Obviously, camera manufacturers are keen to get us to buy products. Heck, we’re keen for you to buy products too – it keeps us all in business.
But, from a personal point of view, I’m here to tell you, I think there’s one category which is a complete waste of time and money and you shouldn’t bother with it at all.
That’s the “kid camera” range. I’m sorry but these cheap, nasty cameras which take awful photos and are plastered with whatever the latest kid craze is are just landfill fodder, and nothing more.
They seem like fun, brightly coloured and with big buttons, but a lot of kids use them for a bit, get bored and toss them aside. And you’ve paid $100 or whatever for the privilege.
Surely you realise… you’ve already got a perfectly capable camera your kids can have a play with in your pocket.
Yes, I’m talking about your smartphone. In my case, an iPhone 17 Pro. I let my 2 year old use it to take pictures all the time.
“Mummy I want to do pictures!” is a refrain my daughter excitedly exclaims all the time, and naturally as a photographer, I’m absolutely delighted. She’s seen me using my iPhone to take pictures thousands of times, so of course she wants to do exactly the same. I don’t see the point in getting her a separate device that will take terrible pictures and just end up in a drawer ignored – especially when I inevitably forget to charge it up. The iPhone is also incredibly simple to use. There’s one giant shutter button which I’ve told her how to use and off she goes.
I’m not going to pretend she takes amazing photos using my iPhone. Of course she doesn’t, she’s a toddler. To be honest they’re total rubbish – I won’t embarrass her future self by sharing any of them here. They’re blurry, badly composed, and seemingly completely random. She seems to have a mild obsession with feet – particularly her baby sister’s – but she loves it. And I love getting a little glimpse into what goes on in her mind and what she wants to see and capture. She has a fantastic time for a few minutes, then gets bored and declares she wants to play with something else. As it should be for someone of her age.
I can hear people reading this aghast for a couple of reasons. Firstly that I’d let a toddler – not known for their gentleness and poise – loose on a $1200 smartphone. But, modern smartphones are pretty damn tough. The iPhone 17 Pro is IP68 water and dust resistant, and it has a Ceramic Shield screen. It’s not a problem if it gets a bit of spit or jam or whatever else on it – I’ll just run it under the tap. If she drops it, well, so long as she doesn’t smash it onto a concrete floor at quite some force, it’ll probably be fine – she’s 2, she’s pretty low to the ground you know.
I’ve also got my phone insured, should the worst happen, and I’d probably recommend most people do that anyway – I’ve dropped it far more often than she is to be honest.
Secondly, there’s a moral panic about “screentime” these days. This is not really the place to heavily discuss or dissect that, but I let her use the iPhone for this purpose alone. She doesn’t go on any other apps, and in fact the phone is locked while she’s using it so all she can do is take pictures. I don’t leave the room while she’s using it, so I know she’s not covertly heading over to TikTok to look at god knows what. A screen in itself is not inherently bad, and using a “real” camera (which, guess what also has a screen) is not inherently good either.
I suppose I can concede that kids cameras might have their place when she’s a bit older and has more control and power over what she wants to photograph, and wants to spend more time doing it. Even then though, I’m really not sure I’d bother with a “kids’ camera” – in my experience, the picture quality and shutter lag simply frustrates children, especially any of them who are like mine and have grown up in a world where even mid-range and low-cost smartphones outperform them incredibly easily.
If or when she asks for a camera of her own, I’ll probably go down the route of either a second-hand or older iPhone (with parental controls switched on) or perhaps one of the compact cameras that we’re currently seeing a resurgence of. I want her to experience something which is decent quality and not something which she outgrows in a matter of months – or that puts her off the hobby due to frustrating limitations.
Either way I’m excited that one day we might share our hobby together and look forward to seeing where this goes!
Related reading:
- iPhone 17 Pro review – Apple’s best camera, but is it worth upgrading?
- The hidden iPhone camera setting I use every single day is a total game changer
- The best cameras for kids and teens – my top 12 best kids cameras
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