Fisher Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera for Girls
by Fisher Price
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Our Price: $129.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $19.49 (click here) Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of Fisher Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera for Girls
Customer Review: A good toy, not a great camera
Summary: 2 Stars
This kid's digital camera is, indeed, quite durable -- encased in soft, rubbery plastic, it is made to take a pounding. Unfortunately, the device within isn't quite as impressive as its armor.
If you are looking for a camera that is basically a high-end toy for your child to play with, this device is easy to use and simple to download (has a USB port, is both Mac and PC compatible...) But if the actual quality of the pictures matters to you, as well as the aesthetic experience your kid will have while using the camera, your opinion may be more negative. The Fisher-Price camera has very little functional memory -- you can add storage space and take more pictures, but they will still be fairly low quality. In some ways what's more disappointing is that the viewfinders and LCD display are both not very user friendly. For some reason, FP designed the viewfinder as a two-lens binocular (like the old View Master reel toys) -- it seems difficult to use, and the lenses don't always match up. The LCD has terrible picture quality -- it's so fuzzy and grainy that for all practical purposes, it's not really worth using. It simply gives no accurate idea what the picture you're taking will look like. Another flaw is that among the five control buttons is a very prominent red button for deleting pictures, which may be a bit too tempting for smaller children to use. (The other buttons are power on, snap pictures, scroll forward and scroll back... all very easy to understand and to use, although the button for taking pictures might be better placed on top of the camera, rather than in front, where small hands may have a hard time reaching it...)
In essence, this camera seems to have been designed by people who don't really respect children very much -- the photographic component is needlessly junky and the user experience is pretty poor. Rather than invest in making it slightly more high-end, they add cutesy bells and whistles, like a little jingle that plays when the camera powers up or shuts down. Not wild about the blue-for-boys, pink-for-girls designs, either.
Oh, well.
If you really want to encourage your kids to learn photography, you're probably better off spending the extra money to get a small, low-end "adult" camera with better user interface and higher picture resolution. It will probably be more rewarding and less insulting to their imagination. And you'll actually *want* to look at the pictures they take!
Customer Review: Perfect first camera for little hands
Summary: 5 Stars
We bought this camera for my daughter's birthday because she was dying to have a digital camera like everyone else in the family. We put batteries and the SD card in before we gave it to her and, as we expected, she started taking pictures the second she opened the package. With only a few instructions on how to use the buttons, our little photographer was busy snapping away. (When my oldest heard how many pictures this camera would store, she was jealous because her older camera isn't SD capable.) My six year old has snapped hundreds and hundreds pictures and we have yet to need to change the batteries. The pictures also download very easily onto the computer. She took it to school with her the next day and let the children on the playground take turns using it. Therefore, I can also say that children from age 3 and up can easily use this camera.
The picture quality is not "professional" but this does not bother us. Given her age, the vast majority of the shots are not "keepers" anyway. (And unlike when my oldest got her first camera, I do not have to pay a fortune for developing film.) My daughter is very quickly learning how to hold the camera steady thanks to the sound the camera makes when she pushes the shutter button and the ability to see her shots quickly on the computer. As she does this, her picture quality is getting much better. The flash isn't very strong, so outdoor pictures are of better quality than indoor...but indoor shots are still adequate.
The LCD screen is very small but to be honest my daughter only wants to look at it to see if the picture is there. She "evaluates" whether or not she wants to keep the photograph when it is displayed on the computer.
The one drawback is that the batteries can be a little bit of a production to put in, but as I said before that does not seem to be something we have to do very often. (And she uses the camera constantly.) However, I also appreciate the fact that younger children could not open that compartment.
This camera is extremely tough, very easy to use, and battery friendly. The LCD screen, while not extremely clear, does show the picture and gives the immediate feedback that children love. The grips are generous and make holding the camera easy. I would highly recommend this camera to anyone who is thinking about getting a first camera for a young child.
Customer Review: Great camera for Kids
Summary: 5 Stars
My daughter just got this camera for her 5th birthday from my sister. She hasn't stopped taking pictures. It is so easy for her to use! She loves the ability to review her pictures. She has quickly learned how to frame the pictures to ensure no heads are cut off. She actually prefers using the standard view finder and not the LCD display - not that I blame her.
