Sturdy point & shoot for a 5 year old?

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bozwellox

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Hi peeps,

Looking for some recommendations for a fairly cheap, used point & shoot camera for my son. He's had one of those VTech Kiddizoom things for a couple of years and he absolutely loves it, he takes it everywhere with him and is a fearless street photographer! I'm thinking of getting him a more grown up camera, that actually takes fairly decent photos but can take a bit of a beating.

Definitely looking at used options as let's face it, it will inevitably end up covered in stickers/weetabix, or get smashed to pieces, so cheapness is a key thing. I'd just like to reward his enthusiasm by giving him something he can hopefully enjoy and learn to look after.

So if anyone has any memories of sturdy digital cameras from the last decade, feel free to chip in!

Cheers!

Paul
 
I've not used any myself, but there certainly are tough compacts available from a few manufacturers. Nikon do AW ones, Olympus do the Tough TG range, Panasonic do some too. A lot can be had for £100 or so, i'm not sure how much you were looking to spend :)
 
Anything cheap on Ebay, toughness built-in comes at a price that would get you 10-20 "disposable" digital compacts.

Use the following search term with the price bracket set to 99p-£10 and there's 1,500+ hits..

digital camera -(faulty, not working, repair, spares)​

The minus sign and the bit in brackets are to exclude 99% of the junk. There are a few gems lurking in there.

Amazon also has a few digital p&s cameras in the £10-15 bracket. Keep an eye on the Aldi/Lidl weekly specials as well.
 
Ignore the tough ones, just buy a decent but cheap point and shoot and be prepared to replace it. However it will teach him the value of things and to be careful with expensive items. He may surprise you, especially if he enjoys photography.
 
Can't recommend anything specific on the camera front but I can suggest getting a decent case with strap. I sometimes let my daughter (also 5) borrow my Canon S110 and when I do it goes in a case like this: http://jordanlloyd.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/window.jpeg She's very good in following the rule that the strap must stay on, which prevents drops, and half the case stays on even when she's shooting which protects the front, bottom and sides from knocks.
 
Not knowing how old your son is, but aside from the issue of a kid-proof camera, I think I'd be using this as an opportunity to show him how to look after stuff, too.
 
Lyope said:
Not knowing how old your son is, but aside from the issue of a kid-proof camera, I think I'd be using this as an opportunity to show him how to look after stuff, too.
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The clue is in the thread title.. ;)
 
Gah! But my comment still stands. I handed my D700 to a seven year old recently. Heart-in-mouth stuff (OK, she had the strap on), but she did brilliantly...
 
the cheap but not necessarily tough option posted earlier is probably the best option. If you can get them for £10-15 your son will need to ruin an awful lot of cameras before getting up to the same money as one of the tough ones! :)

I once trusted a 6 year old to hold my D7000 once for a shot, i'm glad i did as i love the shot but my heart was going a mile a minute. I am still more likely to hand my camera to a child than a drunkard at an event though (i don't know why they insist on having a go!)
 
If I had a spare camera, I would gladly give one to you (for your son) for free. I think it's brilliant that a 5 year old is interested at such a young age......

Why not put an add up in the wanted section ?
 
My lad, also 5 has a cheapy 10 year old ixus. It can still produce good pictures in the right circumstances and can take video also. I would certainly recommend something similar.
 
If you see a Canon Power Shot A480 secondhand they go for around £40 to £45. The wife has one and she loves it! Easy to use good picture quality, for the money anyway. See sample shot attached, this was taken with the onboard fill in flash in full auto and she is just a point and shoot snapper.

Spend anymore money than this and it smarts when It's been left on a park bench on your last trip out! I know from experience with my kids.
 
Probably would be desirable that the lens did not extend and retract while covered in ice cream or whatever.
 
4wd said:
Probably would be desirable that the lens did not extend and retract while covered in ice cream or whatever.
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The one I just listed doesnt. Its fully waterproof and shock proof too.
 
I have a Fuji finepix A607 that you can have for the price of postage It has a 128mb xd card in it plus a 8mb that came with it. Think its about a 3mp so should be ok for a 5 year old.
Let me know if you're interested :)
 
Jo Davies said:
I have a Fuji finepix A607 that you can have for the price of postage It has a 128mb xd card in it plus a 8mb that came with it. Think its about a 3mp so should be ok for a 5 year old.
Let me know if you're interested :)
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That's a really nice gesture :) what a nice thing to do !
 
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