Beginner Digicams

[fish]

My 10yo son has asked about getting a beginner's digicam. On our recent trip to Disneyland, I let him use one of our old Olympus P&S film cams and he was bummed about the lack of instant gratification (gee...I wonder where he gets that from? :D), while I was bummed about the $30 I spent on film and developing just to see a bunch of crappy photos (we were all n00bs once). I figure after the initial expense of a starter camera, the mistakes will be very cheap and quick to learn from.

So...any suggestions? $50-100 is probably a reasonable range for a kidcam. :ear:

[kbasa]

We've purchased our nephews and nieces some cheapo digicams. I forget which one we got for the boys, but we got our niece a Barbie one of all things. It'll only hold a dozen or so shots and doesn't have a display, but they get to see them pretty quickly when they download them.

I'd bet that at this point you could buy an old Mavica for $100 and stick a floppy adapter and media in it for another $100.

I think we paid $60 for the Barbie thang.

I got started in photography with an old Ektamatic I got for my tenth birthday. Later, I got an instamatic that had some ability to provide flash via those tall stips of bulbs (sylvania blue dots!)

[Razorbak]

any suggestions? $50-100 is probably a reasonable range for a kidcam. :ear: Check out this review in Consumer Reports for Kids...

http://www.zillions.org/Features/Digital/dcam001.html

[wxwax]

You can buy disposable (http://www.ecamerafilms.com/kodplusdig35.html) digital cameras, but you don't get instant gratification. No screen, and you have to send the unit away to get the images out of it. Cheap, tho.

[fish]

Check out this review in Consumer Reports for Kids...

http://www.zillions.org/Features/Digital/dcam001.html

Interesting article, porky...thanks for the link. Looks like I'm really looking at $300 (or something used).

[Marc]

I've got a 10 year old and got him a Fuji A205 (http://www.fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/digitalA205Overview.jsp?item=I616699&dbid=616699&urltype=overview) digicam for Christmas. I also got him the automatic charger/download base that comes with special rechargable batteries. Why did I pick this one?

- Ease of use. It's really simple, the menus aren't too complicated, there are few, easy-to-understand buttons and, when you insert it into the base, it automatically downloads into Photoshop Album 2.0 and recharges the batteries at the same time.

- Price. I set $100 as my "digicam for a 10-year old budget" - this one came damn close. If he loses it, we'll get over it.

- Quality. Takes pretty good pictures (2MP). Could be better, but I've gotten spoiled by my 10D.

But, most of all, The BOY is using it. He's already downloaded more than 200 shots into Photoshop Album and has learned how to crop, do red eye correction, adjust brightness, etc. If he keeps with it, I'll upgrade him in a year or two. Cheap, easy, functional. What more could you ask for?

Marc

[Marc]

Steve's Digicams did a complete review of this camera. They said it was a good entry-level camera for a novice photographer at a $200 price point. I got it for ~ $115, which made it perfect.

Here's the review:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/fuji_a205.html

HTH,

M

[Razorbak]

Interesting article, porky...thanks for the link. Looks like I'm really looking at $300 (or something used).
Here's a real cheap alternative, and you can buy it at Ritz Cameras for less than $50...

http://www.ritzcamera.com/products/542043104.html

[Marc]

Here's a real cheap alternative, and you can buy it at Ritz Cameras for less than $50...

http://www.ritzcamera.com/products/542043104.htmlNo. Avoid that thing. I bought one for The BOY last Christmas and it stinks. The file transfer process is bizarre and cumbersome, the photo quality stinks, and there is no photo viewer of any type on the camera! Oh yeah, there is no flash either. Spend another $50 or so and get a "real" digicam instead of this toy. You'll be glad you did.

M

[fish]

Hmmm...worstbuy.com has a handful of digicams for under $150. (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=cat04002&type=category&_DARGS=/site/en_US/catalog/fragments/product/olslinelistingsortfilter.jsp)

[wxwax]

This (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1051826105795&skuId=5351059&type=product&productCategoryId=cat04002) one looks good. I had an Olympus 2mp camera, took excellent shots. Only $130.

http://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US/images/products/5351/5351059_ra.jpg

[cmr164]

I picked up a real cheap (for 2 years ago) DimageX from ubid.com for $245. Now I see auctions on Ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2978760404&category=30002) for less than $100. It is hard to go wrong.

[wxwax]

Hi cmr :wave: welcome aboard. That's a really interesting idea... get an older, somewhat pricier camera for cheap. That's how I buy my cars. :yeah:

http://www.refurbdepot.com/products/standard/2575.jpg