Idiot-Proof Camera

November 6, 2009 1:15 AM

What the most idiot-proof low-end digital camera? Emphasis on idiot.
posted by Yakuman to technology (12 comments total)

Pretty much all low-end digital cameras are equally idiot proof - you press a button and it takes a picture.
posted by jedrek at 1:32 AM on November 6

Depends really on whether you want the person using it to be able to make full use of all the features. Even a super-expensive digital SLR will generally allow you to press the power button, point it at something, and take a picture.

The cheaper Canon Powershot or Fuji Finepix camera are all very straightforward - one button to take a picture, a toggle button to zoom, a button to switch between camera/playback and a menu thing for flash and other settings. That's typically the minimum you'll get unless you start looking at novelty cameras, which typically have virtually no controls (but make crappy pictures).
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 1:56 AM on November 6

Most/all digital cameras have an idiot-mode but if you really want to be sure about this, go for something with very few buttons. That way you can't even mess it up by accident. I suggest going down to a camera/electronics store and fumbling around with a selection in person.

I saw a TV ad a few days ago for a children's digital camera that can survive being dropped down stairs and things like that. Maybe your local 'Toys r Us' would be worth a look. Failing that, how about cameras designed for the elderly or those with short-term memory loss?
posted by SebastianKnight at 2:23 AM on November 6

Believe it or not, Kodak made the first digital camera - I have owned several (4) - always upgrading the pixals through the years and have never had a problem with them. They have an automatic mode that is literally point and shoot (there's your idiot mode.) :-)
All of them are still used and take excellent pictures. The price point is great also - I would not hesitate to purchase the next, best Kodak digital camera!
posted by pamspanda at 3:36 AM on November 6

I have a Canon Ixus that is very easy to use. Canon's Ixus range is smaller, cheaper and has fewer features than their Powershot range, so I'd avoid the Powershots if simplicity is what you're aiming for.

My model's obsolete, but the Canon Ixus 95 seems to be the nearest equivalent.

To take a picture you just switch it on, touch the button lightly till it comes into focus, then press down.

To transfer the pictures to a PC, you just plug it into a USB port with the cable, the camera shows up as a new folder, and you drag the pictures from it to wherever you want to put them.

One thing I would avoid is the "Kodak EasyShare". We bought that for my mother as it was advertised as supposedly easy to use, since you can plug it directly into a special photo-printer. However it's very fiddly to set up the printer, which has lots of flimsy plastic parts which have to be carefully aligned, and it's quite complicated to connect them and transfer pictures.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 3:58 AM on November 6

I'm seconding Kodak. I got a cheap EasyShare for my daughter a few years ago and she still uses it and loves it, and it takes good pictures. She was 13 when she got is so it's stood up to all the kinds of abuse careless kids inflict on their things, and it keeps on ticking. Cant' speak for the photo-printer mentioned above, however, as we didn't bother with that.
posted by weesha at 4:45 AM on November 6

I agree with jedrek. Pretty much any digital camera can be used in auto mode and do a fine job. But I'll put in my recommendation for a Nikon Coolpix S203. (I got mine at Target.) I bought one to supplement my Nikon SLR, and I couldn't be more impressed.

It takes great photos in auto mode. It has an intelligent focus system, and even "blink detection" which gives you a warning after taking a photo if someone blinked when the shutter fired. There are very few controls to confuse the user, but it's also very easy to select a "scene" mode for specific conditions if you want to. It's equally easy to choose a flash mode, or turn the flash off.

The biggest selling point for me, though, is size. I wanted something small, and this thing is tiny, weighing only about 4 ounces.

But... any major brand camera these days is equally capable and easy to use. I'd suggest going to a store like Best Buy where you can get hands-on with as many models as possible and see which appeals to you.
posted by The Deej at 5:21 AM on November 6

Idiot-proof can mean so many different things:
Replacement:
1. Cheap - because they might loose it and need to replace it.
2. Brightly colored - because they might loose it otherwise.
3. Dourable - because they might be that kind of idiot.
4. Complete setup - includes all cables and software for downloading pictures.

Technical:
5. Few/no adjustments - minimize confusion (a la point + click)
6. designed for simplicity in terms of interfacing to a computer - because putting a cable between a camera and a computer and changing the mode on the can be difficult for non-tech savvy.
7. Takes AA batteries - because chargers are too damn confusing.
8. Takes a standard memory card - because if the cable is too hard, they should just pop out the memory card and plug that into the photobooth at wal-mart.

With all this said, you are not looking for a kids camera. Kids cameras have games and toy modes which will complicate things for someone. You can look at Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart or Toys-R-Us, but the camera I would buy if I were in your situation costs under $50 at Walgreens or CVS. Find the cheapest camera you can and buy two. Give them one now, and give them the second when they loose/break the first one, also, until then you'll be their tech support so you'd better know how to use that specific camera too.
posted by Nanukthedog at 5:48 AM on November 6

Something to watch out for is how you switch between modes. For instance, Canons tend to use a mode dial with both auto and non-auto modes on it. If you are switching back-and-forth between playback and photo and video modes, it's pretty easy to occasionally put it on one of the non-auto modes by accident. Just don't turn the dial far enough. And everything looks the same except your pictures don't come out.

Canon seems to have improved this a bit on the latest models that have a separate playback button. The older ones like my SD800 put playback on the mode dial, and so require you to select the 2nd to last mode for regular shooting. Not very idiot-proof.
posted by smackfu at 6:09 AM on November 6

Smackfu's comment twigged something for me: see if you can find something without a video mode (as long as you don't want one). My previous camera was a Canon, and if I was careless or if a friend was using it, it seems that a quarter of the "pictures" were actually someone taking a 5-second video that was of much lower quality than a picture would be.
posted by flipper at 7:39 AM on November 6

I'd don't have any camera suggestions to add but have an observation from watching my parents and in-laws deal with digital cameras. For the most part, they understand how to use the camera after all it is sorta like every camera they have ever used (they're not really into messing with all the settings that their cameras offer).

Now what that do have problems with is getting pictures out of the camera because that is so different from the film world. So what I would recommend is figuring out what you intend to do with the pictures after you take them (either take the card to a photoprinter, or a cable to computer and software, etc.) and then try to find what works for you.
posted by mmascolino at 8:34 AM on November 6

I shoot professionally and use Canon for that. I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 for the pocket but I am recommending Kodak as the camera that offers the best point-n-shoot photos for the least fiddling. The color is always very good.

If you can afford a used DSLR and 6MP is good enough, it is hard to go wrong with a used Fuji S5Pro. The pictures, straight from the camera, generally rock and skin tone rendition is excellent (thousands of wedding photographers can't all be wrong).
posted by bz at 12:49 PM on November 6