My six-year-old son loves taking pictures and videos with our digital camera. He can easily spend an hour snapping candid photos of us around the house or setting the camera up on a tripod to make a video of himself hamming it up. I like seeing him cultivate his artistic side like this, as it sure beats having him play video games or sit in front of the TV all day long.
The only problem with this scenario is that our digital camera is a rather nice one, and since my son is just a kid still, he requires supervision while using it. Otherwise, he’s likely to be just as rough with the device as any other little boy, and might drop it or mess up the settings or something. That’s why I’m thinking about getting him a camera of his very own.
While browsing through Buy.com today, I saw this Argus Bean Carabiner Digital Camera that looks perfect for my boy. It’s meant for rugged use, which is why it comes with a durable rubber coating as protection against knocks, drops, and dings. It also has a carabiner clip so it can be hooked to a belt or backpack, which I’m sure my son will love. I can already see him carrying this camera around with him everywhere he goes!
As for the technical specs, this Argus Bean digital camera has a decent 3.2 megapixel resolution, 16MB flash memory, a color LCD preview screen, and a rechargeable Li-Ion battery. It also comes with the usual software and USB cable so you can transfer the images from the camera to a computer. Obviously this is probably not a camera that we’d want to rely on for a once-in-a-lifetime vacation to an exotic locale, but I think it sounds perfect as a starter unit for a child.
Right now, the Argus Bean Carabiner Digital Camera is on Sale for $43.24, which I think is a reasonable amount to spend on a child’s camera. Yes, there are cheaper kids’ cameras out there, but those are actually more like toys than real cameras and I’ve heard the photos from those are pretty worthless. At least the Argus Bean is a real camera that will yield good pictures.
Anyway, my son is set to graduate kindergarten soon, so I’m thinking this Argus Bean Carabiner will make a nice present to celebrate that occasion. I’m planning to check out a few other cameras as well, but so far this is the front-runner!