~ The VIVICAM 3550: I want to point and SHOOT! ~
Written: Jun 27 '02 (Updated Jun 27 '02)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
|
|
| Battery Life: |
 |
|
| Photo Quality: |
|
|
|
Pros: inexpensive, easy to use
Cons: battery-suckin' dawg, poor image quality, cheap, zoom
The Bottom Line: Skip it -- By the time you pay for a card reader and batteries for this puppy, you'll be able to afford a really nice camera... or a good therapist.
|
|
|
| williamsworld's Full Review: Vivitar ViviCam 3550 Digital Camera |
Acquisition
I got the ViviCam 3550 Digital Camera from my sweetie for Christmas, and have been dying in anticipation of playing with my new toy. Unfortunately, circumstances have left me ready to return it to the store instead!
Price
Although this was a Christmas gift to me, I know my darling got up at the crack o'dawn the day after Thanksgiving to hit Target for a Super Sale to get this for me. (For a man who is completely missing the shopping gene, I was extremely impressed.) He paid $100 plus tax, which was a very good sale. (Of course, he doesn't know that I know this, so shhh!)
Included Parts
The camera is supposed to come with a USB cable, a TV cable, a user manual and quick start guide, warranty card, hand strap, program CD, and 4 AA alkaline batteries, as well as a 16 MB memory card.
The camera was missing the supposed-to-be-included 16MB memory card when I opened the package. I contacted the company at their customer service number, which was NOT toll-free, by the way! A recording informed me that a missing card is quite common with this particular camera. This, however, was resolved by faxing the company a copy of the purchase receipt along with my name and address. In return, they mailed me a memory card, which I received about a week later.
Features
This 1.3 megapixel camera is intended to be a STARTER digital camera and was chosen mainly due to price. This is not even a middle-of-the-road camera, and it's features are really quite minimal. On the bright side, that does mean it is easy to use and you don't need to read the manual to figure it out.
There is a self-timer, which is easy to use and has a delay of about 10 seconds. There is also an auto-off, low battery detection, and flash with or without red-eye reduction option.
The menu is awkward to navigate. Although easy to figure out, you have to press a zillion buttons just to delete a picture.
Zoom
The Zoom is a 2x, and what that means is you have no control over it. You can either zoom in or out, there is no middle ground. This is very frustrating to me, as sometimes the full 2x is too much zoom. Someday I hope to upgrade to a camera with a controlled digital zoom, where you can monitor just how far it zooms.
The 1.8-inch LCD monitor is pretty weak, and the picture does not show up very clearly on it. When you try to take a picture using this screen, you have to off-center the shot a bit, as it tends to move the object over when you take the photo. If I center a person's head in the display and take the shot, the actual photo often has the person's head chopped off. Very annoying!! I'm used to it now and I know just how much to compensate for when I take the shot, but it takes some time to adapt to.
Memory
You can purchase other memory cards with higher capacity, but the 16MB card that is (supposed to be) included can hold up to 15 high-quality images or 30 normal-quality images at the full size of 1280x1024. You can also select "half size" of 640x480, which allows the memory card to hold up to 120 normal-quality images or 240 economy-quality ones.
There is a small amount of internal memory which allowed me to take 6 photos without a memory card. However, when the memory card arrived and I tried to save the photos onto the card, no can do! Maybe this is dumb, but I thought it would be like a computer – you can save things from your hard drive onto a disk, right? Well, why not with this camera?? No such luck here – those photos were lost forever.
Image Quality
I have never had any luck with the "half-resolution" setting, and I always have to use the full setting to get any decent kind of photo. Even then, although the photos look fine on the camera, when I get them onto my computer I am usually very unhappy. Nine out of ten shots are grainy, fuzzy, blurred or distorted. I can't seem to get any kind of detail. If the batteries are low (which is pretty much always) it is even worse, and sometimes it even affects the coloration of the images. (By the way, I feel the need to mention here that I am NOT an amateur photographer who doesn't know how to take a decent shot. I have been an avid cameragirl for years, and also worked on my high school's newspaper and yearbook staffs. So I know it's NOT ME!!)
