Guest Posted September 20, 2003 Posted September 20, 2003 I would like to buy a digital camera for use by adults and children in the classroom - does anyone have any recommendations?
Steve Posted September 20, 2003 Posted September 20, 2003 Hi Nikih - Welcome to the forum, and thanks for posting! There's a good review of 13 digital cameras, from about £180 - £300 in the August PC Pro magazine. Don't know if you can get hold of this issue still, and I don't know if this is in your price range? They have the review on their website, www.pcpro.co.uk (if you can bear the pop up ads and general flapdoodle), but you'll have to hunt around a bit for it as the site is framed, so I can't give you the web address. But I can tell you what they chose as their two favourites: 1: Canon Powershot a70 (£ 268 inc VAT) 2: Nikon Coolpix 3100 (£248) Hope this helps!
Guest Posted September 21, 2003 Posted September 21, 2003 The easiest one I have found so far is a Kodak one (will check the edition for you) It is the easiest I think because of the software everything is down automatically as soon as you plug it in.
Guest Posted September 23, 2003 Posted September 23, 2003 I would like to buy a digital camera for use by adults and children in the classroom - does anyone have any recommendations? I would suggest that you get one which will accept a floppy, these are much easier to use in schools, and the children can use them. They are much cheaper in the USA or Canary Islands (no VAT) a good one will set you back in this country at least £500 but will be worth it, you will also be able to make films, ideal for using with powerpoint. We use a maverick with is brilliant. I use it for pictorial observations it allows you to record groups of children interacting. I keep these pictures in a folder as a record of their achievement. good luck with the camera
Guest Posted September 23, 2003 Posted September 23, 2003 Hi there, We have been using a Canon Powershot S30 which cost around £450 about 18months ago. It uses a CF card which can be removed and has a rechargable battery. THere are a variety of settings on it so that you can take a few high resolution pictures or very many low resolution ones. We use it on medium setting which gives us 52 pictures before needing to download. When the front cover had a problem we sent it off to Canon they repaired it and returned it to us with no fuss in about four weeks. Out of all the features having a rechargable battery is an absolute must.
Steve Posted September 23, 2003 Posted September 23, 2003 Andy, you're absolutely right! I used to get through batteries like nobody's business until I was told to get NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries. They're absolutely crucial. You can buy a charger with 4 batteries plugged into it for (um I think) about a tenner now. And my preference is also for Compact Flash (CF) memory cards. The USB attachments for uploading them to your pc are very easy and fast. If anyone wants details I bought some recently.
Guest Posted September 30, 2003 Posted September 30, 2003 Thanks for all the replies. I am a little nervous about giving the children a very expensive camera which can be dropped. I own a Nikon Coolpix 3100 which I use to take photos of the children but I wouldn't like to give it to them! I have seen advertised a camera in plastic casing with handles on either side but I don't know where! Does anyone know what I am talking about? PS I do think this forum is a great idea for curriculum stage which too often gets ignored!
Guest Posted September 23, 2004 Posted September 23, 2004 The best digital camera I have seen for Foundation Stage is the Sony Mavika which uses floppy discs. The beauty of this camera is that the images can immediately be put onto the computer and used with a range of software. You can now get a version which uses CD but it is obviously more expensive. Ebay have some good deals on the Sony Mavika with floppy discs. Children in Nursery and Reception use this camera and we have always found it sturdy and easy to use.
Guest Posted September 24, 2004 Posted September 24, 2004 we use this camera too, and i find it really useful and easy to use. It also has a neck strap so that the children can place it around their neck when they are taking pictures. An important factor with the little ones is ensuring that they don't drop it!!
Guest Posted September 24, 2004 Posted September 24, 2004 oops!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that bit that said quote was supposed to mention the Sony Mavrika that was mentioned it the previous post. Still getting to grips with all this.
Guest Posted September 24, 2004 Posted September 24, 2004 We use a Mavica camera with our nursery children too. They love taking the photo and then seeing it straight away on the camera. this year one child was looking through the camera and saw his own shoes we then went round taking photos of everyones shoes to do a "and whose shoes are these game"
Guest Posted September 24, 2004 Posted September 24, 2004 The best digital camera I have seen for Foundation Stage is the Sony Mavika which uses floppy discs. The beauty of this camera is that the images can immediately be put onto the computer and used with a range of software. You can now get a version which uses CD but it is obviously more expensive. Ebay have some good deals on the Sony Mavika with floppy discs. Children in Nursery and Reception use this camera and we have always found it sturdy and easy to use. The ones that take cd are a pain as they need to be reformatted etc etc and I found that by the time i sorted everything out the moment had passed and little Johnny had 'left the building'. The sony ones that take floppys are the best and each child could have theri onw folppy that they could use to take their photos and it automatically means thay are responsible for their own floppy- inserting it in and ejecting it and even storing it sensibly.
Guest Posted September 24, 2004 Posted September 24, 2004 oh my God just watch my spelling- must be bec its a friday afternoon and I'm also suffering form OFSTEDITIS!!!!!!
hali Posted September 24, 2004 Posted September 24, 2004 Hi we have a finepix a201...very easy to use and load pics on the computer was about £200 i think. Only downside is if you take photos with the picture coming up in the window instead of taking pics as an ordinary camera looking through the lens we do go through loads of batteries.
Magenta Posted September 24, 2004 Posted September 24, 2004 We have a finepix too Hali, very easy to load onto PC. As Steve suggests get NiMH rechargeable batteries, you can use 2 while charging the other 2 and they do last for quite a while - well worth the £10.00.
Sue R Posted September 26, 2004 Posted September 26, 2004 We have some amazing little 'pen cameras', from 'Big W' (? need to speak to colleague there, but I believe they cost about £15.00 each, easy for chn to use and easy to download onto pc - even some chn do!!) Sue
hali Posted September 26, 2004 Posted September 26, 2004 Oh ive heard of those but never used one..must try
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