Camera for a 4 year old

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akr

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Hello all

So my son will be 4 in January. He has just in the last few months asking to take photos with my old LX3. A mixed bag but you actually get some interesting images from the different angle, and everyone smiles at him when he is doing it and shouting cheese :). Main thing of course if that he loves it.

Anyway, don't know if it's a phase or not, but we'll get him a camera for Christmas or his birthday. Budget I guess £50-£100, can be second hand or new.

I was wondering for those that have done something similar is getting a robust, dropable camera a must at this stage or would you just go with any compact? And are there 'child' cases for compacts for I assume inevitable falls?

If anyone has any suggestions or comments I'm all ears!

Thanks in advance.
 
Was looking at the childs cameras that are available and they all looked pretty woeful in terms of quality etc. ended up giving my 4 year old an old Samsung compact I had in the drawer. He makes sure it's 'on green' and he's good to go. He hasn't dropped it yet but wouldn't matter if he did. I'd just suggest as you say, any compact would do the job.
 
Kid cameras seem to be uniformly awful.

I bought my son a tidy, boxed digital compact at a car boot for a tenner when he was aged six about 18 months ago and he's very happy with it. No great loss if it's broken or lost and a fraction of the price of a useless 'kid' camera from Toys R Us.
 
if he's really good and you want to spoil him, instax off ebay
if you lucky its 50p a shot, might not be best if he's snap happy...
 
What about one of the ever increasing range of tough cameras? Argos do one for less than £40. I am sure there must be a few more in your budget. I did find a couple but can't seem to cut and paste details of them on my iPad!
Allan
 
:plus1:
Polaroid ID516 12MP Tough Camera.

Rhodese.
 
I in the same spot. We bought my daughter a kids camera last year(kiddy zoom or something) & she loves using it , even though its terrible . So had planned to buy her a better camera this year for her 6th birthday/xmas. I would like to get her a small dslr d3000 or 1000d(what ever the tiny canon is) . Yes its abit more expensive than a p&s @ about £150 used . But I would hope she could learn on that more than a p&s . Only issue is she doesnt want a black camera....needs to be pink.
 
I would get something tough and useful, so I would look at the panasonic tough cameras.
can be dropped, can be washed, and also can be taken on holiday into the pool!
 
having said that, I lent my 5Dii/tamron 24-70 to my nephew to walk around the house and he came back with some great pics of his parents :)
 
Wow thanks everyone for the responses!

WelshNoob said:
Was looking at the childs cameras that are available and they all looked pretty woeful in terms of quality etc. ended up giving my 4 year old an old Samsung compact I had in the drawer. He makes sure it's 'on green' and he's good to go. He hasn't dropped it yet but wouldn't matter if he did. I'd just suggest as you say, any compact would do the job.
Click to expand...

Putting it on green and off he goes is definitely the plan, as long as it is simple.

Musicman said:
Kid cameras seem to be uniformly awful.

I bought my son a tidy, boxed digital compact at a car boot for a tenner when he was aged six about 18 months ago and he's very happy with it. No great loss if it's broken or lost and a fraction of the price of a useless 'kid' camera from Toys R Us.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a good idea - nice and cheap.

pingu666 said:
if he's really good and you want to spoil him, instax off ebay
if you lucky its 50p a shot, might not be best if he's snap happy...
Click to expand...

He's a little trigger happy at the moment, though he might like the printing. Interesting thanks.

fidsey79 said:
I got my daughter a panasonic fs50 ( in pink).
Click to expand...

I'll have a look thanks, but not in pink! :-)

allanm said:
What about one of the ever increasing range of tough cameras? Argos do one for less than £40. I am sure there must be a few more in your budget. I did find a couple but can't seem to cut and paste details of them on my iPad!
Allan
Click to expand...
Will have a look thanks.
Rhodese said:
:plus1:
Polaroid ID516 12MP Tough Camera.

