Money Saving Tip: Don't Let a 7-year-old Operate Your Digital Camera

This year, we finally exited the dark ages of photography -- we got a digital camera. We had waited so long because:

1) Any major (over $100) joint purchase for me and my wife is a nightmare. If she does it on her own, it's ok, she can take 12 months to reasercah it if she likes. If I do it on my own, it's ok, I can make a decision pretty quickly. If we do it together, it's painful (mostly for me).

2) In the past, my wife has been in charge of "all things photographic" (including the camera and video recorder). She has the technological ability of a 75-year-old Third World citizen (think: "Honey, why does my computer have this blue screen again?" every other week or so), so I try to keep the technology she uses to a bare minimum.

Anyway, we made it through the purchase (GREAT DEAL -- my wife is very good at that. Great camera on closeout, 50% off plus a free printer AND rebates. They almost gave it to us.) and got the camera. I fell in love with it immediately. I started taking it everywhere and getting great pics of everything. I emailed the picture to friends and family. I put pictures on our Christmas newsletter and on some of my blogs. And, of course, I used the pics to make our great calendars we got from Costco.

Then, in the middle of December, we went on a mini-vacation to the Great Wolf Lodge. My 9-year-old son, who takes a pretty good picture, took one with our new camera. Of course, if he took one, then my 7-year-old daughter HAD to take one too. I remember saying, "I don't think that that's a good idea," but my wife said it was ok and she let my daughter take a picture. I remember holding my breath the entire time she was fumbling with the camera. Good thing she cut off my head when she took the picture (she said she "didn't notice" my head wasn't in the frame) or else it would probably have shown a 41-year-old guy turning red from lack of oxygen.

A week later, I came home from work and the camera was on our kitchen table. I saw it immediately and my son, being the ever-generous, love-your-sister kind of brother we all know and love, blurted out, "My sister (he used her name) broke the camera!" My heart skipped a beat. I rushed to the table and saw that the metal cover that covers the lens was stuck open. Not a good sign. I turned on the camera and checked it out -- everything else seemed to be ok. But I was still in a panic -- what was wrong with my baby??????

To make a long story short, my wife let the 7-year-old take a picture on a museum trip. A trip to a museum that had hard, rock solid, stronger than steel...floors. My daughter didn't want to give the camera back to my wife, there was a bit of a scuffle and, yes, you guessed it, the camera feel to the floor. Being the great husband that I am, I went through the Great Wolf Lodge reminder, a chorus of "I-told-you-so's", and the like. But I gave up after a bit. My wife was upset about it too, so I backed off. Man, she had to go and spoil all my fun by being sorry about it!!!!

So we used the camera through Christmas, then wrapped it up and sent it off to the manufacturer to see what the damage it. We now await the verdict -- along with the potential cost of repair.

All that to say this: you (and I) can save money simply by not letting a 7-year-old operate a didgital camera. There, I've warned you. I won't be afraid to say "I-told-you-so" if you ignore this advice and your camera experiences a similar fate. ;-)

Comments

[Hazzard]

Ugh. Yeah, I have a very similiar experience with my wife and daughter. My daughter is only 2.5 years old and has had far more access to the camera than I would EVER like. So, our $300 camera died. There are so many chunks out if from being dropped, it's no mystery how it happened. My tip would be "Go cheap" if you have little kids.

We just bought a 4.1 megapixel Sony for $77 by watching http://www.fatwallet.com for a good deal. (Bought it at Officemax). So, anyway, I'm very pleased. And I'm not too emotionally attached to this one so when it breaks, I'll only swear a little.
Hazzard

[fivecentnickel]

BUT... If you can get your hands on an inexpensive digital camera, they make great gifts for kids. My eight year old son uses our old Nikon CoolPix 800 (a 2MP dinosaur that had very little value remaining when we got out new camera). We actually let him start using it when he was seven. It's really fascinating to see what he takes pictures of -- it sort of lets us see the world through his eyes.

[Lauraloops]

How about when your brand new Nikon Coolpix 4100 takes a spin through the washing machine? I can't fault any children- it's totally on me. It was in my laundry basket (!!) and I dumped the laundry in the washer in a hurry. The camera was totally busted, but the SD card still works. I saved for a few months and upgraded to a 5100.

[muse]

I guess you don't want to hear that it's only money.

Try the "keep the camera hanging from your neck" rule.

Over thirty years ago my husband took a fantastic camera on a trip and dropped it over a waterfall. It was the best one we ever had and was a gift.

[muse]

I guess you don't want to hear that it's only money.

Try the "keep the camera hanging from your neck" rule.

Over thirty years ago my husband took a fantastic camera on a trip and dropped it over a waterfall. It was the best one we ever had and was a gift.

[muse]

I guess you don't want to hear that it's only money.

Try the "keep the camera hanging from your neck" rule.

Over thirty years ago my husband took a fantastic camera on a trip and dropped it over a waterfall. It was the best one we ever had and was a gift.

You're the parent. You've got to set some rules: Always keep the camera leash on your wrist or around your neck when taking pictures, Don't use the camera with dirty or wet hands, No rough housing allowed with/near the camera, When you're done taking the picture, the camera goes back into a padded camera bag and mommy or daddy is ALWAYS the one in charge of the bag, No taking the camera without mommy or daddy's permission/supervision, Anyone who can't pass a t/f, multiple choice test on the user's manual with a score of 80% isn't allowed to use the camera. Anyone who doesn't follow the rules isn't allowed to use the camera until they are 14.

[Jonathan Dresner]

Funny. My four-year old has been taking pictures with out digital cameras for over a year now: no drops, no damage, no food in odd places. He still doesn't hold the camera quite steady enough, but his ideas about what's worth taking pictures of sometimes yields great results. It's not age; it's behavior.

[WOF]

Yeah, tell me about it. Our family bought digital cameras for all the kids at Christmas. We go them the HP 200 dollar models. Christmas was great and we all had a good time snapping pictures of everything in sight.

I even made a powerpoint show with the Xmas pictures and did it all to the song, Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong) 1 year later ALL of those cameras are broken. Just goes to show HP can make some garbage products to.

If you want to save money in the long run. By quality first and be careful with it!