Anyone have a digital camera recommendation for an 8 year old

[bbrme]

We are leaving for our cruise in less than 2 weeks!!!! I have been thinking that it would be a good idea to buy my 8 year old his own digital camera to take on the trip - he loves to take pictures. Im looking for one that is decent quality but not so expensive that I will be very upset if he loses it or destroys it. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

Thanks!

[firedisney97]

Polaroid i633 6MP 3x Optical/4x Digital Zoom Camera (Pink)

 

 

We purchased the above camera for our 7 (will almost be 8) yr old DD to take on the cruise we have coming in Feb. We only paid around $50.00 for it when we purchased it in Jan/Feb 09 but she has not used it yet (it is going under the Xmas tree next month :D) You might not want it in pink, but.....might be a good choice depending on how much you are looking at spending

[Mack2]

For kids... you might want to find an inexpensive camera... that being said... it'd be helpful to see how much you expect to pay for it.

 

 

There are some options that would be nice for kids... things like shock-resistance (dropping a camera 3 feet can break it), water resistance, compact sizes, or ability to use AA batteries (instead of recharging things).

 

Megapixels don't really mean much... as long as you're looking at anything 3 megapixels and above (3megapixels will make lovely 4x6's with a little cropping... but 8x10's would be stretching it.... who prints 8x10s anyway?)

 

These things can range in price from $50 - $400.

 

 

 

My son inherited his grandma's old Canon Powershot -something.

It's old, it has a 2.5" LCD, and it takes photos.

He's taken good care of it... a nice lesson in responsibility... but it's old (and free)

[sparky-elpaso]

If possible try to find something with a rechargeable battery. Most cameras that use AA's tend to eat them by the dozen. If it uses AA's spring for rechargeable ones - they last longer. Check at Walmart, Target or Best Buy - they usually have a good range. Get extra memory too - it's usually pretty cheap.

 

And it's not a bad idea to replace the wrist strip with one long enough for around the neck. I've almost banged a camera against something with a wrist strap.

 

If your son likes using computers you might want to download Picasa. It's free and has a bunch of nice photo editing tools - and very easy to use. You don't need the software that comes with the camera - Picasa will download the pics.

[imsulin]

You probably don't want to hear this, but for an 8-year old going on a first cruise (as well as you), I would recommend a couple of disposable cameras. If you've never been on a cruise before, you have no idea how easy it is to leave something like that on apool chair, beach chair, in a Kids' Club, onshore at a beach (tons of sand, which is not digital camera-friendly), "loan" it to a new onboard friend, etc. I'd try the disposable cameras. They also have the waterproof kind. If your 8-year old returns at the end of the cruise with cameras present and intact, just make copies of the pictures to send out. If this is successful, then you might consider getting him one for the next cruise, but instead of that, I'd just let him use yours while onboard, under your supervision. I've been on over 30 cruises, and have had five eight-year olds, so I know what I'm talking about.

[bbrme]

Thanks for all the tips. At this point I think I am going to do a combination of all of them :) I went to Target and spoke to someone in the camera section who warned me away from the Vivitar cameras but recommended an inexpensive polaroid ($40 on sale). We tried it last night and the pictures were horrible - much worse than our old Nikon which is as old as our son. But it did remind us that we had the old Nikon - so I have just ordered a replacement battery and I have my fingers crossed that it will work. For the $8 investment in the battery I will be ok with him leaving it somewhere, dropping it off the top of a pyramid, giving it away... All of which are distinct possibliltes. I think I will also get him a waterproof disposable camera so he doesnt wreck the Nikon if it makes it that far.

[imsulin]

Thanks for all the tips. At this point I think I am going to do a combination of all of them :) I went to Target and spoke to someone in the camera section who warned me away from the Vivitar cameras but recommended an inexpensive polaroid ($40 on sale). We tried it last night and the pictures were horrible - much worse than our old Nikon which is as old as our son. But it did remind us that we had the old Nikon - so I have just ordered a replacement battery and I have my fingers crossed that it will work. For the $8 investment in the battery I will be ok with him leaving it somewhere, dropping it off the top of a pyramid, giving it away... All of which are distinct possibliltes. I think I will also get him a waterproof disposable camera so he doesnt wreck the Nikon if it makes it that far.

 

Good decision, bbrme! Enjoy your cruise!

[ottawa_traveler]

I've just started shopping for a waterproof camera for my kids (7 and 9). I'm an experienced photographer with a higher-end DSLR, as well as a Canon point-and-shoot, so I'm no stranger to camera controls. What I found when I started looking for a camera for the kids was that the controls vary a lot from brand to brand, and that I was more comfortable with the Canon waterproof just because the controls were similar to what we already have. I realized that buying a different brand was going to lead to huge headaches for me as I would then have to learn the controls of a third camera.:rolleyes: I haven't made a purchase yet, but I will probably "go with what I know", even if it means paying slightly more.

 

The disposable cameras recommended by others here are a great way to start off (we did this last year), because in addition to the low investment/replacement cost, there is virtually no learning curve to using the camera. That being said, we paid about $10/camera, $10/processing (so about $40 for two kids), and we got about four useable photos at the end of it. Because the boys were using the cameras while swimming/snorkeling, and it's really hard to see what you're doing when you take shots like that (lots of photos of bubbles, empty water, and sand), the costs per photo were quite high.:)

[mactrio]

Last Christmas we gave our 9 year old a Nikon Cool Pix L18 digital camera and it's very easy to use for a point & shoot camera. It was $120 but came with alot of stuff; 4 rechargeable batteries, a battery charger, a mini tripod, 2 camera bags, a 4gb memory card, a 2gb memory card and a card reader.

I ordered it from Amazon. He loves his camera. It takes great pictures.