Vtech - Kidizoom Digital Camera - Orange

by VTech

Product Features

• Camera with 16MB internal memory
• wrist strap
• A/V cable, USB cable
• two faceplates
• photo editing software on CD-ROM

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001FB5PRG
• Item model number: 80-077300-Orange
• Manufacturer recommended age: 36 months - 12 years
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,732 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
  • #35 in Toys & Games > Preschool > Pre-Kindergarten Toys > Electronic > Cameras
  • #97 in Toys & Games > Electronics for Kids > Cameras & Camcorders
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Rugged and easy to use, the Vtech Kidizoom Digital Camera is ready to document all your child's adventures. With two-eye viewing, grips designed to fit in little hands, and a built-in flash, this real digital camera can also shoot video. It also includes simple-to-use photo editing software so kids aged three and up can add creative touches to their images.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Real digital camera takes photos and videos The Bad: Lots of navigational buttons may confuse younger photographers In a Nutshell: This durable camera is a fun way to inspire creativity At a Glance Ages: 3 and up Requires: 4 AA Batteries; TV or computer with Windows 2000 or newer needed for some effect

Colorful and durable design can stand up to rough handling; includes two interchangeable faceplates. (shown in pink) View larger.

Large buttons, navigational joystick and 1.8-inch color screen make camera easy to operate. (shown in pink) View larger.

Get Ready to Show off Your Child's Photos
It's clear right out of the packaging that this camera was designed to stand up to tough play and rough handling. Bright orange rubber grips on each side make it easy for children to grasp the camera with both hands, and two-eye viewing make it easy to conceptualize a photo or a cool video. The camera even comes with two interchangeable faceplates, so your child can pick her favorite look.

Before your child starts taking photos, you'll need to use a Phillips screwdriver to insert four "AA" batteries in the grips of the camera. While the first few photos are being taken, you may want to set up the VTech Photo Editor on your computer. An intuitive installation wizard makes this process quick and easy. You'll need Windows 2000 SP3+/XP or newer to use this software. And don't despair if you're a Mac user. As long as you have Mac OS X 10.0 or above, you can still use the camera in mass storage mode.

Inspire Creative Development
Six buttons and a navigational joystick on the back of the camera let your child pick a mode and scroll through old photos. Between taking photos, shooting videos, and playing simple games on the 1.8-inch color screen, there's lots to do.

A built-in flash makes it easier to get well-lit pictures, especially if the subject of the photo is indoors. The flash does, however, often fire if you are trying to take a close-up shot, resulting in very bright, blown-out pictures. Inexperienced photographers may need to be reminded that the camera is not designed to focus on objects that are less than 1.5-feet from the camera. For super-sized fun, you can also link the camera to your television using the included A/V cable and view creative work on the big screen.

With 16MB of internal memory and an SD card slot so that you can add capacity if you need it, this camera lets kids collect lots of images. The included USB cable lets you upload the images to your computer. The VTech photo editor lets you or your child add cool frames to photos, stamp funny hats on people, and distort images. You can even run fun animations that makes the photo look like it is rotating or underwater.

The photo editor interface is easy to use, with big round buttons for kids to click on and drag-and-drop stamps. More advanced artists may be disappointed that there aren't more ways to creatively control output, but files from the Kidizoom can easily be edited in more advanced programs, too.

What's in the Box
Camera with 16MB internal memory, wrist strap, A/V cable, USB cable, two faceplates, and photo editing software on CD-ROM.

View larger.	View larger.	View larger.
Easy-to-use VTech photo editor lets you or your child add funny hats to pets and distort images.

Product Description

Get Ready to Show off Your Child's Photos It's clear right out of the packaging that this camera was designed to stand up to tough play and rough handling. Bright orange rubber grips on each side make it easy for children to grasp the camera with both hands, and two-eye viewing make it easy to conceptualize a photo or a cool video. The camera even comes with two interchangeable faceplates, so your child can pick her favorite look. Before your child starts taking photos, you'll need to use a Phillips screwdriver to insert four "AA" batteries in the grips of the camera. While the first few photos are being taken, you may want to set up the VTech Photo Editor on your computer. An intuitive installation wizard makes this process quick and easy. You'll need Windows 2000 SP3+/XP or newer to use this software. And don't despair if you're a Mac user. As long as you have Mac OS X 10.0 or above, you can still use the camera in mass storage mode.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Designers don't have kids nor cameras..., January 13, 2009

By 

R. Alvarez "R_Ai" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:2.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vtech - Kidizoom Digital Camera - Orange (Toy)

Pros: Easy to grip. Fun colors. Somewhat easy to use

Cons:Terrible pictures. Nonintuitive menus. No datestamp on pictures.

