Camera for a 4-year old

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8bit

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My eldest son turns four in a few weeks' time and has said a couple of times he'd like a camera of his own so he can take photos. We're keen to encourage him to explore his interests in a way that can get his head around but I guess at the same time to hold his interest it'll need to produce a basically decent result and be identifiable to him as being something like what he sees me using.

Is anyone aware of anything sort of age-appropriate for him that would be a decent introduction to photography?
 
•

A point and shoot would be a good place to start. It is cheap
so the eventual damages are limited in consequences. The
two main points to learn with that solution is catching the mo-
ment and composition.
 
Something tough and / or cheap.

With a 4 year old, they will be dropped, left lying round in unusual places and lost - probably permanently. The results will be terrible for a while, but just let them explore rather than try to teach them as they will have forgotten by the time they pick the camera up again.
 
We bought our 4 year old granddaughter a Nikon COOLPIX S33 Compact Digital Camera which produced some reasonable results.

Positives: It worked as expected.

Negatives: Buttons getting pushed and draining the battery quickly particually the "accidental" videoing of her own feet.

The two most notable reasons for bad images (75.00%) were camera shake and photographing her own fingers.
 
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What aboht the Panasonic or Canon “tough” range? The Canon Powershot D10-D30 spring to mind
 
adrianday said:
4 years is the perfect age for a 10x8 field camera - it'll help build his muscles. Might I also suggest wet-plate collodion - there are bucket loads of nasty chemicals around the house. Introducing him to a few more won't do any harm.
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No way at the age of 4, far too young using chemicals . A cheap point and shoot yes, but that is all
 
Don't know if this will help or not both my girls where interested in photography from a young age, initially I imagine because they wanted to imitate us.

They have had quite a few camera's between them.

My eldest is 11 now but she started with a point and shoot at around 4-5 but quickly god fed up with it and was always wanting to use our slr's so we got her a bridge style camera which kept her happy enough for a good while as it looked more like an slr. It wasn't too long though before she realised that we could change lenses and she couldn't so we bought her a very cheap Nikon DSLR from memory it was a Nikon D40 or something along those lines. Since then she has upgraded a few times with our youngest getting her hand me downs. She currently has a Fuji XT20 and our youngest who is 8 has a Nikon D800.

For a 4 year old I would skip the point and shoot and pick them up a very cheap used bridge camera of eBay or somewhere. They will feel they are using more what you are and will benefit them in terms of being able to use a more serious cameras controlls later on down the line.

In terms of age appropriate cameras there is always the kiddie vtech type cameras that have little games etc. on them to keep them interested.
 
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realspeed said:
No way at the age of 4, far too young using chemicals . A cheap point and shoot yes, but that is all
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Batteries are full of chemicals too though! Some batteries will catch fire and/or explode if dropped, crushed, damaged, bitten, etc. I believe there have been some horrific internal injuries/fatalities caused by swallowing batteries that have proceeded to burn through the child's intestine. I believe the voltage stored in camera flash units can also be lethal too, and if the camera is dropped or damaged the wiring/circuitry could become exposed. Besides, I know what I was like at that age for dismantling things to see how they worked!

Is it really worth risking the injury or death of a child by giving it an electronic device when it's too young to fully understand the concepts of safety warnings and consequences? Let's face it, some adults can struggle with that! It only takes a moment for a child to evade supervision and it can be too late. I would stick with a safety-approved toy camera designed for children of that age-group until he's old enough to use the real thing safely unsupervised?
 
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i had a think about this a while ago for my youngest son but he was 8 or 9 at the time
the one i eventually bought him was a Fuji finepix xp70 ( now replaced by the XP120 )

the criteria was it had to be reasonably tough with some sort of water proofing and not have a protruding lens that could be knocked
the xp70 wasn't too expensive and fitted the bill

there are other very similar cameras from different manufactures if the fuji looks too much of a toy for your liking
 
FujiFilm FinePix XP120 Outdoor Camera, available in different colours!
 
