Waterproof Adventures with the VTech Kidizoom Action Cam 180

I was offered a Kidizoom Action Cam 180 to review and I immediately said yes. I wanted the Kidizoom camera because it was waterproof and we had a big family trip to Orlando coming up. I wanted it badly enough that when I realized it wouldn’t arrive in time for our trip, I ran out to Walmart and bought one.

I wanted it because the camera was waterproof and we were planning on visiting Universal Studio’s new Volcano Bay waterpark. I thought it would be good for taking photos and video of our day at Volcano Bay. I figured it would be good for places where it was damp and splashy and I wouldn’t dare take my DSLR out of its bag.

Disclosure: I was given a Kidizoom Action Cam 180 to review. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. As always my words and opinions are my own (or that of my kids).

And I was right. The Kidizoom Action Cam saw pretty much non-stop use that day at Volcano Bay. My kids ran around with the camera and captured little memories all day long. I took it right in the lazy river with us, and recorded my daughter splashing and riding around in the sunlight, in the shade, and into the relative darkness of the volcano caves that you float through.

The battery outlasted my kids. We had an extra long day at Volcano Bay, we started at sunrise and stayed until the sunset, the park closed, and the volcano lit up for the end of night show. The rechargeable battery on the Kidizoom camera lasted the entire day. It was still ready to go when my kids were ready to crash into bed.

The camera is only waterproof when it’s inside its special clear plastic case. Getting the camera in and out of the case can be a little awkward, and you lose some functionality while it’s in there. But it works. And it is totally waterproof, you can even take video underwater (it supposedly good for up to 6 feet underwater). For a water play day, I recommend doing what we did, which is get it set up, put it in the waterproof case and keep it there.

It can take a few bumps. My kids dropped this camera more than once, on cement. Each time I winced, thinking, “Well there goes that.” but thankfully it turns out the Kidizoom camera can take a few bumps and keep on working.

It works best in sunlight. This camera shines outdoors. It takes crisp photos in sunlight, even on overcast days. However, depending on the lighting, interior shots can be murky.

It needs a memory boost. The built-in memory capacity is limited, particularly if you’re taking a bunch of videos, but thankfully there’s the option to add a micro SD card (according to the Vtech website, the camera will hold 240 minutes of 640 x 480 video or 278,400 photos with a 32GB microSD card). I recommend picking up a memory card immediately. I ended up running out to grab one the first day.

It comes with some neat attachments. Included with the camera are two adjustable mounts for attaching to your bike, skateboard, etc. Not really useful for heading out on vacation, but I could see my kids having some fun with these at some point.

Here are a few of the pictures my girls took during our day at Volcano Bay

(Can you tell the lazy river was their favourite part?):

   

The thing is, I was wrong about Vtech’s Kidizoom Action Cam 180 being simply perfect for a day at the waterpark because it ended up being so much more. My girls took turns carrying it around non-stop over our entire vacation. They took SO MANY photos and had so much fun with it (and I always love having the chance to see things from their perspective).

Pretty decent shots for a kiddie cam, right?

Overall, I was impressed with how sturdy and easy to use the VTech Kidizoom Action Cam 180 is. For kids to use while on vacation, or for adventuring kids on the go, I can’t think of a better camera option.

For further info check out the Vtech website or take a look over on Amazon.