Camera for 10 year old?

[Grumpy_one]

My daughter wants a camera for xmas. So I'd I'd like to know what kind of experiences anyone out there has had picking a camera for one of their kids. I'm thinking Costco first of all for the return policy vs internet purchase. So with that kind of thinking, now it's about price and what she will get out of the camera. So while I'm a Canon kind of guy, I'd sure like to stick with a brand I like, but I think it comes down to ease of use for her. Costco has a price break of the Nikon Coolpix (50.00 dollar discount come Dec 7). So right now that's the front runner. Any ideas or thoughts? Cheers

[darkdragon]

my niece is 10 and I gave her my Canon SD200 6 months or so ago. She has absolutely no trouble using it and has been enjoying it.

That is an older model, but good deals can be had on the SD450 at many stores, possibly costco. There are of course even newer ones. I really like the elph series with the metal body and it is small enough to fit in a jeans pocket which is very handy.

I use a Sandisk SD+USB which makes it really easy for her to get the images off the camera and onto a computer.

[anwmn1]

My son has been shooting or playing with cameras since he was 4. He just turned 9 and received my old back up camera as his present. He walks around with an Olympus E300 8mp dslr and a 40-150 kit lens. :wink

With todays prices you might want to look into an older used dslr. It won't take her long to learn composition which is all a cheap p&s is really going to do for her anyways. :deal My son uses presets (switches between them on his own) most of the time but is starting to play with Aperture priority as well. :ivar

[divamum]

My daughter (also 10) has my old Canon Powershot A75 and does VERY well with it; she's also had no problems taking pictures with my SD750. I'd have thought that any reasonably user-friendly point-n-shoot would fit the bill quite well.

Also, if you aren't dead set on a still camera, my daughter's pride and joy is her Flip video camera. I picked it up for her birthday last spring really affordably on ebay (about half price, brand new in box) it's dead simple to use, and she absolutely LOVES the thing.

Enjoy!

[Cygnus Studios]

The coolpix series are great little cameras that stand up to some abuse that kids can deal out. Easy to use, and offer some room to grow.

[i_worship_the_King]

I agree the latest coolpix have been through the ringer here and still work hard. They also support trinket adapters - wide angle and telephoto snap on things - that can add a little more shooting dimension without breaking the bank like a real lens (I think they're $40 or so.)

If you've got the cash for new, however, why not check out one of the Lumix line that is waterproof and/or shock absorbent.

The only recommendation I can make is to NOT go with a kodak or other cheap brand. They lose screens really fast. Just do a search on ebay and you'll see lots of 20-30 working cameras... with dead screens...

[cletus]

...Lumix line that is waterproof and/or shock absorbent.


or something from the Olympus SW line (http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_digital_sw.asp)

The 1030 SW is a neat little camera. Small enough to take anywhere but the controls and display are big enough to be usable.

[ChatKat]

I actually got a couple of HP Cameras for my twin granddaughters when they were 8. They're now 11, the cameras work fine and they were $75 each including shipping from BuyDig. I thought they'd get lost before they wore out (ha ha). They figured them out in 10 minutes and for what they do (snapshots) they are great and they send me images all the time. They aren't too good that we'd feel awful if they were missing.

If I'd known that, I would have bought them the entry level Canon's