VTech Kidizoom Multimedia Digital Camera (Blue)
From VTech
Customer Reviews
Best birthday present ever!
We bought this for my 4 year old for his birthday and it really is the best thing ever as far as he's concerned.
The pictures aren't great quality but I bought this with the full knowledge that it was a toy, that it is intended for quite young children and that it's main purpose is to be robust. So far it has lived up to expectations.
My son took 200+ photos on the first morning. Most of them are blurred snaps, but then he's 4, not David Bailey. However, he did manage to take a fantastic photo of his 1 year old sister.
If you recognise this toy's limitations then it's a great present. If you're expecting top quality pictures then buy a normal, high res digital camera and not a toy.
My son loves this camera.....make sure you get the latest version though!!
We bought this camera for my 3 year old son this time last year after showing an avid interest in using my own Digital SLR's! As has been pointed out in previous reviews, image resolution is low and shots with flash are often burnt out. However, even with that, my son loved the camera showing great pride in taking pictures and immediately showing the person the picture displayed on the monitor (no matter how good or bad it was!). Always with a grin and enjoying it immensely - which is what it's all about IMO. Sure, the twin viewfinder suffers from parallax error at close distances but my son soon learned to frame using the rear monitor. We never bothered trying to print any images as I know there's little point with the 640x480 resolution and anyhow, at his age, my sons more interested in taking pictures than printing them.
As for build quality, the camera appeared very good with a robust casing covering what is obviously a low quality digital camera. I have to say 'appeared' as I noticed around a month ago that the camera often wouldn't power up despite new sets of batteries. My son was somewhat upset at this so I checked the Vtech website and dropped them a short email (having no original receipt etc). To my surprise they apologised and stright away sent me a returns form by first class post. Three days after returning the form we received by courier a brand new camera! Thank you Vtech.
What I noticed straight away is that the image quality, particularly with flash, is improved immensely. The packaging states 'improved sensor quality' & instructions mention improvements with the latest versions - I would say that's correct. Close up shots with flash no longer burn out every time - which is what the majority of shots on this camera are going to be after all. Image quality on the small monitor also looks somewhat better than the old version & the delay between pressing the shutter and the picture being taken, though not immediate, is again improved. Incidentally, the instructions mention that the 'photo editor' includes an interpolation feature to enlarge files up to 2mB in order to print 'high quality' images. Of course, interpolation isn't going to get you sharp prints but it gives you an option if you want to try and get something half decent.
So, if you are looking for a fun camera for your kids and aren't going to lose sleep over image quality or a few shortcomings, I don't believe that you can go wrong with one of these (just try and make sure that you get the latest version). Buy a cheap SD card and let them shoot to their hearts content! If your kids are older and more camera aware then look elsewhere. Otherwise, this is a fun introduction to photography & I have to say kudos to Vtech for being so proactive in offering a replacement.
£50 well spent
I bought this camera for my daughter's 3rd birthday and I have to say it is fantastic, so much so that my 6 year old is now desperately jealous and has written to father christmas to ask for one. If I had read some of the reviews on here before buying I would probably not have bought it, luckily I didn't bother to. Yes sure, the quality is not perfect but it is tough, easy to use and produces reasonable results in the hands of a 3yr and 6yr old. They love the extra frames and added stamps which mean you can put granny in a pirates hat or transport your barbie to a snowy scene. They haven't explored the games yet but I did when they went to bed and particularly liked the one which makes a puzzle using their own photos. I think that if you have an unusually steady handed and very careful child then sure, buy them a real camera but if you have real kids, then buy this. I speak as someone whose 6yr old (who is a quite normal, fairly careful girl) has now had 3 grown up cameras ranging in price from £20 to £40 each and has broken everyone of them by one drop onto a hard surface. We shall be instructing father christmas to get us another one please!
