Review: Little Tikes My Real Digital Video Camera

Dale — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:20:43 -0500

I live my life through a tiny screen. When I go to our kids' concerts, I take the camcorder and watch much of the concert through the 3" viewfinder. Now, MGA/Little Tikes gives your aspiring mogul the opportunity to do the same with the Little Tikes My Real Digital Video Camera.

A number of cameras for kids have come onto the market lately, so what sets this one apart from the rest? One word: waterproof. This camera is safe under water up to three feet, not exactly something to take swimming with the sharks, but good enough for the backyard swimming pool, water park, or "oops" into the sink. The body is durable enough to hold up to most preschoolers or older, and the handles and lens area are rubberized for extra protection. It integrates a shoulder strap for easy carrying and includes a soft case for transporting.

Video: Guinea Pigs as taken by Little Tikes Camcorder

The camera can record videos up to 640x480 resolution, which looks fine on an SDTV, but it records files in the non-standard .asf format, which causes problems for QuickTime but works OK in Windows Media Player. (On a Mac, use the free VLC to view, but be prepared for choppy playback, and don't expect to import into iMovie or iTunes. If anyone has a detailed explanation how to convert these into something standard on a Mac, post a comment below.) It also takes still photos with a 1.3 megapixel resolution, including a 4X digital zoom, which we don't recommend using. The camera has a built-in LED light/flash, which works fairly well for photos, but you'll notice how dark the indoor video looks, so we recommend recording in daylight or a brightly lit room.

The battery case uses 4 screws and a rubbery gasket to keep the water out, but note that removing the cover can be very difficult because it's on so tight, which is important, but it also means that accessing the various slots and ports requires a bit of strength or a flat object like a table knife to pry the lid off. In this same compartment, you'll find a USB port for connecting to a computer (cord included, and while iPhoto on the Mac doesn't recognize it as a camera, it mounts both the camera and SD card for easy drag-and-drop), SD slot (it only includes 64 MB built-in memory, which gets used up pretty quickly if you use the video, but you can get a 2GB card for about $10, and it works great), and A/V port to connect to your TV for photo and movie playback (cord included).

Eschewing the games of some other cameras (no big loss here), this camera does include a handful of editing features to add frames or sounds to videos and photos. (Note: Open these photos in a new window to see at full-size.)

While it won't win any awards for photo or video quality, if you're looking for a camcorder for kids about age 3-9 (any older, and they'll probably be ready for something more mature), you can't go wrong with this one, and we highly recommend it for capturing the world through the eyes of a child.