Digital camera for a 5yo?

[lisalulu]

Anyone have any recs? I would prefer one that didn't have games on it but its not an absolute. Would a low end adult camera be better?

TIA!

[Marimami]

We bought DD a waterproof, shockproof digital from Olympus when she was 3.5-4. We wanted a waterproof camera anyway and she loved taking pictures. It was more $$ than a kid's digital but we've all enjoyed having it. It's super sturdy, more versatile than a standard digital, and she has had a lot of fun having her own camera.

Holli

[Vancouver Mommy]

My 4.5 yo dd also wants a camera. The ones made for kids (fisher price and little tykes) have poor resolution and look like toys. Adult cameras are a bit less sturdy. We finally decided to get her a regular low-end digital camera off craigslist. That way if she breaks it we can just get her another $10-20 camera.

[Daffodil]

We also got DD an adult camera from Craigslist when she was 5 (almost 6.) The low-end new adult ones we found all had terrible reviews. I think used is the way to go.

[ChristyMarie]

My DS has one of the kid cameras (his aunt got it for him when he was 2. TWO! So not age appropriate) and while it takes crappy photos, it appears to be impossibly to destroy and the batteries have an impressive life span. The games on it are hardly games - more putting frames around pictures and lining up puzzle pieces to make pictures. Nothing he'd sit there and play for more than 2 minutes.

You can hook it directly to your computer and such to download the photos.

[khaoskat]

We have the Fisher Price and the V-tech. They are only a 2 mega pixel camera, but they do fairly well.

DH uses the V-tech for his job. He goes onto sites and sometimes has to take pics while in ceilings, etc, and has a horrible time of dropping things all the time. But it does a decent job for what he needs.

I think the pics look crappy on the viewer of the camera, but don't look so bad when downloaded.

My kids love to take the camera and try to go take pictures. We got the digital because we figured it would be cheaper than using a film camera and we wouldn't be putting out money for bad shots, but the kids could view them on the computer and good shots could be then printed.

DS1 is almost 7 and I am considering getting him a cheap camera of Craigslist for his birthday.

[AllisonR]

My 5yo DS got the V tech, after tthe recomendations on this forum! It has limited games. You can put cheezy things on your photos like goofy noses, fake eyes, a crown.... It is EXTREMELY sturdy. It is easy for a 5yo to use and enjoy.

Downside: it takes really bad pictures. Daytime pictures with lots of natural sunlight are acceptable. Any other time are just really, really bad. And nighttime pictures are totally impossible. You will get nothing but grainy black. No Fstop, no manual focus, no manual shutter speed.... As a professional artist and semi-professional photographer I can't look at the pictures. But then again that isn't the point. The camera isn't for me. So I am just glad HE enjoys it.

I think if your child is into taking fun pictures, the v-tech should last quite a few years. If your DC is REALLY into photography, then it will last 2-3 years max, after which a higher quality camera would be needed.

[LaughingHyena]

We let the kids (3 & 5) use our old digital, DD has been taking pictures with it for a couple of years now.

Personally I would go with a cheep or used adult camera just because I think you'll get better pictures. DD manages to take some pretty good ones and it would be a shame if they were not great quality.

Whatever the camera it's always interesting to see what captures kids attention. Our last holiday DD took over 20 pictures of our neighbours cooler

[inkslinger]

We got the Fisher Price one for our 5-year old last year, and I wouldn't really recommend it. It's fun and novel at first, but the picture quality is so bad that I don't think it's worth it. I would get a low-end adult camera if I bought her another one.

[Shannie77]

My almost 3 year old loves to take pictures. She started on our new digital camera. Finally we decided we had to get her something. We tried two low end adult ones and DD would have nothing to do with them... even she could tell they weren't as high quality.

What we did was send the word out to family and friends that we were looking for an old digital camera. My sister ended up having one from several years ago, and my DD now has that and loves it. So I would definitely recommend finding an older camera that was decent quality at the time.

[Girlprof]

Our DS got the FP camera from his GPs when he turned 5. His interest comes and goes. He doesn't care that it's a kids camera. It's definitely been dropped a few times and keeps on ticking. The quality of the photos is mostly quite low, but he doesn't seem to care. Taking pictures is much more of the point than anything else. He did get some good pics of his baby sister doing stuff that no one else thought to take pics of and I'm very happy to have these. In another year or so, we'll probably give him our old adult digital camera. He is a kid who drops things so for him, another year with a sturdy camera is a good idea.

[lisalulu]

Craigslist is a great idea! I'm wishing we hadn't sold our old Nikon a while back.

So do your kids generally print out the pics or do you end up just putting them on the computer? I hadn't thought it through to this point really

[Drummer's Wife]

Our 5 yo has a vtech kid digital camera, but he just got a DSi, so he has been using the camera on that (it takes better pics).

Depending on the kid, I'd probably just get an adult camera. Our vtech has been dropped, thrown at the wall, and stepped on - yet it looks new.

Eta: they mainly look at them on the computer - but we do have a photo printer that they use. A couple times we have uploaded the pics to a nearby store for printing (like to give to family members or for a school project)...but really, my kids seem content with looking at them on the PC.

[MidnightCommando]

We got DD the fisher-price one for her 3rd birthday.

Pros:
has been dropped numerous times and still works
came with cord so we could upload pics onto the computer
has a flash
easy enough so that she knows how to erase photos she doesn't want
auto-turn off to not waste batteries

Cons:
terrible photo quality
batteries seem to not last very long even with auto-shut off


We plan on getting her an older digital camera when she's a bit less clumsy. The girl loooves photography.

It really is interesting to see what they like taking photos of and what the world looks like from 3 feet tall. They capture the moments I would never think of - like mom making a sandwich or 900 pictures of the dog and crayons. When we get a higher res camera for her I plan on making a little album of her pictures.

[zannster]

I bought a cheap old model camera* off eBay for DS's first camera. (He was 3 or 4 at the time). It served the purpose. I just wasn't impressed with the kids' cameras - or their cost. If I were going to buy him a newer one now (he's 5), I might get one of the shock resistant ones. Just today, he knocked one of our other cameras off a counter. His camera still works fine though.

*Found the model: HP Photosmart 618. Looks like the same eBay seller is still selling them. It's a very simple camera, and the photos aren't super great or anything.