Camera for 9 Year Old

I have an excellent waterproof, shockproof camera, however, its a little more than $200. Its an Olympus 1030 sw. I think I got it online in a kit with a mini tripod, charger, and extra battery for $250. It is the best camera I've ever owned. My 4 year old son uses it regularly. (He seems to have a real interest in photography even at 4) We let him take it to the pool, all around the house, with us on vacation to Schlitterbahn. He does very well with it. It takes great pics in the water, and it can take a pretty good beating as well. I think as long as you know he can keep up with it, that its a great investment for the whole family!

I thought of the camera I saw on The View as well. I think it was a Polaroid and thought it was around $300, not $100 but you can check on abc.com/theview to be sure. It was on their great things for summer show. good luck!

I bought my 11yo one of the compact Kodaks. I can't remember the model number, but they are around $100-120 depending on where you get them (I got mine online). It does great with outdoor pics, not so good with indoor. But he likes it and it serves his purposes.

I don't know about your 9 year old but my stepson can break anything with amazing speed. We are opting for the $69 digital camera from Big Lots for his 9th birthday next week. It has decent features and removable storage so we picked up a memory card that had more storage space. If he can show responsibility with this one, we will consider a 'nicer' camera in a few years. Until then, he can use my laptop to view and edit his shots and we will go down to Wal-greens to have some (but not all) printed. We are also getting him a photo album so he can organize the prints and start his own scrap book. I am hopeful that it works out.

My daughter just bought a Sony w220 for $179 at Walmart. Very durable and takes excellent shots. 12.1 mixapixels. On vacation, she took all the photos.
I would advise you not to get a "cheap" one due to the photo quality-nothing more frustrating than a great photo that does not look good due to the camera quality!
One tip: if he is going to take it to school. We put a sticker so that it can be identified since so many look alike. It can be a regular sticker or my daughter likes the puffy kind-actually made it have a better grip! She even does this with her cell phone!

i was watching the view last week. they had a camera they were throwing on the ground, it was water resistant, and right at 100.00 its intention was for kids. the camera they were showing was red. not sure if there is a way to look up the products advertized. good luck with this, i think its great that your letting your kid have a camera!

You might want to try best buy. I believe I saw a deal for around $65 for a camera set. IT was like a "beginners" camera probably a 2.0 megapixel..it looked pretty sturdy..wal-mart also had a promo going on i'd check on both websites to see what they have and make a comparison. I know I found a really good camera around christmas a 11 megapixel zooe, case and batteries set for under $100! You just have to shop around (:
Good luck!

I don't know about the water proof/water resistant option, but I purchased my then 9 year old (he'll be 10 in October) the Canon PowerShot A470 for Christmas last year. It's small enough for him to pack and carry with him but also has the capabilities of shooting video. He also got a FlipVideo at the same time (I won that one in a contest) but has not used it at all. He uses his camera all the time.

I love Canon. They have good products that are inexpensive enough that if something happened, it's not the end of the world. I think I paid about $125-$140 for this one.

Disposable cameras are great and cheap, and yes they come waterproof too. anything above $100.00 is an investment and not one for a child of that age.

We just bought my 8 yr. old little girl a Kodak Easy share C160 for her birthday. It is teal, and we bought her a matching case. She loves it! It takes great photos, better than my $300 Canon Power Shot A 530 camera I bought 3 yrs. ago!
We bought her camera at Wal-Mart, and it was about $100.00! It is not water resistant, as we are not around water often. They may have one out there, not sure.

Hope this helps!

I can say that we have been THRILLED with my daughter's Nikon. We rodeo, and it takes both snap and video with excellent quality. I took her Prom and Senior pics on it and everyone thinks they're professional shots. It's easy to use, and has 100+ lives...LOL... It's been on field trips and numerous Lost episodes...to be found behind the truck seat, floorboard, bottom of her purse or pack bag; and in the bottom of the couch. I think I saw recently her camera in Walmart for around $150.00. It has a rechargeable battery. My older daughter has the less expensive version, which takes AA batteries. SHe's been just as happy with her camera, and seems to have the same quality.

:-) Happy shooting to your son!

T.