Vtech Kidizoom Plus Digital Camera - Pink
by V Tech
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Toys and Games Reviews of Vtech Kidizoom Plus Digital Camera - Pink
Customer Review: See it through the eyes of a child!
Summary: 5 Stars
We bought two of these cameras for our 4 (nearly 5) year old twins. Our kids kept reaching for my Nikon or Leica stuff, so I really needed something to distract them, and give them the opportunity to experience taking photographs themselves without trashing super expensive equipment.
Enter the VTech Kidizoom!
First of all, do not evaluate the picture quality of this camera through they eyes of an adult. To a 4 year old, it's pretty magic to press a button and have an image appear on a tiny LCD, then later on a computer. It's a toy, pure and simple.
Our kids have not put it down since they got them. On the 'captivating' scale of 1 to 10, these are a solid 9. In addition to taking photos, there are three pretty simple games, and some modest in-camera photo manipulation utilities. Luckily, the camera comes with two faceplates, so we swapped one of them immediately so our twins can distinguish whose camera is whose.
PROS:
- Cheaper to replace than an adult camera.
- Engaging for a 4/5 year old (your mileage may vary)
- includes games and photo manipulation in camera
- takes SD cards in addition to the generous internal memory
- built-in flash
- inexpensive (I paid about 30% less than the current Amazon price)
- Robust (they've been dropped several times and still work)
- Kid-friendly ergonomics (buttons are big and obvious)
- includes USB cable and TV RCA cable
- stereo viewfinders (very handy for small children who don't understand looking through a single viewfinder)
- shoots video
CONS
- LONG recycle time between flashes
- Low image quality (The packaging says 2.0 mpx, but it's not. It's 0.3 mpx that CAN be interpolated via software - included for Windows computers only)
- No Mac software (but the camera will mount on a Mac just fine for image import into any photo program using the included USB cable)
- Games are initially amusing (Tic-Tac-Toe, an image puzzle game, and a match the pairs game), but I don't know if they have lasting allure
- Rear LCD is small and dim (you pretty much need to look at it dead on as the field of view is extremely narrow)
I know that many adults consider buying cheap point and shoots that don't cost much more than this... the pink Kodak Easyshare is available for about [...] bucks... but through eyes of a child the experience of those camera won't make much sense. The form factor, buttons, photo manipulation and games add up to something little children can understand and enjoy. I expect that after a year or so or learning how to respect a camera, I can graduate them to something a little more 'adult'.
For now, I am just happy to let them have fun.
Customer Review: Better than reviews claim to be so far
Summary: 4 Stars
Well, considering we've only had the camera up and running for and hour or two I can't really comment too much on the durability but for a kids camera I have to say I am quite impressed. My daughter is turning 7 and asked for a pink camera for her birthday that had the view screen. We had gotten her a cheap $20 digital camera and it wouldn't even work on my computer! Never saw the first picture she took. On top of that when the batteries died or came out all her pix were lost, plus NO flash so useless indoors.
So I read the reviews on all the higher quality kid cameras and this one caught my eye. I was very hesitant to say the least to purchase with a good amt of poor reviews but there was an equal amt of good reviews and I found a great sale which was about half what the price is here so I thought we'd give it a shot!
Camera came preloaded with batteries which said were only for demo mode but as I said we've played around with it for well over an hour using video even and it is still going strong ! I don't have a memory card inserted yet and she has been happily snapping pictures and it hasn't run out of memory yet! Yes, the LCD isn't that clear, you DO have to hold it steady which isn't hard for a 7 yr old to do. Images have been decent quality so far (it's a kid camera for crying out loud) there was only one bad one so far in the whole lot and it was because the camera was too close and the flash washed out the subject. I am very impressed with the video that even includes sound. I have seen "real" camera's with video but NO sound! How useless is THAT? Anyway my 3 year old is crying for a camera for his birthday now and my 12 year old BOY is hogging it up when he gets half a chance too! I have played around with the stamps and slide show and thought they were a great addition! It's dark out so haven't taken any outdoor pix yet but the flash has been working fine indoors. The only problem I have come across so far is the "zoom" buttons are right where my right hand sits when holding the camera and I press them accidentally every time I try to take a picture.
I haven't installed the software yet so can't comment on quality on there or on the tv but overall I would give it a thumbs up! As I am typing my kids are showing me a picture of me (mom) with a funny mustache! I'd say it's a hit at my house!
I will try to leave an update after we have it a while and of course sooner if it breaks like some claim theirs has done after a few weeks of use.
So far so good!
