Vtech Kidizoom Plus Digital Camera - Blue

by VTech

Product Features

• 1.3 megapixels with 1.8" color screen
• Connector cables for TV or PC hook-up
• SD card slot for extra memory
• 16 MB internal memory that stores 200+ photos or up to 5 minutes of video
• Three preschool games for added fun

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3 x 8.2 x 11.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000NZORB0
• Item model number: 80-077300
• Manufacturer recommended age: 36 months - 12 years
• Batteries: 4 AAA batteries required.
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,402 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (281 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

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 blue 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

Little ones will have a blast taking candid pics with their Kidizoom Camera. Kidizoom includes a connector cable to plug in and watch a picture slideshow or view the 5-minute movies they've created on any TV or PC. Fun photo-editing features allow kids to distort pictures or add silly frames. The camera also comes with three preschool games to keep the fun going. Requires 4 "AA" batteries, not included. Measures 11"L x 3"W x 8"H.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

427 of 430 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great - but some bumps in the road to know about, October 5, 2007

By 

microwiz "The Evil Microwizard" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

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

Got this camera as a present for my 3-year-old daughter - she loves it! She can switch it on and off by herself and is always asking for '[her] camera' so she can snap a picture. It's also absorbed a few harsh drops without any trouble.

Caveats:
- Though it's named "Kidizoom", it does not actually have any zoom functionality. (Not that a toddler would know what to do with it!)
- Don't try to use a miniSD or microSD card with an SD adapter, and MMC cards won't work either - the camera will start up and immediately shut itself down again. A cheap plain SD card does fine - I put in a 256MB SD that I had lying around and, given that the built-in 16MB held well over 100 of her pictures, I'm sure she'll never fill it up.
- Like many low-end digitals, it doesn't work all that well if lighting is dim, like indoors at night - it needs to be held more still than a toddler can manage. There is a flash, but it will totally bleach out anything taken at toddler-interest range (1-2 ft).
- Unsurprisingly, leaving the camera tethered to the computer via USB for long periods (like overnight) will kill the batteries stone dead. As other reviews have mentioned, you will lose all the pictures stored in the camera's memory if this happens, which could result in tears - so put in that cheap SD card and set it as the default! Pictures saved there will survive a battery outage.
- Videos are very low-res, so don't expect to show them on anything bigger than the built-in screen or postage-stamp size on a computer's media player. The microphone also records at a rather low volume.

4 AA rechargeables and the above-mentioned 256MB SD card later, my daughter is very pleased with her birthday present. I suspect she'll be using this camera for years!

200 of 201 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent camera for your toddler, August 29, 2007

By 

wolfglass (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

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

I got this camera for my 2 year old, in an attempt to keep her away from MY camera. It's a great little camera. It has a color LCD on the back so she can review her photos, a flash with three settings (on, off, auto) (which, in on and auto, can bleach things out as she holds the camera about 1 foot away from her subject), takes video (the sound is of poor quality unless you are right in front of the camera or the one holding the camera). The images are obviously of low quality as it's a kid's camera so if you want this for an older child so they can print out their fabulous vacation photos you will be disappointed. It's about the same quality as a cell phone camera. That said, the subject must also stay still and the person holding the camera needs to hold it stead. However, my two year old has turned out a number of good pictures, so an older kid should have no problem. I liked that the camera did video and took photos. It also has some editing capabilities - such as adding funny hats and borders to your photos right there in the camera. I haven't used the software with it to do anything, again, as it's just for my two year old, so I can't speak to it. But it's durable (she's thrown and dropped it a number of times), she's got about 200+ photos and a couple of videos on it and it still has room for more images, and the batteries seem to last a decent amount of time. It also had an auto shut off features, which is great. All in all, an excellent buy.

284 of 289 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for children to explore their world....Awesome!!! Better than Fisher Price!!, September 1, 2007

By 

Mom of Twin Girls (IL United States) - See all my reviews

= 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 Plus Digital Camera - Blue (Toy)

We returned Fisher Price FP3 Players (which are garbage) we bought our 4 y/o twin girls for two of these! The reviews for this are better than the Fisher Price Kid Tough and since we were already burned by the FP3 players, wanted to stay far away from FP, we chose the Vtech. We are so glad we did.

The controls are easy (one girl figured everything out in less than a half hour). It does video with voice, pics and has simple games. Right after buying these, we went to a wildlife park in the area. It is great to see what the kids think are important for pictures in our world. It's great watching them be creative with these.

Picture quality is not too bad for who this is designed for. Hooking up to the computer is a piece of cake! It will be great to throw all the pics of their world to CD's for them to see when they're older. The girls took great pics of themselves.

This is Highly Recommended!!! If you're torn between Fisher Price and Vtech, I'd select the Vtech over again!