Not sure if this is the right place to put it, but looking to buy a cheap compact for the kids, there eight and ten.
Off travelling for 4 months in October and thought it would be fun if they have there own compact each so they can take some pics for themselves. Just a point and shoot is what I'm looking for, anyone have some recommendations as what to pick.
P&S is not really my thing so havn't got a clue whats out there. The last P&S I had was a canon G10 but that would be total confusion for them.

I don't know what cameras to recommend, but I would think about purchasing a small point and shoot that is rugged and water-proof! I know Olympus and Panasonic both make several really nice ones in different price ranges....you need something that can handle kids dropping them, etc.. I think it would be better to spend a little more buying cameras that would not break the first time they were dropped....I do own the Panasonic TS3, but it is the more expensive one---they have several models underneath it much cheaper.

How about the olympus tough 320? The kids can then take the cameras on the beach, in the sea, rivers, rain etc. without worrying, and the cameras have much more chance of survival if they are dropped or bashed. You could even get each child a different colour!

You'd be surprised how handy with electronic devices 8 and 10 yr olds will become if you allow them !
I gave my daughter a Coolpix for her 2nd birthday, but she's turning 4 and she's constantly "borrowing" my m4/3 cameras...



She knows how to toggle between LCD and EVF when there's one, and she can aim, shoot, and review. Being so young she hasn't understood the zoom concept with, especially since she usually grabs a camera with a prime mounted.
Your kids being older, I'm sure they'll be fine with zooming in and out. I grabbed a dirt cheap 8 mp Coolpix off Craig's List (40€, boxed, hardly used), but I think any decent P&S will do. I'd be baffled your kids have a problem with any camera you'll throw at them, as long as you leave it on Program with Auto ISo (or even full Auto) they should have fun :)

She looks very comfortable and competent handling that camera. Kids can be amazing.

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I agreed that kids can handle more complex camera if they want to. But that can be a big "if".

If they just want to snap some shots then I'd second the recommendation of a waterproof/tough style camera. You can let your budget guide what you purchase.

If they might have a deeper interest in photography then maybe a GH1 or a GF3. If you don't mind the size, the GH1 is a nice "teaching" camera because of the plentiful direct controls.

My kids have more fun taking pics with their iPod Touches than with any of the cameras. So easy for them to shoot and browse later.

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I would second this. I have 2 kids, aged 7 and 9 and I bought the Panasonic FT-10 for them. It is PS and "shockproof from drops up to 1.5 metres, waterproof up to 3 metres and freeze proof to -10 degrees Celcius"

You can't go wrong with that. My kids used the camera to make some under water videos at our local swimming pool. It captured video quite clear and nicely. They used the camera as a voice recorder and also taking pictures nearly everyday. So all-in-all, quite a fun camera :)

My daughter seemed to develop some love for photography. Hopefully she could go much much further than me. Here is a photo of her using an DSLR ...

Thanks everyone for the input, had chance this afternoon to get two olympus tough cameras, blue and white ..... I actually thought they would go for pink as they are both girls.
For the price its looks a great little camera, lets hope they get plenty of great pics.