Customer Review: Excellent - Much better than many have rated it
Summary: 5 Stars
The reviews of kiddie cameras are mixed, so I finally bought this for my just turned 4 year old daughter (for her birthday last week) with some trepidation. We've now had it for over 1 week, and its been a huge hit! I've never seen her take a toy with her everywhere and use it so often. So just from that perspective, its been a big success.
It takes small pictures (.3 of a megapixel), and takes a few secs to focus on an image (during which camera needs to be held still, a bit of a challenge for a toddler, but good discipline), but if you keep these 2 things in mind, the pictures aren't bad (certainly not as horrible as some reviewers imply). When I take pictures, and hold the unit still (and let the auto focus focus on the subject, the pictures are decent - albeit not great by any stretch). The flash is useless in almost all conditions (except possibly night), but you can easily turn it off (by pressing the delete picture button). Yes it has no zoom, but my daughter likes to experiment by moving closer and farther away. Yes the eye pieces can lead one to cut off the subjects head, but the LCD display is accurate, and I have taught my daughter to use this to frame pictures. She caught on quickly.
We added a 256 MB SD card, and she's been happily clicking away ever since. She's figured out how to delete and put the various supplied graphics (frames and funny facial features) over her real life subjects. I haven't yet shown her the video or games or other editing features.
One of the best features of this camera is the ability to hook it into the tv - no computer connection needed for her. She quite likes to see her pictures on the big screen. On my 62" tv, the pixelation is pretty awful, but I hope on smaller lcds it would be more acceptable.
In the long run, we will give her a better camera that takes better pictures (likely one of our old ones), but for now this is teaching her about photography, and its tough and kid friendly. Just don't expect amazing photos (she doesn't, so why should we?), and this more than delivers the goods for a 2-5 year old in my view.
While clearly not bullet proof, so far I've been impressed with the build quality and thoughtfulness of teh design - hardly the piece of junk that some others have labeled this toy. Good luck.
Customer Review: Terrible - Pictures are so dark, you can't even see what you took a pic of
Summary: 1 Stars
Maybe I got a lemon, but the pictures are so dark EVEN WITH the blinding flash that you can't tell what you took a picture of. I didn't expect a top quality camera but for the price, I at least expected some type of image (even a blurry one) to come out when you took a picture.
My son is almost 3 and got it for Xmas. Thank goodness he is too young to even know that he took a terrible picture. If my son was a little older, I think he would be bummed. The only redeeming quality is that he thinks it's fun when he pushes the button and hears the camera click. Other than that aspect of this TOY, there is no other redeeming quality.
If you want to teach your kids how to take a good picture, this toy won't do that since you can't make out any of the images. They are too dark. We've tried inside in very good lighting, with the flash, and outside. It's a mystery to me that vtech would bother to make a camera at all and sell it as such when it can't take a picture. To me, this is extremely frustrating and a total waste of money. I could have gotten a plastic toy for under $10 to "click" when you push the button.
For the price tag, I would expect that it could at least take an image of any sort (even if it was low res and a bit blurry). Also, the flash is useless. Vtech goes through the trouble to put a flash on the camera but it's not timed to go with taking the picture so you still don't even get an image.
Waste of money. Don't bother. I'm hoping that I can return it and see if I can get another one. Some reviewers seem to say the same as me, and a lot of reviewers seem to get better pictures. If I can manage to exchange this one and get another, I'll change my review if I notice a difference.
Customer Review: Awesome!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the blue camera for my 4-year-old as a Christmas present because he is constantly trying to use the camera feature on my cell phone. I initially looked for the Fisher Price camera that I saw advertised on television but the VTech was more affordable and had better reviews overall. Besides-I don't think my 4-year-old needs a camera that costs $100.
This camera has not disappointed at all. He has played with this every single day since opening it and he takes it everywhere he goes. It is durable and has survived a drop or two. I am also impressed that I haven't had to change the batteries yet.
The camera has many functions. There are games on it as well as a video recorder. Plenty to keep my son busy. The flash was annoying at first but most of the time he doesn't use it. There is also a function for framing and taking pictures with different themes. Just overall fun.
The camera is fairly easy to use. My son was able to pick it up and start shooting without little problems. The pictures automatically save themselves. Every day or so I will go through and take off the photos he doesn't want so that there is room for him to save more.
We haven't used the camera with the computer. We have no need to. All my son likes is taking pictures and looking at them on the camera. It is nice that we do have the option to transfer the photos and may play with that in the future.
Five stars overall. This is the holiday toy that I believe will have the most longevity in my household.