Best Cameras for Teenagers - 2011 Edition

Teenagers spend an inordinate amount of time browsing the web, specifically viewing, tagging, captioning and commenting on photos.  How's a teenager supposed to go about their lives without a camera?  And of course, because they spend too much time online to keep a full-time job, you're going to have to buy their new camera for them.  This guide is going to highlight the best indestructible, tech-savvy, internet-ready cameras for teenagers for this upcoming holiday season. 

There are a few things to consider when buying anything for a teenager.  First and foremost, teenagers break things.  All the time.  Nothing is sparred.  Everything is in their torrential, destructive path.  If you have spent any amount of time with your run-of-the-mill teen, you know who I am talking about.  

As a parent, you assume you know more than your child.  However, when it comes to technology, they just might know more than you.  So don't fret when you find a suitable camera but can't figure out how to use it yourself.  As soon as you wrap that box and put it under the tree, you'll never see it again so you don't need to worry about ever having to figure out what to do with it.  Lastly, convenience and portability are a teenagers friend.  They don't want to be weighed down with external flashes, tripods or even a camera bag.  So find a camera that fits into a back pocket or a purse side pocket but won't get demolished in the process.

Samsung ST100

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For the king or queen teen of the self-portrait.

Taking pictures of all the fun other teens are having is lame. The real memories your teen wants to capture involve taking pictures of themselves at someplace awesome, standing alongside their BFFs as they all pose in an appropriately silly, ironic, or ubes-chic fashion.  On most cameras, self-portraits involve a tricky trail and error process, and thus was born the Dual View camera, which has an extra viewfinder on the camera's front to help your teen frame and capture the perfect memory.  Samsung's ST100 is most compact Dual View camera we've tested.  It's packed with some very impressive features, including 14-megapixels of resolution, an awesome 3.5-inch Touchscreen LCD with over 1 million dots of resolution, a 1.8-inch front facing LCD, an internal 5x optical zoom lens, 720p HD video capture, Smart Auto 2.0, and an advanced face detection and recognition system that can store up to 20 faces. The ST100 is an ultra-compact camera that is available in four stylish colors (Black, Purple, Blue, and Gold), all of which offer a mirror-like, glossy finish.

Another feature your teen will love is is the ST100's ultra-compact size.  Less than an inch thick, and weighing just 4.8 ounces (without card or battery), it fits comfortably in the palm of most hands and tucks away into a pocket or handbag with ease. Thanks to its sleek design and internal zoom lens, there' nothing that protrudes from the camera, and you don't have to worry about an extending lens.

Pentax Option RS1500

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For the teen who loves to customize and/or accessorize.

Does your teen love fashion or design? Does he or she like to customize everything from clothes or gadgets to book bags and cellphones? In that case, pull up a chair and meet the Pentax Optio RS1500, the second generation of their customizable RS-series of fashion savvy digicams. It's an affordable camera aimed at anyone who's artistic or fashion oriented because this camera allows anyone to swap out, exchange, and customisze the camera's "skin" and lens bezel. With a wide variety of included "Skin" choices, you can easily match the RS1500 to your daily attire. They even offer way to create custom skins that can be downloaded from the Pentax Website, and you can also upload your own artwork. Since the RS series debut, Pentax has incorporated an easier, and quicker way to change the "Skin" of the front of the camera, along with the addition of colored lens bezels that can be swapped in place of the standard black one. 

Once you get past this camera's style, it's a pretty standard 14-megapixel digital camera, with a 4x optical zoom lens, 720p HD video recording, intelligent Auto Picture mode, and a 3.0-inch LCD screen.  To be fair, this camera is more about how IT looks versus how the pictures taken look, but at this rpice range with decent image capture, your artistic teen will love it.

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-WX10

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For the teen who wants it all...pocket sized.

For most teens, the smaller the gadget, the better.  But often there's a trade off in performance and quality when applying a well-intentioned shrink ray to electronics.  Not so with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX10. Sony's flagship WX-series model for 2011 features a large 16.2-megapixel "Exmor R" back-illuminated CMOS sensor, which is great in lowlight situations, and is also capable of 10fps burst shooting at full resolution and recording full 1080 (60i) video. Sony has also included their new Dual Rec Mode, which allows you to capture 3-megapixel still images while shooting video in the 1080/60i AVCHD format. 

The DSC-WX10 also features a bright (f/2.4), 7X optical zoom lens that covers a nice wide range of approx. 24 - 168mm; in 35mm equivalence. Included in each of this new generation of Sony Cyber-shot cameras are 3D Sweep Panorama and 3D Still Image modes. In these modes, the DSC-WX10 takes two consecutive shots in different focus positions to calculate depth. 3D Still Images can be seen in normal 2D or in 3D on compatible 3DTVs ( with all the needed optional accessories of course). Another 3D feature is called Sweep Multi Angle mode, where the camera takes 15 still images at different angles to assemble a panorama, which can be viewed on the camera's LCD screen by titling and panning the camera.

This is for the teen who wants all the latest technology and performance of a high quality digicams.  And also wants it to fit in a small bag or back pocket.   

GoPro HD Helmet Hero

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For the teen most likely to end up in the hospital.

Some teens go big or go home.  Why not help protect your extreme teen by encouraging safety as they hurl themselves down roads, mountains, trails, and waves. GoPro's HD HERO digital video camera is well known, whether you're an extreme sports nut or not, and were created to answer the call of the wild from adventurous athletes, competition shooters, racers, and survivalists. The HD HERO is an extremely compact HD video camera that allows you to record full 1920x1080 (30p), 1280x720 (30/60p), 1280x960 (30p), and 848x480 (60p) video in almost any situation. You can also snap 5-megapixel still images. 

Whether you're hanging ten, base jumping, shooting a 3-gun match, or racing down the drag strip, you can mount the HD HERO to you or your sled, and capture all the action. The camera itself is not waterproof, however once you install it in the included waterproof, shockproof, and bombproof housing, the HERO is ready for action. With a fixed lens with fixed focus, you get a super wide angle of view to help ensure you capture everything in front of you; and even a bit of what's around you. If your extreme teen loves adventure sports, GoPro HD HERO's are the way to go.  And there are multiple mounting kits available (Helmet, Motorsports, Surf, and Naked) made for just about any sport or situation.  

Accessories

All teens everywhere love to personalize everything from their locker to the walls of their room, their cars to their sports jerseys.  Cameras are no exception.  There are a number of additions you can make to any of the cameras above, some cosmetic and some functional.  But don't forget extra batteries, extra SD cards and screen protectors. 

The company PhatStraps make an array of straps you can add to any camera.  They offer personalization for every strap; you can even choose the fabric used to make it.  Their wide range of fabrics include both masculine and feminine patterns, appealing to your special teen in mind.  Their cute wrist straps work great for those small point-and-shoot digital cameras.  If your teen is always on the go or constantly losing things, PhatStraps will certainly be a great solution.

www.phatstraps.com

In order to keep the camera safe, it is best to put it in a case.  Appealing to every teen's secret inner geek, Taiwanese designers 25togo have produced a clever solution to the problem of camera safety.  Designed to imitate a file folder straight off your desktop, this My Photo camera case is made from the same neoprene used to make wetsuits rendering your camera splashproof, dustproof and scratchproof.  Rest assured that housed in the case, your teen can do no harm: Purchase here.