Rhodese.
Click to expand...

pmac said:
I in the same spot. We bought my daughter a kids camera last year(kiddy zoom or something) & she loves using it , even though its terrible . So had planned to buy her a better camera this year for her 6th birthday/xmas. I would like to get her a small dslr d3000 or 1000d(what ever the tiny canon is) . Yes its abit more expensive than a p&s @ about £150 used . But I would hope she could learn on that more than a p&s . Only issue is she doesnt want a black camera....needs to be pink.
Click to expand...

Loves using it even though it's terrible :-) Will a DSLR, even a small one, be a bit big and heavy to carry around for a 6 year old?

DizMatt said:
I would get something tough and useful, so I would look at the panasonic tough cameras.
can be dropped, can be washed, and also can be taken on holiday into the pool!
Click to expand...

Thanks will have a look. The water part does worry me!

DizMatt said:
having said that, I lent my 5Dii/tamron 24-70 to my nephew to walk around the house and he came back with some great pics of his parents :)
Click to expand...

He did ask me if he could use 'the big camera' and was politely told no. You are braver than I am!
 
akr said:
Will a DSLR, even a small one, be a bit big and heavy to carry around for a 6 year old?
!
Click to expand...

Personally I would have thought so, a bridge camera would still have manual controls for experimentation. Pulled my old Fuji bridge camera out of the drawer the other day and it's tiny. And to think me and my other half used to describe it as the "big camera!"
 
Well I have a 3 1/2 year old who absolutely loves his tough kiddie camera (think it might be a V-Tech?)...

It's a rubbish camera but he likes taking a picture, looking at it and being able to turn the lens around a take a selfie too. And it has very simple games on it... basically it's a perfect camera for such a young kid.

My 1 year old loves looking at the photo after I've taken it (on my camera) and gets most upset if I don't show her... especially if it's of her.

So it really doesn't matter what the camera is, it's just about getting them to have fun with it - however that might be.

By the way, my son has taken some amazing candid shots of his little sister with his camera - 2MP might be rubbish res but they're still great!
 
pjm1 said:
Well I have a 3 1/2 year old who absolutely loves his tough kiddie camera (think it might be a V-Tech?)...

It's a rubbish camera but he likes taking a picture, looking at it and being able to turn the lens around a take a selfie too. And it has very simple games on it... basically it's a perfect camera for such a young kid.

My 1 year old loves looking at the photo after I've taken it (on my camera) and gets most upset if I don't show her... especially if it's of her.

So it really doesn't matter what the camera is, it's just about getting them to have fun with it - however that might be.

By the way, my son has taken some amazing candid shots of his little sister with his camera - 2MP might be rubbish res but they're still great!
Click to expand...

Thanks- My son is similar, takes the photo, wants to look at it, then move on. Likes photographing the pavement quite a lot also!
 
i bought my 4 year old a little 2nd hand sony cybershot for about £30.... he loves it. It's light and he takes some good little photos with it too!
 
My boy is about to turn 4 and we were looking at buying him a camera because he loves taking photos on my phone. With such a large touch screen its much more intuitive for them than a camera would be, so just let him carry on using the phone. Also with a phone they can also play games watch films or cbeebies. I think you are better off with a budget smartphone or tablet at the same price.

If not a waterproof compact would be nice. They can take it to the pool, the beach or even the bath. They tend to be shockproof. My sister bought a fujifilm one a few years back for £60.

cheap polaroid one argos for £35 http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produ...dvc:c|adp:1o1|bku:1#pdpFullProductInformation
 
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I'd consider a 7" tablet with built in camera + one of the foam kiddie cases. Chances are a 4 year will get bored taking pics before long ( if he's anything like my 3), at least with a tablet he can play games and get to see the pics he takes at a larger size. Kindle fire hd is around £100 iirc but I'm sure there are others slightly cheaper...
 
I often lend my camera to nephews and nieces for a few minutes at a time.
they're pretty tough.
However, I explain how to hold it and which button fires it.one hand under the lens and one hand there etc
the ones that are patient enough get to use it, the others get bored and the novelty wears off
 
When he was 4 I gave my son my old canon 350D with kit lens. On full auto he was as happy as Larry.
 
akr said:
Wow thanks everyone for the responses!



Putting it on green and off he goes is definitely the plan, as long as it is simple.