Additional Features
One feature is that you can view your photos on your TV screen, though this seems like something of a waste of time to me. However, should you so desire, you connect your camera to your TV with the TV cable that is provided. Then you power on the camera, turn your dial mode to "Play", and use the up and down buttons to view your photos. Personally, I'd rather just do it on my computer, where I can edit and save the photos, but I can see how this feature might be fun for some, especially if you want to show the images to the grandparents or other groups of people on a large screen.
The menu can be read in six different languages. The default is English, but you can also choose French, Deutsch, Spanish, Portugese, or Japanese.
Technical Problems
When I went to install the software on my computer so that I could download photos from my camera onto the computer, I got.... the Blue Screen of Death!! Yes, that error screen that we all know and love, that leaves grown men and women crying and trembling in their shoes.
After much tinkering, I could not figure out what the problem was, so I attempted to contact technical support. I was pretty unhappy when I realized the only number provided would be a long-distance call at my expense, but even grumpier when I realized that it would only put me in touch with a recording. The recording asks you to leave a detailed message with your name and number, and your call "would be returned within 24 hours".
Two days later, I called again, and left a second message, polite but firm.
More than 24 hours after the second message, I called the company's main number and demanded to speak to a real, live person in technical support. The sales associate balked, so I told her I would be going to the store immediately to return the camera. She then put me through to a technical support crew.
They directed me to check what type of motherboard I have, and sure enough, it was one of the two types that are incompatible with this camera. (To check this for yourself, click on "My Computer", then "Control Panel", then "System", then the "Device Manager" tab. From there, scroll down to "Universal Series Bus controllers" and click on that. From there, you should be able to see what type of board your system has. Mine is an Intel 82801AA.) I do not know what the second one is that is also incompatible, and I didn't think to ask. This seems to be a common problem among digital camera users, which seems ridiculous to me. You'd think the Great Technology Gurus could more easily resolve something like that.
So my options? I could get a new motherboard (yeah, maybe using the money I make off Epinions, right?) or return the camera.
But there is one last option – a compact flash card reader. I tracked down a brand-new one on Ebay with a 64MB memory card for $48 for the two, which is an excellent deal. What the reader does is bypass the camera and you hook the card reader directly to your USB port instead. Since these readers are universal, you do not have to buy any particular brand or type. I have had no problems downloading or viewing my photos since I bought the reader.
Battery Life
In scuba diving, there is a term for those folks who tend to use a lot of air on their dives – we called them "Air-Suckin' Dawgs". Well, this camera is a "Battery-Suckin' Dawg" and then some! I put 4 brand new AA batteries into this thing when I got it at Christmas. Then, due to the technical problems explained above, I couldn't use the camera until I got my card reader two weeks later. SO... the batteries sat in the camera for only two weeks, with very minimal use, and they were COMPLETELY DEAD when I went to use it later. Although very inconvenient, I now take the batteries out after every use, and that helps some, but not much. Also, using the LCD display screen or a flash REALLY taxes the batteries. With what I'm going to be spending on batteries for this thing, I could save up a few months and get a really nice camera!
In Summary...
I love my sweetie for trying to get me a digital camera, which he knows I've been wanting for a while! That's why I could never suggest we take it back... However, once HE saw the image quality, he was disgusted and suggested we return the camera and get our money back. We both give it a solid thumbs-down! This camera makes me want to SHOOT something alright, but it sure ain't pictures!!
Dimensions
80 H x 110 W x 35 D mm
190 grams weight without the batteries
Minimum System Requirements for your computer
1. Pentium 300MHz or higher
2. Operating System: PC Windows98/98SE/WinMe.
3. 32 MB SDRAM minimum for Windows98/98SE, 64 MB SDRAM for WinMe.
4. Minimum 300MB hard disk free capacity.
5. USB port and CD-ROM drive.
Vivitar Corporation
1280 Rancho Conejo Blvd
Newbury Park, CA 91320
www.vivitarcorp.com
(805) 498-7008
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 100
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
williamsworld
|
|
Location: Republic of Texas
Reviews written: 60
Trusted by: 23 members
About Me:
Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too.
--Voltaire
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.