Disney Princess 35mm Camera - Point, Shoot, Click - Now She's a Real Pro!

My 4 1/2 year old daughter's dance recital was fast approaching and her doting grandmother wanted to give her a gift. But what? She has plenty of stuffed animals, her Daddy and I already had the whole flower and balloon bouquet with the stuffed animal thing covered so she didn't need anything else along those lines. What was also hard was that my mother left her own gift buying up to me since she lives in another town from us.

While I was in our local Wal-Mart store trying hard to come up with a unique gift I came across a really cute Disney Princess 35mm Film Camera. The camera is light pink and has a beaded wrist strap. It features four of the beloved Disney princesses: Belle, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White. The view finder and heart shaped shutter button are are large. Also, the lens has a large dark pink heart around it.

The whole package included the camera, a roll of 35mm film (24 exposure if memory serves me correct), the batteries, princess stickers and a cute little princess photo album. All for about $12.95.

After contemplating for a while, I decided the camera would make the perfect gift. Besides, our daughter loves to help take pictures with our camera. She is more of a tech savvy kind of kid anyway, super bright for her age and I knew if she saw these cameras she would be begging for one. I also thought it would be so cute for her to take pictures of her friends in their dance costumes and at her after recital party.

My intentions were to have double copies made to send to my mom since she would not be able to attend. It was, in my imagination, going to be the perfect gift for my daughter from her grandmother and the perfect way for a granddaughter to say thank-you - by giving photos to her grandmother.

About the Disney Princess 35mm Film Camera
This is an 35mm focus-free lens with fixed focus range with a built-in auto flash with flash-ready indicator.
Product features
Camera size is (by my measurements):
5 length x 3 high x 1 1/2 in deep
10' flash range
10-second flash recycle time
Real-image viewfinder
Manual film rewind
Manual film advance

Again, the kit includes: 4x6 Princess photo album, 27 Princess stickers, 1 roll of 24-exposure Kodak MAX 400-speed film and 1 AA battery

Product Details
Warranty Terms - Parts 1 year
Beaded Wrist Strap
Lens Fixed
Focus Range Focus-free
Flash Modes Auto
Film Speed ISO 100-400
Shutter Speed 1/100 sec.
Flash Built-in
Flash Recycle Time 10 sec.
Flash Range 10'
Viewfinder Real-image
Battery 1 AA (included)
Manual rewind
Manual Advance
Indicators Flash-ready

That's pretty much it. This is not a bells and whistles kind of camera, but of course it is designed for children ages 3 and up.

How to Use the Camera
The camera is pretty simple to use overall, although I do have a few minor complaints. First off the camera is plastic and feels cheaply made. But for a toy that's less than $15.00 what should I expect?

The battery compartment is located on the bottom of the camera and is not easily opened unless you have a pointed object like a pen. You insert whatever object you are using, click the battery door open and pop the battery in. Close the battery door shut until it clicks.

The camera has an on/off switch on the front which also operates the sliding door to the lens. The switch slides back and forth and can be set for the flash to be off which is first position or second position for the flash to be on.

When the camera is on and the flash is ready a little green heart shaped light will come on on the back of the camera near the view finder. As a note, I thought this camera shut off automatically, but our daughter left her camera on and the batteries ran down very quickly.

Opening the film compartment found on the back of the camera is the same as opening the battery compartment, just a little more difficult (on our daughter's camera at least). It requires a pointed object inserted into a tiny slot on the side of the film door. Press down and the door should pop open. However, we have to take our fingernail or another object to pry the door open. Once the door is open the film canister is loaded into the camera and the film is pulled out and manually advanced using a dial on the camera. After loading the film, close the compartment door and make sure it clicks closed. Of course parents need to load the film for small children.

On the very bottom of the camera is an indicator for how many frames are left on the film. This is really hard to see and a bit pointless. Also on the bottom of the camera is the manual rewind dial. When you or your child is ready to rewind the film you have to flip open a little plastic lever and rotate in clock-wise direction to to rewind the film.

The Fairytale Photo Experience - Not
Our daughter was thrilled with her gift. She was so excited and couldn't wait to start snapping those shots!! My husband loaded up her camera and she set off taking photos of all her friends and party guests. She went through her roll of film very quickly and I just knew there would be some great shots from the newest amateur photographer. I simply couldn't wait until the next day to have those pictures developed.

But the fairytale quickly came to a halt when we couldn't get the camera to rewind the film. We tried for the longest but the film just wouldn't budge. Unfortunately we ended up having to open the film compartment, expose the film and cut the film out of the camera. We are still not certain what happened.

We loaded a second roll of film. After it was used we were able to rewind it. The photos were developed and just as I expected from a 4 year old...they turned out to be quite a work of art.

Of course as you can imagine from an inexperienced 4 year old, photo quality is not as you would expect from someone who knows about lighting conditions, exposure, position of the subjects, etc. But to me, even if Dad's head is chopped out of the shot, or if the picture is a little blurry, it's still a beautiful shot and something to remember - or at least such is that first developed roll. And of course we are once again talking about an inexpensive kiddie camera and as most of us know, we get what we pay for.

We have yet to make it to our third roll of film and as I mentioned earlier, she left the camera on and the battery died. Of course it takes only 1 AA battery so that's not so hard to replace - unless we have to replace batteries frequently.

I've decided to put the camera away and get it out during special occasions so she can shoot those perfect kid shots. Plus for her it will be like having a new toy over and over again.

Final Thoughts
Would I recommend the Disney Princess 35mm Film Camera? Sure, at least at this point.

I think it makes for a unique and inexpensive gift especially if you need a little something for a child that already seems to have everything. I also think it makes for a good starter camera. At least it's not an expensive investment and who knows, it could turn out to be a wonderful hobby for a child.

Where to Buy the Disney Princess 35mm Film Camera
I purchased my daughter's camera at Wal-Mart. However, I have seen them in Target and Best Buy and online at Lillian Vernon and EBay.

Thanks for reading!!