Camera for my 3 year old???

wannabe1979 · November 2, 2008

I don't know if this has ever been asked here on Dgrin before or not but my 3 year old boy has taken quite an interest in photography (like his daddy) and points out shots that I need to take and usually can't wait to get in a picture or he gets out his "pretend" camera and takes clicks.

So, my question is...what kind of camera would you guys reccomend for a 3 year old. I definitely want to keep this interest alive. I've looked at the Fisher-Price cameras for toddlers and like the fact that they are rugged but don't like the fact that they are 3mp and have poor displays. I guess I just want the best quality with the ruggedness and can't seem to find one that meets all my needs.

Am I just overthinking this and should just get the Fisher-Price??

Any other suggestions??

:dunno

divamum · November 2, 2008

wannabe1979 wrote:

I don't know if this has ever been asked here on Dgrin before or not but my 3 year old boy has taken quite an interest in photography (like his daddy) and points out shots that I need to take and usually can't wait to get in a picture or he gets out his "pretend" camera and takes clicks.

So, my question is...what kind of camera would you guys reccomend for a 3 year old. I definitely want to keep this interest alive. I've looked at the Fisher-Price cameras for toddlers and like the fact that they are rugged but don't like the fact that they are 3mp and have poor displays. I guess I just want the best quality with the ruggedness and can't seem to find one that meets all my needs.

Am I just overthinking this and should just get the Fisher-Price??

Any other suggestions??

Little fingers need big buttons, and i suspect that the FP will have taken that into consideration. I don't know what the other options are, but my bet is that a more complex "real" camera - even a simple one - will probably just frustrate him, plus you'll be worried about it dropping and breaking

Just my mommy 2c

Edited to add: you may have seen this already, but looks like this review offers some other options http://zrecs.blogspot.com/2007/11/zrecs-kids-digital-camera-showdown.html

pyry · November 2, 2008

The Fisher-Price is probably not a bad idea for a kid as young as yours.

Olympus has water and shock resistant cameras though, to give you an option. You would probably have take your kid to a shop that sells one, set on auto, put a card in, and see if he can actually use it. Be prepared to walk out with it though

swintonphoto · November 2, 2008

I agree with pyry - the only camera thats made by a reputable camera manufacturer that could likely weather the hands and abuse of a child are the Olympus Stylus SW cameras. They can withstand being dropped, submerged in water, stepped on, etc. The only major concern would be if the child could figure out how to use it. I bet he could with some teaching. My nephew could find a dvd he wanted to watch, turn on the tv and the dvd player, put in the dvd, and start a movie by himself - and he was 2 months shy of 2 years old.

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_digital_sw.asp

swintonphoto · November 2, 2008

wannabe1979 wrote:

that they are rugged but don't like the fact that they are 3mp

Don't make this an issue - you can get great 8x10s from a 3mp camera. When its a kid taking the photo, any more mp would really be irrelevant.

jasonstone · November 3, 2008

My mum bought my son for his 4th birthday a HP 5MP compact-ish camera

Very very very important for a 3/4yo kid is the instant feedback of the LCD - most kiddie cameras either don't have one or it's so small as to be un-viewable.

My son now follows me around and tries to take photos from the same locations etc. that I do and loves showing everyone the results - it's awesome!

Oh and you can not believe how careful he is with it - he really treasures it as it's a real camera and not just a toy to him

and man they're so cheap these days! virtually disposable!

Cheers, Jase

sherijohnson · November 3, 2008

Wow! I didn't even realize Fischer Price has a "real" digital camera for kids. I am going to have to check this out. I have a 5 yr old that seems to be interested in taking pictures. I know I want to check this out. It would be cool to allow them to shoot and then make a photo book for them to show off their work.:D

wannabe1979 · November 3, 2008

I really appreciate the feedback from everyone. I checked out the Olympus line but they are more expensive and although my son is a pretty quick learner I don't know about how easy (for a 3 yo) they would be.

And Divamum, thanks for the link, I had not seen this one. I wished that I could just go to the store and pick them up and play with them and let my son take a couple of shots, but nobody has them in stock so I'm buying blind over the internet. I'm reading all the reviews I can get ahold of. Still undecided as of now. I'll post when I make a purchase and then I'll post my review for everyone when he gets it in his hands and takes some pictures.

Although maybe I should get a lower MP camera, I'd hate for my son to show his daddy up.:D

Thanks again everyone.

MarkR · November 3, 2008

I'm in the same boat -- my three year old wants a camera for Christmas.

I'm getting him one of these.

If, after a few years, he wants something more advanced, we'll investigate options further.

vintagemxr · November 3, 2008

How often do you get to see the world the way it might really look to an innocent child? :photo My first digital camera was a Logitech "FotoMan" digital camera back in 1990 or '91. Out of curiosity I handed it to my son who was about 3 or 4 years old at the time and told him to go in the backyard and take some pictures (brave of me, I know). It occurred to me that he would truly shoot what looked interesting to him with no preconceived notions of what a "good picture" was. The results were interesting and if I can find the old shots I'll post a couple here.

Doug

ChrisJ · November 4, 2008

I let my 3-year-old use our old beater camera, a 3 MP Sony CyberShot. It was my first digital, and if it gets messed up, so be it. He knows how to turn it on and off, he likes taking out the battery/memory stick and putting them back in, and he can use the screen to compose and shoot.

This is one of his better attempts of his little brother (unretouched):
http://chrisandjoy.smugmug.com/photos/371804719_xoerQ-L.jpg

And a self-Portrait:
http://chrisandjoy.smugmug.com/photos/371804430_TXeJs-L.jpg

wannabe1979 · November 6, 2008

Thanks for sharing Chris. What I've got in the back of my mind to do is to let my son take all the pictures he can and of whatever he wants to shoot. I then want to take all the photos and put them into a digital collage and title it "Through the eyes of Logan" or something along those lines. I think it'd be a nice addition to our photo album or scrapbooks.

Camera for my 3 year old???

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