Digital cameras seem to be everywhere these days, and I am pretty sure you are all familiar with the basic premises of composing a photo on them.  Set subjects in place, aim camera, scream “everyone smile!” point, and shoot as everyone smiles or says cheese, or whatever other instruction you gave them.  Pretty simple.  Simple, that is, if you are not trying to take pictures of children.  My six year old and three year old are a mile a minute.  They rarely sit still, let alone, smile on command.  And even if one does listen, it is almost impossible for both to sit still, smile, and look at the camera at the same time.  This can become an exercise in frustration and futility.  Fortunately, the latest Cybershot camera from Sony provides a solution.  This camera will refuse to take a picture if your subject is not smiling, and then will snap one each time they smile at the camera.  Incredible!  Let’s take a closer look.

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You know you have a good product on your hands when the next morning, my kids jump out of bed and ask to play with it before they even get dressed.  Well, that is exactly what I saw with the Crayola Digital Camera from Sakar.

My boys (6 and 3) love to imitate what they see me doing.  And one thing I do a lot around our house is take digital pictures.  As a result, they are always begging to let them see my camera.  Which is no big deal when you have a cheap $100 camera, but I am talking about a $500+ Canon here…and kids who are prone to dropping expensive electronics.  So, when I saw the Crayola camera, I knew we would be giving it a good run for its money. 

As soon as it arrived, the boys were fighting over it (always a good sign for the product) and the next morning, both of them were asking to use it before they were even out of bed.  So, what was so special about this one?  What did my boys see in this one that was so attractive?  Well, that is the million dollar question that all toy manufacturers have been trying to answer for decades, isn’t it?  Hit the jump and we will see if we can figure it out.

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