We were reluctant to buy this camera vs. a small Canon (SD100) on ebay for more less the same amount. Our three year old had already proved that she could handle a small Canon (and even a big one) but we decided to go for a camera built for toddlers.

Image quality is as described by other reviewers: super low dynamic range, low resolution, slow shutter, low light sensitivity and very noisy. Pictures come out blurred, motion blurred, burnt or underexposed and people are hard to recognize. Vtech could have significantly improved performance at negligible cost simply by using a CMOS sensor made this century.

Menu navigation is OK but could be made much more intuitive and accessible, specially for toddlers. Even I have to fumble around the menus to find the featurs/settings I need, such as configure memory cards.

One notable point that this camera is lacking is picture review. Anyone who has kids and cameras nows that the most fun a toddler can have is viewing the picture he/she just snapped, and running to his/her friends and showing them. This camera only holds the review for a few seconds (not long enough) and bringing it back up requires pressing about 5 buttons to navigate through the menus to the picture editor. Again, anyone who has kids and cameras should have known that a 'review' button would have been a favorite.

The two-eyed view finder is good for kids as they don't need to learn to close one eye as in a normal camera (no points for learning here). However, the live-view LCD has a considerable refresh lag which makes it hard to frame the shot.

The trigger response is very slow (~1s) making it impossible to shoot anything that moves. I also lacks a half-way point like real cameras (no points for learning here).

Interfacing with a computer is straight forward. Just hook up the USB cable and the camera appears as a removable drive (or two if you have a memory card in it). From there you can copy your images to wherever you want. It does work on Mac OS X (10.5.6 maybe earlier). What is lacking here is that the pictures do not have date information (like any other camera) so when I import the pictures into I photo they all look like they were taken on Jan 1st of 1969. This messes up my iPhoto library and makes it impossible to use date/time as a way to track the photographic progress of our toddler.

Overall it is a descent toy for young kids 4 and under. Older kids will enjoy and have more learning benefits with a small Elph or PowerShot from ebay. I'm giving it two stars because Vtech could have significantly improved value by improving the software interface and picture quality without any additional manufacturing cost.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Camera for Christmas., January 19, 2009

By 

D. Lupton (Wilmington, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Vtech - Kidizoom Digital Camera - Orange (Toy)

After reading many reviews and testing several digital cameras designed for kids, I finally chose the Vtech - Kidizoom Digital Camera. I am extremely pleased with this camera. This camera is very durable and easy to use. My son, who just turned 3, was able to figure out how to use it in about 5 minutes and absolutely loves it. I downloaded about 500 photos the very first day and while he has slowed down a little, I have still downloaded over 2000 and he has nearly a full camera now. The quality is not professional grade, but he has still taken some nice photos. The camera also has Tic-tac-toe, Match, and a puzzle game, which have been very nice on long trips, especially since the camera has volume control. I have also been pleased with the low battery usage. I have only changed the batteries once, which I was pleasantly surprised about given the fact of how much my son uses the camera and the relative clarity of the color LCD screen. The software is easy enough to install and use, but not a big selling point for me. The camera also has the ability to change photos by adding in a Viking's helmet or framing with a winter scene that I have tried just to see how it worked, but my son has shown little interest in this function. My only complaint is that the camera only has a wrist strap and does not have a neck strap for when little hands get tired. Again, overall, I am very pleased with this camera and would recommend to anyone looking for a durable digital camera for a little photographer.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE BEST ITEMS I'VE EVER BOUGHT FOR MY KIDS!, October 30, 2008

By 

Scarlet Gray (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Vtech - Kidizoom Digital Camera - Orange (Toy)

My kids saw this advertised on TV last year (2007) and added it to their Christmas list. I am skeptical about a lot of toys that are advertised on TV and am careful about what I spend my money on. I found this camera on sale and went ahead and bought it - it seemed like a good purchase and my kids love taking pictures with my camera.

This camera is one of the best purchases I have ever made for my kids. They fight over using it - this includes my 10-year-old boy who is mature enough to handle a "real" camera. My two girls (ages 7 & 5) love using it. The rubber grips make it easy for little ones to hold and truly protect it when it drops. They can plug the camera right into the TV and show everyone their creations. And, when we are traveling, the camera has a few video games that keep the kids busy in the car.

WORTH EVERY PENNY! The only problem - they fight over it. So, I'll be buying another one this Christmas so the girls can each have their own.