The Disney Pix Jr. Digital Camera makes a good introductory camera for the youngest photographers. Tough and sturdy, this kid-friendly digital camera comes with picture buttons for easy use by non-readers and the option of including Disney characters in each photograph.
This Disney digital camera for kids is encased in a rubber shell that both protects the delicate machinery inside and bulges out on either side to make it easy for small hands to grip the camera and hold it steady during picture-taking. The large camera buttons, also, are designed for tiny fingers, and each is clearly labeled with a different icon.
Kids can view their pictures and potential pictures on the large, centrally located display screen. The camera can take photographs every two seconds, and the flash is set to go off automatically when needed. Children have the option of adding any of 20 overlays of Disney friends to a picture before actually taking it.
This Disney camera takes photographs with a resolution of 1.3 megapixels and has a built-in memory of 32 megabytes. Using the SD card slot, families can add up to 2 gigabytes of external memory. A CD-ROM of PC-compatible software and a USB cord come with the camera.
A handy strap on one side loops around a child’s wrist to keep the camera from being lost or left behind. The four AA batteries needed to power the camera are safely installed behind a door that can only be removed with the help of patience and a tiny Phillips head screwdriver.
The Disney Pix Jr. Digital Camera is safe for children ages 3 and up. Younger children can play with it with adult supervision. Overall, it is extremely tough, continuing to work just fine after being dropped accidentally several times on hard surfaces.
Disney Pix Jr. PhotoFriends
Each style of Disney Pix Jr. comes with a different set of Disney PhotoFriends. For example, the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse camera comes with Disney characters like the Fab Five (Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Minnie Mouse, and Pluto), characters from Winnie the Pooh (Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger), and Little Einsteins characters. There’s also a Disney Princess Disney Pix Jr. camera that comes with Disney Princess characters and graphics.
With just a little practice, children can master all the functions of this kid-friendly camera. Touching any button turns the camera on, and it turns itself off automatically after 1 minute without being used. Because each button is labeled with simple pictures (arrow keys for scrolling between pictures and Disney overlays, a magic wand for turning on the Disney friends feature, a trashcan for deleting pictures), even children that cannot read can use this camera.
The process of taking pictures is also kid-friendly. Children do not have to worry about zooming in or out or focusing their pictures, and the flash itself decides whether to go on or off. Any picture taken with an overlay of Disney friends will always have those Disney friends in the photo; they cannot be removed after the fact.
The flash can wash out pictures if the subject is too close to the camera, and children will take blurry or dark pictures if they move the camera while photographing a subject or try to take pictures in a place with subpar lighting. However, photographs taken at a proper distance and in good lighting conditions can come out well.
Although a younger tester took several series of upside-down pictures, the older one (age 4) was soon snapping pictures like a pro. Children will enjoy deciding which Disney PhotoFriend to include in which picture and composing the sphotograph to fit in the Disney characters.
Parents may enjoy setting kids loose with this camera and then reviewing the pictures later to get a little peep into how their children see the world. It can be fascinating to find out what objects and experiences a child deems important enough to preserve in photographic form.