Don't worry about the brand or specs! Just get a reasonably robust second hand compact. They are a cheap as chips and will give them a good start.

A Friend's 5 yr old has been taking pictures for about 18 months now (with a used compact) and is getting some nice shots. No he is not an expert yet (!) but, like his mum, he has a good eye. Who knows where he will go in the future? For now he is having a lot of fun and learning a lot!
 
Am I the only one that feels that giving a 4 year old a 'proper' camera is entirely inappropriate? Children mimic. They try to emulate their elders. They don't need to have the same things you have. A plastic bucket/spade, steering wheel, stethoscope, etc. will usually suffice.

Would you let your child have an alcoholic drink if he saw you drinking one?

I wonder what expectations an eight-year old child may have in the future when they're used to having a D800 as their day-to-day camera? It's a recipe for disaster.

Peer pressure has a significant effect on the wellbeing and development of young people. We all have a social responsibility to ensure that we do not exacerbate the situation. Let children be children. Let them play with toys.

Think of the opportunities that afford you to capture unforgettable images of them that they will remember and perhaps then perpetuate.
 
Mr Badger said:
Batteries are full of chemicals too though! Some batteries will catch fire and/or explode if dropped, crushed, damaged, bitten, etc. I believe there have been some horrific internal injuries/fatalities caused by swallowing batteries that have proceeded to burn through the child's intestine. I believe the voltage stored in camera flash units can also be lethal too, and if the camera is dropped or damaged the wiring/circuitry could become exposed. Besides, I know what I was like at that age for dismantling things to see how they worked!

Is it really worth risking the injury or death of a child by giving it an electronic device when it's too young to fully understand the concepts of safety warnings and consequences? Let's face it, some adults can struggle with that! It only takes a moment for a child to evade supervision and it can be too late. I would stick with a safety-approved toy camera designed for children of that age-group until he's old enough to use the real thing safely unsupervised?
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Button batteries are the most lethal apparently. My 5 year old daughter has a toy camera by vTech, it takes pictures and has two viewfinders, one for each eye. My 8 year old has a canon ixus compact with a reasonable zoom, my 10 year old has a d200, but he has pretty much taken control of my D7200 now and is very handy with a 70-300 lens.
 
Kodiak Qc said:
•

A point and shoot would be a good place to start. It is cheap
so the eventual damages are limited in consequences. The
two main points to learn with that solution is catching the mo-
ment and composition.
Click to expand...


This - we have a couple of old decent panasonic point and shoots which are perfect. Easy to use with the display on the rear so they see what they are shooting, good zoom, and a button to press to take the image.
Now being used by a friends 6 year old we sometimes look after. It's actually quite fun to see through their eyes and see what he takes. Making it as easy as possible means they don't get discouraged.
 
adrianday said:
4 years is the perfect age for a 10x8 field camera - it'll help build his muscles. Might I also suggest wet-plate collodion - there are bucket loads of nasty chemicals around the house. Introducing him to a few more won't do any harm.
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realspeed said:
No way at the age of 4, far too young using chemicals . A cheap point and shoot yes, but that is all
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I think there should have been a few smilies after the first post, or at least a whoosh parrot :D
 
adrianday said:
Am I the only one that feels that giving a 4 year old a 'proper' camera is entirely inappropriate? Children mimic. They try to emulate their elders. They don't need to have the same things you have. A plastic bucket/spade, steering wheel, stethoscope, etc. will usually suffice.

Would you let your child have an alcoholic drink if he saw you drinking one?

I wonder what expectations an eight-year old child may have in the future when they're used to having a D800 as their day-to-day camera? It's a recipe for disaster.

Peer pressure has a significant effect on the wellbeing and development of young people. We all have a social responsibility to ensure that we do not exacerbate the situation. Let children be children. Let them play with toys.

