Camera for the kids

United States
July 25, 2010 10:52pm CST
I am looking to get digital cameras for my 9 and 11 year olds for Christmas and was wondering if any one had advise as to which ones I should get them. Brands, and what not. One is very much into artsy pictures of flowers and rocks, nature pictures and what not. The other is very social and likes to make pictures of her friends and what things they are doing which is usually pretend fashion designers. I need something that works with windows and is easy to use as well as sturdy as they are kids after all.
3 responses
• Australia
28 Aug 10
Your budget is going to determine a which cameras to get - within any price bracket the features tend to be quite similar between brands. I have grandkids around the same age as your children, and as a professional photographer, I love the way they have taken to their cameras. I did not get them the same cameras - they are individuals and I wanted to try to match their cameras to their interests, knowing that they would change, expecting them to outgrow the cameras, but wanting them to have some idea about using the cameras their way, not just relying on the cameras to "take the picture". So, although the cameras are basically point and shoot, I looked for features which set them apart a little, and ignored some features which are sold as "must haves" because they don't do much except put the emphasis on the camera instead of on the photographer. My list of haves and don't needs: Want more optical zoom (most basic cams have 3x - try for at least 5x) Don't want Digital Zoom (it fakes zoom but spoils picture quality) Want eye level viewfinder (very hard to get any more) but will settle for hi-res screen (must be more than 200K dpi) Don't want low resolution screen or screen smaller than 2.7" Want higher burst mode (3 frames per second or faster) Don't want shutter lag and slow start-up time (shutter lag is the time between pressing the shutter and the camera taking the photo) Want LiOn battery and a spare Don't want AA, rechargeable or not Want good lens (Canon, Lumix/Leica, Pentax, Nikon Don't want unknown brand Want PASM control (these are the basic semi-automatic and manual controls that let kids learn to control the camera Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual - they don't have to use them , but if they are there, they can learn) Don't want dozens and dozens of subject modes (food, baby, beach, sunset etc) Do Want exposure compensation, flash compensation [i]Don't want a flash you can't turn off [/i] Do Want Manual Focus Don't want smile recognition
• United States
1 Sep 10
I got some refurbished Kodaks on Ebay. They are easy shares and perfect for them and since I got them all for under $50 I am pretty happy.
• Hong Kong
29 Jul 10
Maybe this link good for you: www.zdnet.com/blog/digitalcameras/the-best-digital-camera-for-kids-or-how-to-keep-grubby-hands-off-your-camera/314 Hope you could buy good gift for your child :)
• Hong Kong
29 Jul 10
and another models for antishock & water prof Lumix DMC-FT1, Samsung AQ100, Samsung SL605.
@ericpapasit (1274)
• Philippines
26 Jul 10
Well you can check this link this may give you a hint... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0025VKVOC?ie=UTF8&tag=havedbest-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B0025VKVOC
• United States
26 Jul 10
thank you