That sounds like a good idea - nice and cheap.
Click to expand...

If you buy a cheap dslr the problem will be the settings will get knocked easily and your putting it on green will soon change to something very different.
 
I gave my son my 8 year old Sony compact, after a while he used the family Canon S95. Now (he is six and a half) he has the use of my D300 with an 18-55 lens.
 
My son has enjoyed Olympus E-1 and e-410 DSLR with kit zoom since he was three. Go to evilbay, they are very cheap and last forever.
The shape and the shutterbutton placement are ideal for him.
Small or compact cameras are less easy for him to use.
 
Thanks again everyone for the further comments and suggestions.

ste mainwaring said:
i bought my 4 year old a little 2nd hand sony cybershot for about £30.... he loves it. It's light and he takes some good little photos with it too!
Click to expand...

Thanks

rjbell said:
My boy is about to turn 4 and we were looking at buying him a camera because he loves taking photos on my phone. With such a large touch screen its much more intuitive for them than a camera would be, so just let him carry on using the phone. Also with a phone they can also play games watch films or cbeebies. I think you are better off with a budget smartphone or tablet at the same price.

If not a waterproof compact would be nice. They can take it to the pool, the beach or even the bath. They tend to be shockproof. My sister bought a fujifilm one a few years back for £60.

cheap polaroid one argos for £35 http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produ...dvc:c|adp:1o1|bku:1#pdpFullProductInformation
Click to expand...

A smartphone is an interesting idea He already knows how to work mine to view photos and get youtube up. Only thing if the AF on some smartphones, older ones anyway seems very slow, not sure if he'll end up moving the focus off a lot before he takes it. But sounds like your boy can do it so no reason mine can't I suppose.

psenior1 said:
I'd consider a 7" tablet with built in camera + one of the foam kiddie cases. Chances are a 4 year will get bored taking pics before long ( if he's anything like my 3), at least with a tablet he can play games and get to see the pics he takes at a larger size. Kindle fire hd is around £100 iirc but I'm sure there are others slightly cheaper...
Click to expand...

As above I guess, had not thought about this. I'm going to Australia for work :) so going to take the opportunity to take the family as a good chance to go. I'm almost tempted to get this or the phone just for the flight over....

DizMatt said:
I often lend my camera to nephews and nieces for a few minutes at a time.
they're pretty tough.
However, I explain how to hold it and which button fires it.one hand under the lens and one hand there etc
the ones that are patient enough get to use it, the others get bored and the novelty wears off
Click to expand...

He's definitely not getting my DSLR yet....I love him to bits but he's very much an active (read dangerous) bull in a china shop type of boy sometimes!

domino1999 said:
When he was 4 I gave my son my old canon 350D with kit lens. On full auto he was as happy as Larry.
Click to expand...

I mentioned above I thought this would be too big, but maybe not. I have my sister my old 400D but not sure she really uses it, we could try that, he'd be happy then as he does like to copy what we do.

Wayne Els said:
If you buy a cheap dslr the problem will be the settings will get knocked easily and your putting it on green will soon change to something very different.
Click to expand...

This thread was built to confuse me! If we do give him one I'll maybe tape the control dial!

cambsno said:
I gave my son my 8 year old Sony compact, after a while he used the family Canon S95. Now (he is six and a half) he has the use of my D300 with an 18-55 lens.
Click to expand...

Thanks Simon

holty said:
toys r us
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Don't make me visit that store with my children! :)

Ulfric M Douglas said:
My son has enjoyed Olympus E-1 and e-410 DSLR with kit zoom since he was three. Go to evilbay, they are very cheap and last forever.
The shape and the shutterbutton placement are ideal for him.
Small or compact cameras are less easy for him to use.
Click to expand...

Thanks interesting - were those yours you allowed him to use from time to time or his own? Was he ok with the DSLR?
 
He loves the DSLR, and those old Olympus lenses are very sharp and fast focus, Jpegs are great colours for pleasing family snaps.
I pass on my older stuff when I get other things. Here's one he took,


and Here he is at three years old


 
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