Think of the opportunities that afford you to capture unforgettable images of them that they will remember and perhaps then perpetuate.
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Sorry to have upset you so much :(


The D800 my daughter has has been used by me, then my wife then my eldest before she had it and has a shutter count of over 400k. It’s pretty much beat to pieces and if she didn’t have it would probably be sitting in the spares cupboard. Not that I should have to justify myself to an internet troll but there you go. My daughter shoots landscapes and pretty much nothing else and the camera is a good fit for her at the moment.

She has plenty of “normal” kids toys that she was unable to use for a long period of time after having to spend a long time in a wheel chair after getting knocked over by a careless driver. Photography proved to be a great release for her and something she could do while she was in the wheelchair. Now that she is healthy again she still loves it.
 
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I had a little point and shoot when I was about that age. This was back in the film days so I had to learn about not exposing the roll to light etc. A simple point and shoot just to peak his interest and get him used to actually taking photos would be great, I'm sure they can be had quite cheaply on ebay. Or maybe an old spare smartphone you have around would do the same job? Get a big bumper case for it to give some protection against the inevitable drops.
 
adrianday said:
Am I the only one that feels that giving a 4 year old a 'proper' camera is entirely inappropriate?
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I'm sorry if this post offended anyone. There are times when I should keep my thoughts to myself. This was one of them.

Please accept my sincere apologies.
 
I let my 3 year old daughter use my first AA battery VGA digital camera a few times and she took a lot of terrible pictures but a few interesting ones too. Interesting to see her perspective.
Around 5 we replaced it with a Kodak ZX1 - a Flip style video/still camera in a rugged body. Again lots of dreadful shots but some interesting ones. When the rubber perished on the grip we bought her a Fuji XP line camera for school trips, Guides and more recently skiing.
There used to be plenty of reconditioned XP cameras on eBay.
Now she's a teen she is only really interested in her phone camera but the XP served her well.
 
adrianday said:
I'm sorry if this post offended anyone. There are times when I should keep my thoughts to myself. This was one of them.

Please accept my sincere apologies.
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I think the 'No's above were agreeing with you, in that you're not the only one. To be honest, I think kids grow up too quickly these days; peer pressure to be a 'grown up', social media telling them what they 'should' be doing and wearing, kiddy-pop artists strutting their stuff on stage, etc. Childhood only happens once, and for a brief enough period of time, so why shouldn't children be allowed/encouraged to enjoy the sort of things kids of that age used to do, and why do some parents (and I'm not referring to anyone on this thread) seem to want a 'mini-me' as soon as possible... or even at all?

Why not encourage children to do all those things they aren't expected to do when they get too old, such as playing in a sand pit with toy diggers and trucks, taking them to the local park to feed the ducks, playing conkers in the autumn, dolls houses and make-believe tea parties, etc. They've all the world to grow up in, so why not help them to have a long and happy childhood doing kids' stuff, there's plenty of time for them to have their own camera to use when they've outgrown that... but it's too late to recapture the opportunity if they've missed it and outgrown it.
 
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adrianday said:
I'm sorry if this post offended anyone. There are times when I should keep my thoughts to myself. This was one of them.

Please accept my sincere apologies.
Click to expand...
To expand on my one word answer above. Its a balance between encouraging someone and pushing someone into things. If a kid (of whatever age) wants to take photographs, surely we should encourage them.

One though I would put out there: its not just taking the photo but having a print out. If a kid has a camera, you then need to taken them home and spend a little time looking at the photos, printing some out, sticking them on the fridge...
 
Mr Badger said:
I think kids grow up too quickly
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I have some reserves with this!

Yes, they grow too quickly when they are taken in directions that do
not belong to childhood. I'm thinking specifically about social organisa-
tion, ideology, nationalism, religion, stardom or sex to name but a few.

No, they don't grow too quickly when the natural qualities of their
mind are promoted, encouraged, stimulated… as most of them are na-
turally and immensely inquisitive.

My two boys were introduced to basic astronomy when ever they had
questions. I answered the question and gave hints to something more
so to keep them thinking… and they did since they came back with re-
lated questions in a short time. They developed their sharp minds as,
so my ex-wife said, I was getting more and more stupid because I ga-
ve all my brains to the boys!.

