Camera for an 8 year old - Kidizoom or proper camera?

[everybodysang]

My daughter loves to take photos on my phone and on an old phone we gave her to play music on. She is getting a (cheap!) laptop for her 8th birthday in December and I thought it might be good for her to have a camera at Christmas so she can then download photos on to her computer if she wants.
She's pretty careful with electronics but am wary of getting her a camera that may get broken, so was considering the Kidizoom one, but not sure if it will be too baby-ish.
Does anyone have one of these? What are they like? Can anyone recommend a cheap camera that would be good if the Kidizoom is not an option? I don't want to spend more than £50.

Definitely a real camera. Both of my DCs had outgrown the kidizoom camera by the age of 8. Just a cheap digital camera would be way better. Get a decent case to keep it in and it should be fine!

Never the kiddizoom. Worse thing we ever bought for our kids

Proper camera by miles. The kiddizoom is shit.

Yes, a proper camera. We’re looking for one for my daughter who’s the same age (perhaps thinking of an older model of the current ones for sale in curry’s etc & sourcing it on eBay)

We bought our twins a compact digital camera each for their 8th birthdays. They used them loads for the next 3 years - until they were of an age to get mobile phones. Even after that, they continued to use them to take on school trips where phones were either discouraged or not practical (e.g. camping with nowhere to charge them). DD still has hers 6 years later and is planning to take it on a trip next Spring.

Brilliant, this is so helpful - thank you! I thought it might be a bit babyish. OK, will look for a basic digital camera with a decent case...

Agreed, Kiddizoom is a good idea executed very badly. Nice and robust, which is great, but takes awful pictures so what’s the point, you can’t do anything with the pics.

Mine got at Nikon S33 a couple of years ago. I'm sure there will be a current model.

Its a adult camera but easy to use with kids in mind and waterproof.

Not sure how to link but got this for my 7 year old which has gone down well: www.johnlewis.com/nikon-coolpix-w100-waterproof-digital-camera-13-2mp-hd-1080p-3x-optical-zoom-bluetooth-2-7-inch-lcd-screen/p3009341

Real camera definitely.
Kiddizoom are absolutely pants. Terrible quality. Boys weren't remotely interested in using them and they were massive to lug around compared to the nice, compact digitals you can get. We found the kids are so savvy, they take much better pictures than we do and understand all the different features (which we don't). Just need a decent padded case for it and it should be fine.

Yes one of those Nikons linked above. My sons is the older version.

Kiddizoom is far too babish for an 8yo.

Kiddizoom is quite fun, but an 8 yr old will grow out of it too quickly.
We got DD an iPod after she outgrew her kiddizoom. More versatile than a camera.
I'm not sure I'd bother with a camera tbh, I'd get a more flexible gadget/tablet.

Get a cheap (? 2nd hand) real camera. The Kiddizooms are great for preschoolers but mine have well outgrown theirs (they're 7&8 now). The interface is babyish and the picture quality relatively poor.

Proper camera. DD got kidizoom for christmas when she was 6. She outgrew it very quickly and really only uses it to play the games.

My DS 7 adores his instamax camera. The paper is expensive though...

Kiddizoom is pants. The photos are shit.

I love my Instamax and take it everywhere. The paper is dear but I've set up a subscription on Amazon which makes it cheaper. Loads of these cameras are now appearing on FB selling pages (probably posted by folk who the novelty wore off for).