The LCD display isn't the best quality, but things are definitely viewable through the LCD. I'd rather the quality be a little lower on the LCD than have the LCD quit on the first drop.
While the quality of the pictures aren't great, they don't turn out as bad as I had expected. It's better than wasting film in the disposable cameras she liked to use or letting her use my digital camera.
It is also very easy to download images off the camera. I'm not sure what the one reviewer was talking about needing to unscrew the bottom to access the USB port. There is a spring slide cover on the back that nicely covers the USB port. The bottom of the camera has a screwed on plate that needs to be removed to change the batteries or the optional memory card.
Personally, I like that the batteries are screwed in. My daughter is plenty old to know not to eat the batteries, but if her camera's battery compartment worked like my camera's battery compartment then it wouldn't be as durable. The "push and slide to open" and other adult camera battery covers just aren't going to stand up to kids using the camera. Even if kids aren't trying to take out the batteries, the adult style latches just aren't going to stand up to the type of use this camera was designed for.
Not to mention the little spring loaded doors that cover the memory cards on adult cameras. Those doors would be broken off in no time.
We have not yet gotten a memory card for the camera. Its internal memory will take about 60 pictures, which is just fine for now. My daughter can easily delete the pictures she doesn't want and she even downloads her own pictures to her computer. Except for supervising the use of her computer, I don't have to actively participate in the procedure.
Unless something goes wrong with this camera in the near future, I'd say it was well worth the cost and I'd recommend this camera (and have already to my friends).
Customer Review: Easy Favorite for Kids, not so hot to Mom
Summary: 3 Stars
My 3yo daughter, who loves to take pictures with my Sony H2 but hates Momma hovering behind her saying "be careful!!" was in Heaven when she got a digital of her own. She has been shooting pictures with mine for ages, so very quickly adapted to having a camera of her own, and has loved every minute of it. The size and design of this camera are fantastic -- easy to hold, great 2 eye viewfinder design, lightweight. I do have to admit that up to this point she's even happy with the pictures she's taken, and doesn't seem to mind the image quality. If she was rating this, it would be an easy 5 stars.
From Mom's point of view -- the other reviewers are dead on. The quality of these pictures is HORRIBLE. What I've discovered is that my daughter has a really good eye (very surprising in a 3 yo! LOL!) and have been very disappointed that several of the pictures she has taken I would have liked to print out or keep -- definitely not an option with this one. The pics are so pixelated that there is no use for them. I agree with the reviewer who begged FP to upgrade this to at least 1 - 2 MP. I'd happily buy it again and give it 5 stars.
Overall: It's very easy to use, easy to upload to the computer, and seems durable -- survives the drops and bumps. If you're looking for a fun TOY for your kid, this is a great one, and is actually really good training for a young child who will move on to a camera later. If you want an actual CAMERA for your child to document and save images of their life for later viewing/use, don't go here.
One suggestion -- the LCD screen on the back of the camera is virtually useless -- you just get a vague hint of what the picture is. I suggest uploading the pics to your computer for your child to see what he/she took. The pictures are a bit better there, and you'll be able to tell what they are much better. Just be prepared to be disappointed when you love them and can't print or ever use them! :(
Customer Review: DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA FOR ANY CHILD
Summary: 1 Stars
This is the poorest excuse for a "camera" we have ever seen. We purchased it for our 4 year old granddaughter when her baby sister was born last month(March 2008), thinking she would have fun with it while we adults were taking pictures of the new baby.
Well, it takes unbelievably poor quality "pictures," if you can call them that. The LCD screen is so miniscule that even if the photos were actually good, you would not be able to see them very well. No matter how hard you try to keep the camera still (even adults) the photos are always slightly out of focus.
And now I see the camera has gone UP in price! Huh? What's this? We paid $50 for this thing new on Amazon.com and now it is double that price! We have seen comparable (but still bad quality) cameras at CVS drugstores for $20. If you're going to introduce a child to his or her own camera, best to pay as little as possible. For crying out loud, you can pay $98 for a REAL digital camera, which is what a child wants anyway - something that looks like an adult camera.
And, by the way, yes, it can be dropped and won't break. Big deal. I have dropped my little Canon digital Elph a dozen times, even on concrete once, and it still works just fine. So don't let the "durability" of this "camera" be a selling point.
So, bottom line, DON'T BUY THIS CAMERA - it sucks, even for a 4 year old!!