I play the guitar since I started at sixteen. My sons were fascinated by
the exercise and expressed the wish to do something with music. We
had to go for an hour drive to hockey trainings I was coaching in a city
called Frohnleiten, north of Graz, three to four times a week. I thought
this was an opportunity to teach them to listen to music — sure, music
was part of our life but I mean really listen, understand and enjoy. The
time driving to the hockey trainings (over the years) is among the most
precious souvenirs I have of their childhood. Soon enough, Olivier wan-
ted to try to play the drums and Bénédict went for the bass because of
Paul you know who!. I started to teach them, the drummer is still making
lots of noise and cool grooves while I got myself a JB and amp and star-
ted to learn to play that bass cause he gave up after four months.
 
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adrianday said:
Am I the only one that feels that giving a 4 year old a 'proper' camera is entirely inappropriate?
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Modern children, already can use phones to access the internet, watch films, use an ipad.
When I was young I had a box brownie given me by by Nan. I loved it and it started my love of photography

Posted this before, but my first image taken, of my family at whitewebbs wood, north london (that I still have)
156825852.jpg


technically not brilliant, manual focus looking downwards into the viewfinder etc - but priceless
 
Eloise said:
To expand on my one word answer above. Its a balance between encouraging someone and pushing someone into things. If a kid (of whatever age) wants to take photographs, surely we should encourage them.

One though I would put out there: its not just taking the photo but having a print out. If a kid has a camera, you then need to taken them home and spend a little time looking at the photos, printing some out, sticking them on the fridge...
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That doesn't necessarily mean you have to get them their own camera though. As said above, kids like to mimic their parents and that's fine, but at that age (and certainly 4) they don't need a real camera to do so.

I eventually bought my son a cheap bridge camera when he was about 12. Since he was 13 that camera has been buried at the bottom of his cupboard somewhere.
 
ecoleman said:
That doesn't necessarily mean you have to get them their own camera though. As said above, kids like to mimic their parents and that's fine, but at that age (and certainly 4) they don't need a real camera to do so.

I eventually bought my son a cheap bridge camera when he was about 12. Since he was 13 that camera has been buried at the bottom of his cupboard somewhere.
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Thats why a "hand me down" camera is perfect (which was the point of the post which mentioned a D800). Not sure what age I was ... but don't think it was much after 4 I had my first 110 camera (a hand me down from my sister) - the equivalent these days would be a point and shoot digital.

You're never to young to start to do something you are passionate about, and if the kid wants a camera a "real" (by which I mean a compact rather than a D800) camera is likely to nurture that interest more than a "My First Camera" toy.

Okay so it might end up at the bottom of the wardrobe after 6 months ... but thats the risk with anything you buy.
 
I 'commandeered' the family 110 when I was about 11 or 12. I later realised that was never the case. But the trust bestowed upon me made sure I looked after it and never (knowingly) wasted a frame.

My mum and dad accumulated and proudly displayed photos of the family they had nurtured and loved over a lifetime together. The photographs were captured on a variety of cameras.

Does the quality of the image matter? Not really. A photograph invokes memories. It invokes passion.

My mum passed away 4 years ago. My dad continues to add to the collection of memories scattered on walls and tabletops.

Regardless of whatever camera you decide upon, think about how best to showcase your child's memories.
 
8bit said:
and be identifiable to him as being something like what he sees me using.
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I think you nailed it here, I suspect mostly at that age he wants to emulate you. You didn't say what gear you have but I suspect something black with a lens sticking out of the front, so compacts are out. I;d go second hand and either a bridge camera or an old Panasonic MFT (e.g. a G2)
 
sirch said:
I think you nailed it here, I suspect mostly at that age he wants to emulate you. You didn't say what gear you have but I suspect something black with a lens sticking out of the front, so compacts are out. I;d go second hand and either a bridge camera or an old Panasonic MFT (e.g. a G2)
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How about a Holga?
 
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