A Toy Camera Shootout with $40 VTech KidiZoom Camera for Kids

There probably isn’t a photographer in the business who hasn’t heard someone say, “You must have a great camera!” But is the camera really the primary reason behind a great shot? Putting this to the test, Jessica Kobeissi teamed up with photographer Brandon Woelfel to see what can be achieved with a toy camera.

Using a $40 KidiZoom camera by VTech, which boasts a massive 2 megapixels and a 4x zoom, they set out to see what they could capture.

Flipping through the menu settings, with awesome “bloop” sound effects, the camera is primed and ready. Brandon steps up first, with 3 minutes on the clock to see what he can create. Here’s what he shot (and processed with a VSCO preset):

Then Jessica takes over and, by using different props and getting creative, her shots look pretty impressive for the toy camera.

“They turned out better than we thought,” says a surprised Jessica.

A model for the shoot did point out, however, that she couldn’t quite hear the rather comical shutter, and had to be a lot slower with her moves as a result.

Still, the results aren’t too bad given the camera that was used. The challenge also shows how creative thinking and using all sorts of weird props — even a fluorescent sign — can create successful results.