myFirst Camera Insta 2, a small, portable, robust looking, child proof, all singing, all dancing camera for your child. Sounds good right? Let’s find out.
Features & Spec
– Product Size: 132mm x 95mm x 42.5mm
– Net Weight: 235g, 8.28oz
– Display: 2.4″ Color IPS
– 12MP lens
– Photo Resolution: 4032 x 2880
– Video Resolution: 1920 x 1080
– Battery Capacity: 1500mAh
– Charging Time: 4 Hours
– Battery Life: About 5 Hours
– Storage: TF Card up to 32GB
– Thermo Sensitive Paper: 30 x 56mm, 50g, 1.76oz (Maximum 65 Sheets Per Roll)
First Impressions & Unboxing
It looks like a cute little one-eyed creature of sorts. The camera is quite large and chunky, which I would usually say is not what we want but in this case, we do, so your little one’s hands have plenty to grip onto. The camera comes in either a pale pink or blue colour theme. To the front of the camera is the lens and the paper compartment, which you pull open and insert the paper. It’s a bit like a till receipt affair, if you’ve ever worked in retail before. One side you have a speaker, the other a rubber flap, which underneath, has the micro USB port and micro SD slot. The camera has a built-in rechargeable battery and it’s charged via USB cable. To the back of the camera is the coloured screen, another lens for selfies, and a number of buttons.
The overall look and feel is perfectly suited for a young child, from 5 to 10 I’d say. It’s made from plastic, has a soft matte finish to it and it appears to be fairly robust. Both lenses are protected slightly from a raised perimeter around them but the screen is not. The buttons are large and easy to push but the symbols on them are small and may be hard for kids to read.
In the box you get the camera, a lanyard, a number of USB adapters, a micro SD card reader (thanks!), some stickers, some instructions and 3 rolls of paper (1 sticker, 2 plain)
Set Up & Controls
It’s very simple to set up, insert your SD card and charge the camera for 4 hours. Once ready, open the front cover and insert your roll of paper, making sure you insert it the correct way (otherwise it won’t print). The front cover is quite stiff and will likely need adult supervision. You will see a toothed area, for ripping the photo off and although it’s easy to tear the photo off, it’s not sharp enough to cause harm to your child. That’s it, you’re ready to go.
Turn the camera on and you will see on the screen, a live preview of the front facing camera. To the top and bottom of the screen, you will see mode, battery life, date and time. Press that power button again and it will switch to selfie mode. The button below that takes you to the menu, which offers options for image quality, time/date/language, sounds, format and print quality. The two key ones, image quality, which is 12M (4032×2880), 9M, 6M or 3M (2320×1305). You’ve also got print density, high, medium or low, which is how dense the print is on the paper.
There is a plus and minus button, which can be used to scroll through the menus but also swap between a number of presets, these start off as bust mode and timer, but them onto visual effects, colourisations and then emojis or carton objects on the screen. You can select a pair fo sunglasses to appear on the screen, you move your face to suit and take a snap.
Also below the screen is the playback button, so you can view your content and a print button. Select your photo, hit print, a countdown will begin and then it’ll start printing. To the right of thr screen is the capture button, used to actually take the photo or if you hold it down, it will begin recording video.
Peformance
Right, the image quality is poor, especially when viewed on something bigger than a phone but the colours look ok and you make out the subject easily enough. I tried other resolutions and found 12M was the best and IF you have good lighting, the camera is a fair distance away, a 1m or 2m the image is slightly better. The stock art, emojis, whatever you want to call them, work well and are fun.
Video Quality is very much the same and although the meta data states it’s 1080p, it doesnt look it to me. Video sample below:
Printing quality continues suit, it’s ok and I’ve managed to print some good images, some not so good. The camera only prints in black and white, although you’ve taken the photo in colour. Each print measures at 85mm wide by 47mm high. Three rolls of paper are provided, two paper and one sticker. The sticker paper is a lot more fun and easier to stick in books or on your fridge etc. You can buy more printing paper anywhere, like Amazon, it doesn’t have to be from myFirst. I got about 50-60 prints out of a roll of standard paper, about half that for the sticky roll.
The controls work perfectly fine, they are basic and easy to navigate. Battery life seems fine, will last a good few hours.
They’re my thoughts, from an adult’s perspective but what about from a child’s? I have a six-year daughter and she absolutely loved the camera and went through a roll of sticker paper very quickly. She didn’t care about the quality of the photos, nor that it only printed in black and white. She just loved the opportunity to pick the camera up and take pictures of whatever she wanted, and that’s exactly what she did, I’ve got some very random snaps on my PC now. I showed her how to use it once and that was it, turn it on, take a picture, review it, print and the cycle continued until the paper ran out.
Verdict
My daughter loved it and the fact that it got her engrossed in the world of photography, fantastic. Not to mention she took photos she could stick in her school book as homework, win! As for my opinion, it’s fun, it’s not to be taken too seriously and at £80, it won’t break the bank. However, if you’re looking for a better quality image, you need to go for something like the Fujifilm Instax Mini 9 or similar.
For more info and to purchase, head over to the official myFirst Camera webpage.
