or Vtech but at five I think that children are already way to savvy. I went for a Canon Powershot 480 which you can find for around $100 or so. The camera produces fantastic quality and my granddaughter took no time at all to become completely familiar with it.
My final advice is this. Buy a toddler one of the many childrens digital cameras on the marketfor sure but give a proper digital camera to a five year old.
You can find more hints and tips on kids digital cameras at my new website www.childrensdigitalcameras.org
Filed under: Computers, Education, General, Kids, Parenting
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