Review: Disney Pix Twist

Written on Dec 16, 2009 by RuthJS and filed under Digital Blue, Disney, Reviews

• Twist screen for self-portraits
• 5 Megapixel Resolution
• 128MB of internal memory (no external storage)
• 2” LCD
• Adjustable flash
• 4 x digital zoom
• Disney PhotoFriends feature

Disney Pix Twist Off the Shelf

Out of the Box

The features of the Pix Twist were designed with a tween in mind.  From the twist feature that allows the photographer to take a self portrait easily to the Jonas Brothers branding and the ability to add Disney PhotoFriends, this camera was made for fun.  And, the wrist strap and sturdy plastic housing make this camera easy to take with you.

Disney Pix Twist Action

Along the bottom of the back, there are triangular buttons for scrolling, a trash button, and a button to adjust the flash.  Running up the right side are a wand button which allows you to add PhotoFriends, and zoom buttons.  There’s also a 2-inch display (more on that later).

Dsiney Pix Twist Back (Partially Twisted)

The Pix Twist uses three AA alkaline batteries (not included), and seems to be judicious about it’s power usage.  I didn’t have to replace the batteries, even with several hours of use.  Considering that there’s no on/off switch, and the camera shuts itself down if it hasn’t been used, that’s worth a mention.

Camera Operation

The designers of the Pix Twist have made the operation of the camera simple and straight-forward.  My 7-year-old figured it out within a matter of minutes and was adding crowns to my mug, the dog, and even my husband. Kids being able to learn the camera’s features on their own is a huge plus.

Appropriate Crown Picture Using PhotoFriends Feature

While I don’t argue with the crown at all, I do wish that the buttons were more responsive.  As I was playing with the camera, I found that, once pressed, the buttons didn’t always do what they were supposed to.  In fact, I sometimes had to press very hard to get the images to scroll in playback or to select a particular PhotoFriend.  This didn’t seem to slow my son down much, but several adults mentioned having the same difficulty.

Button sensitivity aside, the Disney Pix Twist has some features that you would expect to see in a more advanced camera including zoom, adjustable flash, and a twisting screen.  Additionally, it has some features that are geared toward it’s user-group.  Read on, and I’ll tell you more . . .

Zoom

There’s a 4x digital zoom feature that, while not a serious optical zoom by any standards, does allow the photographer to crop out some background and “get closer” to the subject.

Typical Picture

Typical Picture With Zoom

Unfortunately, as with old school point and shoot film cameras, this zoom does not improve the picture quality, it just makes your subject look closer.  So, don’t expect any improved clarity, but it definitely works. Indoor photos also come out dark, which is typical of the sensor used in this type of camera. For best shots, kids will need to be outside with at least moderate sun.

LCD Display

The LCD on the back is a good size for the camera, but it’s very difficult to see your subject unless you have just the right lighting conditions.  Using the camera in my living room with all the lights on, my son’s comment was, “Mommy, this screen is pretty dark.  I can’t even see you.”  That about sums it up.  Below is a sample of the display in good light . . . we’ve seen better.

Display In a Brightly Lit Room

Sadly, the screen is essential to aligning pictures when you add PhotoFriends, so unless you are outside but not in direct sunlight, or in a VERY brightly lit room inside, you’ll be guesstimating at the framing of your pictures.

Flash

The flash is adjustable and very strong.  You can set it to on or off as well as auto.  I found that the auto feature didn’t always force the flash in low light conditions, making the picture fuzzy and grainy.  Still, if the picture doesn’t turn out, you can always adjust the flash button and try again . . . isn’t that the way we always used to do it before the age of fully automated cameras?  The upside is that with digital pictures you can preview the photo to determine if you need to make adjustments.  But, I digress.

As for the pictures that we took, I was disappointed to see that the flash washed out many of them.  As a result, I ended taking many of my sample shots twice (both with and without the flash) to see which turned out better.

Below are two pictures of the same subject, one taken with the flash, the other taken without.  Frankly, I’m not sure either was a complete success.

Overexposed

Photo Quality

As I’m sure you’ve noticed with the samples I’ve included, while the camera offers 5 MP resolution, the image quality is poor.  There’s no focus ability, and the pictures turn out looking very flat with almost no depth of field.  When I viewed them on my computer, they were adequate, but don’t expect much if you print them.  Still, if the camera is used as a toy (it’s intended purpose) and not to create an archival quality photo album, the picture quality isn’t much of an issue.

PhotoFriends

As I mentioned above, one feature that I really liked was the ability to add Disney-themed PhotoFriends.  These are graphics that include various Disney-contracted actors (like the Jonas Brothers), picture frames, and hats that you can select and add to your picture.  (Note: the princess-themed camera has more princess graphics and no Jonas boys).  The graphics show up both on the display screen and in the final picture, so you can frame your subject with the graphic.  It’s worth noting that once a graphic is in a picture, you can’t take it off.  Still, my young testers loved being able to create photos with these neat little add-ons.  This is definitely the highlight of the camera and the thing it does best.

In a Nutshell

What I like about the camera:

• Adding the PhotoFriends to pictures was seriously fun
• Adjustable flash settings
• Very durable
• Twist action for self portraits (very helpful if you want to use the Hannah Montana wig PhotoFriend)
• Has a display screen though this it is ineffective in low or bright light

What I did not like about the camera:

• Buttons were temperamental and did not always work well
• Poor focus
• Pictures that were not print quality

As a toy, this camera is fun.  The twist and PhotoFriend features are really fun.  However, as a camera, it is seriously lacking.  Overexposed or fuzzy pictures are common, and at a MSRP of $60, you could get a better traditional digital camera for the money, though, admittedly, it would not have Photo Friends.  Still, if you can find one of these on sale, it is entertaining for a tween.

Rating - 3 out of 5 stars