Camera for 6 year old

chrisjohnson

My granddaughter's birthday is coming up and she wants a camera. Any ideas? I would prefer not to give a toy, or something that saddles her parents with recurring costs, but rather something that stimulates her interest in photography. She has an iPad and is quite handy with it and so photo editing on the iPad is not such a distant thought.
She is at a point and click phase, so nothing too technical is appropriate. Composition and the moment are all.
All ideas welcome!

ziggy53

They are getting scarce, but a Point-and-Shoot camera with a modest zoom makes a good camera for a youth, very much IMO.

I don't have any specific recommendations because getting the images over to an iPad imposes additional capabilities I am not qualified to recommend.

I have to wonder if your granddaughter has used the iPad for photography? If so, how did that go? If you need something a bit more durable, the Amazon Fire 7 and Fire 8 are available in Kids Edition versions?

Remember too that a 6yo will need someone capable of teaching her the basics of photography. If she doesn't have someone in the household willing and capable to work with her a lot at first, she's likely to get discouraged and quit.

Be careful to choose something suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. A dim display can seem good indoors, but fails completely outdoors in bright light. This is a common complaint of many cameras designed specifically for young children.

Another complaint I see frequently is having the flash positioned where young fingers are likely to accidentally cover it while holding the camera.

As an aside, I've seen people recommend the Olympus Tough line of compact cameras for young children. The Tough TG-6 seems like a reasonably good ruggedized camera, with both basic features and advanced features modes available for growth. (I just ordered a used one for myself, after researching it a bit. 🙄) Again, no idea how well this would work with an iPad.

chrisjohnson

Thanks Ziggy. The grandchildren all use iPads for consuming media and it is the natural way they will want to keep their fotos when going digital. ... now we print some shots they like and they have their own albums, but I can see that changing when they realise that iPad works. Making the connection should be simple; either bluetooth or via a card reader.

As for ruggedness they have made for kids iPad covers which are robust, but we wouldn't risk using iPads to take photos when playing, especially not outside or at the zoo or wherever. iPads are more for sitting on the couch or in the car or at the table. Your idea of Olympus Tough is interesting and I'll go and research it now. Thanks again.