A great starter digital camera
Written: Apr 29 '03
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Pros: Price; has a much better lens than disposable cameras or cheap 35mm cameras.
Cons: Very Stripped, no lens cap or filter, and the LCD is useless in sunlight.
The Bottom Line: A good intro digital still camera, a very good value, and not a risky investment....
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| gbmorrision's Full Review: Vivitar ViviCam 3615 Digital Camera |
Vivitar was well known in the 1960s and 1970s as an after-market lens and electronic flash purveyor for 35mm single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras. However, they did make a few SLRs of their own that could also use screw-mount Pentax lenses.... Nowadays, they also make compact 35mm and digital cameras. (Other companies that compete with Vivitar in the aftermarket 35mm SLR lens business are Soligor, Tamron, and Sigma.)
The camera takes passable pics for work that's not too serious. People carp that 35mm film is a lot better than digital media, but 35mm is not a very high quality format for stills to begin with (notice how small 35mm slides and negatives are--the images have to be enlarged a great deal for prints).
The camera is fun to use; it uses compact flash media--the most popular kind for digital cameras, I believe. However, I have never seen compact flash offered for use for stills with digital video cameras (Mini-DV or Digital Video8). Nevertheless, it is used in many of Nikon's digital camera offerings.
I had no problem with downloading pics from the camera to the PC; I did buy a card reader, however. As mentioned above, I could not see the LCD image on the back of the camera in any kind of sunlight; this would limit use of the few tricks available to change the pics at those times.... I think LCDs are nice but over-rated.
The camera comes with nothing (except a small case for the entire camera) to protect the lens; neither is the lens threaded for filters. This indicates an extreme effort to cut costs.
I've not had a problem with the batteries falling out. Of course, exposure and focus are pretty much automatic; this limits one's ability to change the pics. However, virtually all other digital cameras in this price/resolution range share such limitations.
Nevertheless, I feel this is a convenient camera for taking family or pet pics, pics of items for insurance purposes, or pics of stuff to sell on e-bay.
In short, I feel I received a good deal for the money. The price has gone down about $20 since I bought it at Wal-Mart. If something happens to the camera, I'll be sad but not horrified (as if something happened to a high-end Nikon, Sony digital camera, or anything else above three mega-pixels)....
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 160
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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Epinions.com ID:
gbmorrision
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Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
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