Our 6yr old son had received a digital camera about three years ago for Christmas. It was one of those big chunky plastic indestructible toy cameras. He thought it was great at the time, but he really has not touched it for at least year. Since our son is pretty tech savvy, I welcomed the chance to review this
Star Wars Digital Camera.
The
Star Wars Digital Camera Kit (Model 92022) by Sakar retails for approximately $29.99 or less. The camera kit comes with a digital camera, 3 changeable face plates featuring Anakin, Obi Wan, and Yoda from
Clone Wars, a USB cable, a wrist strap, photo-editing software, and the user manual. Of course the faceplates were what attracted my son to this camera initially.
What we thought about this Star Wars digital camera:
1) The size is compact and perfect for a child's hands.
2) The changeable faceplates will definitely win over any Clone Wars fans, however, they were difficult to remove from the camera, so a younger child may not be able to change the faceplates on his or her own.
3) This camera takes just two AAA batteries, which helps to keep it lightweight for a child. However, I have not had the camera long enough to attest to how quickly it goes through the batteries.
4) The camera has a built-in screen for previewing, which is nice, but its resolution is on the lower side.
5) As I had mentioned previously, changing the faceplates would be difficult for a child. However, when they have been put in place, they are very secure.
6) This camera requires a lot of light to take a decent photo and is not fast enough to take photos of moving objects. Below is an example of the best photo quality we could achieve indoors. I would expect that the camera would do a little better outdoors. I would have liked to have seen a built-in flash for this camera.
7) The Star Wars Image Master photo-editing software that came with this camera was excellent. It has features such as adding text and clipart to your photos, adding sound, enhancing your photos, the ability to create calendars and other graphic projects, a storybook maker, and even games.
8) The feature about the software that impressed my son and his friends the most was the ability to turn themselves into Galactic Heroes. We were able to print the pictures out for each child. Here is a picture created with one of the photos taken above showing our son dressed as Rex. I did think it was strange that there were no female characters available, which excluded my daughter from this activity.
9) We did have one instance where the camera would not turn off without our taking the batteries out to reset it. Other than this, we had no technical problems with the camera.
I think this camera is fine for a child's first camera. For the price, I think it is decent, especially with the software that accompanies it, which can be used with any photos you have loaded onto your computer from other cameras. It would be fun for my son to take this camera to the park or the beach. Although the photo quality is good for a 6yr old, the process of loading the photos onto the computer with the USB cable and using the software would be something more geared towards a child one or two years older than our son. This camera also has webcam capabilities, which my son is still a little young to use as well. When my son gets a little older, I would want a camera for him that has better picture quality, which will probably cost us 3 or 4 times as much as this camera's retail price.
You can currently find this camera on Amazon.com and other retailers where Sakar digital imaging products are sold.
Thank you to Sakar for providing a sample camera free of charge for us to base this review upon and for providing another camera for our contest prize.
What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive their choice of either a Star Wars Digital Camera Kit (92022) or a Hello Kitty Digital Camera (87009).
Limitations:
This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.
How to Gain Entries:
Leave a comment telling me what other Sakar digital imaging product would be perfect for someone in your household. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest. Extra Entries:
1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.
2) For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.
3) For 10 extra entries, blog about this contest linking back to this post AND Sakar.com . Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments with the link to your blog post.
4) Friend me on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Facebook profile.
5) For 2 extra entries, share the link to this contest post on Facebook. Then leave TWO separate comments with the link to your Facebook profile.
6) Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.
7) Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.
8) Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.
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10) Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.
(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)
Random Drawing:
This contest will be closed on Monday, May 3rd, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.
Good luck in the drawing!
