Self-portrait tripod from quikpod.com

The folks at quikpod.com have an interesting new twist on the traditional tripod. If you like what you seen you must make your purchase by December 8th to get their special gizmodo deal.
I have three on order.


The Quikpod extends your arm so that you can take natural looking self-portraits capturing your forehead. The special deal give your $4.95 off the Pro Kit that converts your Quikpod into a standard tripod. All this for $25 plu shipping.

To get the special deal visit quikpod.com and search for gizmodo or follow this link: https://shop.quikpod.com/categoryNavigationDocument.hg?categoryId=2

Kid Friendly Digital Camera - Tough, Great Product

My three year old received a Fisher Price Digital Camera for his birthday last week. The reviews on this product gave high ratings so we thought it was worth a shot. The results have been wonderful.

But let's talk about the camera first. Available in blue or pink, the camera is housed in a rubberized, two grip body. The knobby grips reduce accidental dropping. Of course, Tyler dropped his on purpose with no apparent harm (your results may vary). With only five buttons to choose from he quickly put the camera to work with almost no instruction from me.

You can tell that Fisher-Price devoted energy into the design of this camera. The binoncular viewfinder allows kids to keep both eyes open when they take the shot. A small LCD screen on the back can be used to frame the photo but it lacks resolution.

Quality of images: fine for 4x6 photos. Bright sun leads to overexposure but otherwise the exposure is good. Flash fires automatically and the delay between photos is reasonable.

The camera held about 60 photos in its built-in memory. If this isn't enough then you can add an SD card and let your little Ansel Adams capture as many images as they desire.

Online retailers are already indicated low stock on this camera - for less than $70 it makes sense. Amazon and Walmart have it in stock -act fast.

The Gift Idea for a Teenager

Or a young adult. Or someone with alot of friends.

A digital camera. Why? Teenagers want to take pictures of their friends and shoot video that they can upload to YouTube.

What do they want? A small camera that looks good and is easy to use.

But their phone has a camera? Sure, with a tiny lens that takes mediocre photos. Get them a real camera and they might even say thanks.

What to choose:

1) Canon Powershot SD450 - this 5 megapixel camera has been on the market long enough for the price to fall to under $250 if you shop well. Big LCD display, viewfinder, great auto mode, smaller than a deck of cards, shoots video until the card is full. I own this model and have shot over 5,000 pics of my toddler with success. Not to mention tons of web-ready video.

2) Casio Exilim EX-S600 - 6 megapixel camera wedged into Casio's credit card sized case. HUGE LCD monitor, 3X optical zoom and a variety of color choices. Legendary for compact size.

My money goes with any Canon camera. Their customer satisfaction is very high and they offer a great variety of models. The price drops as you get into larger point and shoot models.

If you are buying a digital camera then don't forget key accessories - details here. Seriously, get them an nice big memory card and some extra batteries. Oh, and a case.

Digital Camera Buying #1

My 3 year old received a digital camera for his birthday. Excessive? Hardly. This just shows how far cameras have come - the technology is cheap enough to sell in a format friendly for toddlers at around $60. This Fisher-Price Kid Camera fits the bill perfectly.

There is another, more useful lesson in buying a digital camera: buy the camera that suits your needs. The best camera for a three year old can be dropped, thrown and has color coded buttons.

If you are giving a camera as a gift think about the needs of the recipient. Is this their first digital camera? Do they love technology or are they confused by the buttons on a blender? Do they take pictures of wildlife or your wild family? Thinking about HOW this person will use the camera will lead you to make a good choice.

Get started by reading my Digital Camera Buying Guide.