Product Details

Vivitar ViviCam 8400 Reviews

OK for the money
by J. Green from Pottstown, PA United States, 2010-03-10

This camera is ok for the money, but it is slow in focusing, processing, flash, etc. Not what you need underwater. Its much better than a disposable, but not really that good. For the price, its fine, just realize what you are purchasing. For $100, there are much better cameras.

OK for low end but very slow....
by T. Gordon from TX, 2010-03-08

I bought this camera to use during snorkling. Overall, the camera is very sturdy and has a very solid feel.
The pictures I took were nice even with the challemges of using this camera.

1)Display is almost impossible to see when underwater and in most lighting conditions.
2)Default setting shuts the camera off after a minute or so, I could not get the system to retain changed settings for auto shutdown once the camera was turned off.
3)There is a 1~3 second lag from the time the shutter button is pushed and when the picture was actually taken.
4) Flash is weak.
5) You must use the USB cable to pull the pictures from the camera as SD card formatted by this camera is not recognized on multiple PC's.

While snorkling, It was very difficult to frame shots as I could not see the screen. I resorted to taking as many photos as I could in hopes of getting a few good ones as I could not see what was in the frame.
I had to turn the camera back on several times.It was a pain having to focus on keeping the camera on instead of enjoying what I was doing.
The lag time was killing me. I had tested the system before going on the trip with a standard SD card. Once I saw the lag, I tested a SanDisk Extreme III card from my SLR which is quite a bit faster when used with a Digital SLR. In this camera, it made no difference. I missed several good shots due to the lag.

Once I got home, I was supprised that I could not pull the photos directly from the memory card and I had to use the USB connector.

Overall, this is an OK underwater camera for less than $90. On my next trip, I plan on purchasing a higher end camera that is more usable or I will purchase an underwater case for one of my other Point & Shoot cameras.

Not happy with the camera
by Bruce Sarnowitz from Boston, MA, 2010-02-17

Bought it, took underwater pictures. I could not see the screen while underwater and did not know if the camera was on or off. Very frustrating! The camera has a delay when snapping the pic, got some smudged images because I was moving while the camera was thinking about taking the pics. Got home from vacation and returned it. I did not experience a leaky camera because I used an o-ring lubricant to properly seal the camera from water. I would suggest the same to anyone who buys this camera. I would think that Vivitar would make a better product than this.

Great alternative to disposable cameras
by S. Clark from New Hampshire, 2010-02-17

Bought this camera to go on a cruise. Was nervous based on a couple negative reviews but decided I'd try it since results with disposable cameras were less than desirable pics in past.

It was a good choice! Camera did not leak, SD card and batteries stayed dry. Picture quality was surprisingly good. It holds upto a 8gb card so I just kept on taking pictures. The advantage of deleting bad pics is great, can't do that with a disposable.

It does have a flash but pics in low light did not come out well (we went cave tubing in Belize- in caves pics no good, but outside of caves the pictures were very good).

Agree with other reviews, the screen is hard to see at times and there is no peep hole. But if you are used to pointing and clicking, you'll get your picture.

Also, it is slow to take pictures. But I didn't find it interfering in taking pics.

I would advise anyone on the fence about this camera to give it a try....I'm glad I did. By the time you buy a couple disposable cameras and develop the film (in which maybe half you pics come out decent) you could have bought this camera (which you will have to keep and keep using).

Couldn't be worse!
by LLPD from Chicago, 2010-02-08

I saw the bad reviews, but there was that really great long detailed review at the top, so I bought this horrible camera. What a joke. We never even got to use it, because after turning it on the screen would go grey and it would freeze up - couldn't even turn it off. This camera wasn't a lot of money, but we wound up on our tropical vacation with no underwater camera! Please be smarter than me, and notice that the most common ratings for this camera are for only one star. Sure a few people got one that seemed to work, but most people did not! Don't waste your time and money, and don't risk the frustration of not getting what you need for your vacation.

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