Image credit: Em Stonham for Kyusai
Tiny cameras are an odd fascination of mine; they’re fun and quirky, and make a great addition to a handbag for a day out. While they’re often not the most premium in terms of pure image quality, they can still take fun photos and be worth experimenting with as a photographer.
One camera that I got the opportunity to test out recently is the Photo Creator Mini Cam Digital Camera, from Canal Toys. Thanks to a review sample provided by the team, it’s become one of my favorite mini cameras in my collection. Here’s Kyusai’s full Photo Creator Mini Cam review, looking at what this teeny, tiny toy camera has to offer.
Fun and functional
While I have worked on some camera review content for Kyusai before, the Photo Creator Mini Cam Digital Camera is the first time I’ve reviewed a mini camera specifically. Tiny cameras are something I collect as an amateur photographer and trinket obsessive, so I was excited to check it out for myself.
The Photo Creator Mini Cam is smaller than palm sized; hell, it’s even smaller than a chapstick. The screen clocks in at just an inch in size, but it’s entirely functional, with miniature buttons so you can tab through the menu, filters, and camera settings.
There are four different styles of camera on offer with this trinket – a black camera that looks like a DSLR, an older-looking silver digital camera, a white instant camera, and a pink digital camera reminiscent of handheld ones from 2010 or so.
I was sent the white instant camera, and was impressed with how it looked right out of the box. It’s incredibly lightweight and looks just like a shrunk-down version of a standard instant camera, with plenty of tiny details, like mock hand grooves.
The Photo Creator Mini Cam is intended to be a keychain camera, so, unsurprisingly, it comes with a keychain in the box. I did not find the process of hooking the keychain onto the camera to be easy – it’s a very fiddly process – but once it was attached, it felt secure and decently sturdy.
During my time testing the camera, I went between taking it with me attached to my handbag and just having it in my pocket; the latter was a lot more fun, as it looks like a cute keychain when you’re not using it to snap pictures.
Speaking of snaps, the camera can take both pictures and video if desired. You won’t be getting any professional quality photos or clips here; pictures generally turn out grainy, and videos aren’t much more premium.
However, I found that my images and clips looked lovely – there’s a certain charm to their graininess and jumbly colors. It’s akin to a filter that I’d use for an Instagram selfie or the like, adding an almost retro feel to anything you snap with your teeny tiny camera. There’s even a date and time feature engraved into each image.
You’ll need a Micro SD card to utilize the Mini Cam’s full potential, which does not come with the camera and charging cable in the box. I’d be surprised if it did, though, as it’s a supremely cheap piece of kit – most retailers have it in the price range of $18/£13, depending on where you’re looking.
The process of uploading my images from the camera to my PC was simple enough, after I’d put in the Micro SD card and made sure it was formatted correctly. If you’re buying this as a present for a young person, they may still need a hand doing this.
The variety of different camera types on offer is fun, and they all look adorable. While I won’t be swapping out my regular camera for the Photo Creator Mini Cam any time soon, I was impressed with the toy camera during the review period; for a keychain camera, it produces some fun pictures and is decently easy to use.
FAQs
The Photo Creator Mini Cam comes from the team at Canal Toys.
The Photo Creator Mini Cam takes fun, grainy pictures, but it’s not a high-quality camera by any means. It’s more of a novelty camera than a professional grade camera for tech lovers.
No, you do not have to use the keyring attached to the Photo Creator Mini Cam. It’s possible to detach the keyring chain and just use the camera as is.
No, the Photo Creator Mini Cam Digital Camera does not come with a Micro SD card. You’ll need to buy this separately from the camera.
