Cons:Terrible pictures. Nonintuitive menus. No datestamp on pictures.
We were reluctant to buy this camera vs. a small Canon (SD100) on ebay for more less the same amount. Our three year old had already proved that she could handle a small Canon (and even a big one) but we decided to go for a camera built for toddlers.
Image quality is as described by other reviewers: super low dynamic range, low resolution, slow shutter, low light sensitivity and very noisy. Pictures come out blurred, motion blurred, burnt or underexposed and people are hard to recognize. Vtech could have significantly improved performance at negligible cost simply by using a CMOS sensor made this century.
Menu navigation is OK but could be made much more intuitive and accessible, specially for toddlers. Even I have to fumble around the menus to find the featurs/settings I need, such as configure memory cards.
One notable point that this camera is lacking is picture review. Anyone who has kids and cameras nows that the most fun a toddler can have is viewing the picture he/she just snapped, and running to his/her friends and showing them. This camera only holds the review for a few seconds (not long enough) and bringing it back up requires pressing about 5 buttons to navigate through the menus to the picture editor. Again, anyone who has kids and cameras should have known that a 'review' button would have been a favorite.
The two-eyed view finder is good for kids as they don't need to learn to close one eye as in a normal camera (no points for learning here). However, the live-view LCD has a considerable refresh lag which makes it hard to frame the shot.
The trigger response is very slow (~1s) making it impossible to shoot anything that moves. I also lacks a half-way point like real cameras (no points for learning here).
Interfacing with a computer is straight forward. Just hook up the USB cable and the camera appears as a removable drive (or two if you have a memory card in it). From there you can copy your images to wherever you want. It does work on Mac OS X (10.5.6 maybe earlier). What is lacking here is that the pictures do not have date information (like any other camera) so when I import the pictures into I photo they all look like they were taken on Jan 1st of 1969. This messes up my iPhoto library and makes it impossible to use date/time as a way to track the photographic progress of our toddler.
Overall it is a descent toy for young kids 4 and under. Older kids will enjoy and have more learning benefits with a small Elph or PowerShot from ebay. I'm giving it two stars because Vtech could have significantly improved value by improving the software interface and picture quality without any additional manufacturing cost.
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After reading many reviews and testing several digital cameras designed for kids, I finally chose the Vtech Kidizoom Digital Camera. I am extremely pleased with this camera. This camera is very durable and easy to use. My son, who just turned 3, was able to figure out how to use it in about 5 minutes and absolutely loves it. I downloaded about 500 photos the very first day and while he has slowed down a little, I have still downloaded over 2000 and he has nearly a full camera now. The quality is not professional grade, but he has still taken some nice photos. The camera also has Tic-tac-toe, Match, and a puzzle game, which have been very nice on long trips, especially since the camera has volume control. I have also been pleased with the low battery usage. I have only changed the batteries once, which I was pleasantly surprised about given the fact of how much my son uses the camera and the relative clarity of the color LCD screen. The software is easy enough to install and use, but not a big selling point for me. The camera also has the ability to change photos by adding in a Viking's helmet or framing with a winter scene that I have tried just to see how it worked, but my son has shown little interest in this function. My only complaint is that the camera only has a wrist strap and does not have a neck strap for when little hands get tired. Again, overall, I am very pleased with this camera and would recommend to anyone looking for a durable digital camera for a little photographer.Best Deals for VTech - Kidizoom Digital Camera - Orange
My kids saw this advertised on TV last year (2007) and added it to their Christmas list. I am skeptical about a lot of toys that are advertised on TV and am careful about what I spend my money on. I found this camera on sale and went ahead and bought it it seemed like a good purchase and my kids love taking pictures with my camera.This camera is one of the best purchases I have ever made for my kids. They fight over using it this includes my 10-year-old boy who is mature enough to handle a "real" camera. My two girls (ages 7 & 5) love using it. The rubber grips make it easy for little ones to hold and truly protect it when it drops. They can plug the camera right into the TV and show everyone their creations. And, when we are traveling, the camera has a few video games that keep the kids busy in the car.
WORTH EVERY PENNY! The only problem they fight over it. So, I'll be buying another one this Christmas so the girls can each have their own.
Honest reviews on VTech - Kidizoom Digital Camera - Orange
My children are 7 and 4. My 7 yo wanted the camera and loves it. It has alot of fun features and was very easy for her to learn how to use. This was well worth the money. My kids have had toys that they play with for just a short amount of time and then lose interest. This is not one of those toys. My daughter has been playing with it for almost a year now and my son wants his own as well. It actually takes some nice pictures and is quite durable.Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for VTech - Kidizoom Digital Camera - Orange
Well, I really liked this camera while it was still working. The pictures were kinda blurry, but they were fun for the kids. And my kids, no way are they touching my camera, so it was nice that they could actually take pictures of eachother, play games, and generally be rough on it.Except it broke. After about a month for no apparent reason it stopped working. Pretty much first time I changed the batteries it was gone. I tried everything even pressing the nearly invisible reset button on the bottom. Then I called Vtech and they mailed me a new camera.
After they played with it for about a month, well, then it died. So I tried to change the batteries again. To no avail. :( For a product that is supposed to simply be durable our sure hasn't worked for long at all. And I know for certain that it was never dropped in a toilet or gotten wet. It was dropped a couple of times, but generally we tried to take good care of it. I don't understand why it works so inconsistently.
Compared to say, the leapsters which we have dropped several hundred times and they are still running great.
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