Snap , what a picture ! (Vivitar Vivicam 3715 Digital Camera)

Member Name: competition.man

Product:	Vivitar Vivicam 3715 Digital Camera
Date:	05/09/05 (643 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: lightweight , cheap , reasonable resolution

Disadvantages: better cameras out their now for the same price

~0~ Vivitar Vivicam 3715 ~0~

The entry level , budget priced digital camera from Vivitar Ltd. . I purchased mine from from Index Catalogue stores ( now defunct ) at a cost of just £69.99 . I am unsure wether it is available elsewhere , as I have not seen it while browsing.
This is not the lowest priced entry level camera around , as Argos stores do sell a Kodak digital camera for the princely sum of £49.99 .
I actually chose the Vivicam 3715 because of Vivitars known reputation and the fact that like for like against the Kodak camera , the Vivitar offered a better deal.

~ Packaging ~

While I don't really want to harp on about packaging , as this distracts from the main point of the review , I will say that the outer carton was just plain brown cardboard . open this and you find the camera box proper , which is highly colourfull , and praises the cameras features to the full.
Most people will not see the packaging before purchasing this item , hence so little on its description.
One thing to note though , was after leaving Index with my purchase , entry to subsequent high street stores resulted in the door entry alarms going off . Me thinking security tab left inside the box , I eventually opened the outer box , only to find a sealed inner box . Surely no one could put a security tab inside a sealed box ? Anyway I did my shoppping and explaining to many a security / store guard , and eventually got home and unpacked the camera , only to find a security tab hidden loosely in the closed battery compartment . So there's the reason for the alarms going off .
Now come on Vivitar , at least put a security tab somewhere where it can be easily found and removed by the selling store staff .

~ Inside you box ~

Basically you find everything to get you started , namely :

1) Camera
2) Batteries
3) Wrist strap ( over 18" long ! )
4) Camera case
5) CD software disc
6) Instruction manual and Quick start guide.
7) USB cable

~ Setting up ~

Having previous experience of digital camera's I forewent all the instruction manuals , and after removing that security tab , proceeded to insert the batteries . A few beeps and a bright welcome screen welcomes you. From here you select your language choice - seven available , then you proceed to enter date and time. You are then ready to start .
Setting up was very very simple and accessing the features is just as easy , needing just a quick read of the manual to aclimatise myself with the rudiments of its offerings .

~ Camera Features ~

a) 3.3 mega pixel sensor - ok well below standard nowadays , but hey at this price who's complaining.

b) Upto 4* digital zoom - in the steps of 1* , 1.3* , 1.6* , 2.0* , 2.5* , 3.2* , 4.0* . Enough there to satisfy most people . It should however be noted that use of the zoom feature will impact on the quality of the photograph , as one would expect . It is however acceptable for most uses. There is also a built-in quick zoom , that goes from 1* to 2* with a single button click , return to 1* with a second click .

c) 1.5" colour TFT LCD - Crystal clear in normal usage but does darken in direct sunlight. For those power consious , it is possible to use the view finder only and have the LCD powered off . There is also a good level of brightness control available via the menu .

d) Choice of three resolutions namely : 2048*1536 pixels ; 1024*768 pixels ; 640*480 pixels. You can look at this as the size of the photogragh produced .

e) Modes - as with many of todays 35mm standard cameras , you having a choice of three still modes , namely Portrait , Landscape and Macro . These are accessed manually via a switch found underneath the lens , and would be used accoring to the subject matter .

f) Choice of thre photo qualities , namely : Super fine , Fine and Normal. This is the amount of detail captured . It goes without saying the better quality , the more memory is used .

g) 8 Meg of built in memory . By todays standards this is not a lot. There is however the option to purchase additional memory by means of a SD memory card , which fits inside the battery compartment. SD memory cards are available in sizes starting at 16 meg and rising to 256 meg.
The internal memory can hold the following amount of photographs ( resolution / quality / amount ) :

1048 * 1536 : SF-6 ; F-9 ; N-15
1024 * 768 : SF-12 ; F-18 ; N-37
640 * 480 : SF-25 : F-37 : N-76

The above is only a rough guide , as resolutions and quality can be intermixed , thus varying the possibilities.

h) Flash - built in and fully customisable from auto , manual , auto with built in red eye reduction and off. In use there can be a slight delay between pressing the shutter button and the photograph being taken . This is usually less than a second delay , but may be slightly longer if your inserted batteries are running low , as it then takes a little longer for the capacitor to charge up.

i) Timer - a ten second timer available.

j) Movie mode - this camera can record a moving picture , however length of recording is controlled by amount of memory and battery condition.

k) Built in menu - fully implimented menu , allowing for easy access to the features named above. Protecting images or even deleting unprotected images is a doddle , as is the image view feature . This also applies to the video clips mode.

l) Warning signals - available by a series of beeps or light flashes , dependant on the usage at a time . A quick look in the instruction manual provides details of the relevant codes .

m) Icons - the camera makes good use of icons on the LCD and all are fairly recognisable. You do have the option of not having these icons displayed .

n) Date and time - as icons described above , with the ability to have them imprinted on your photographic image should you wish .

o) Other adjustments - dependant on conditions at time of usage , you can also manually adjust ( via the menu ) white balance ( auto , daylight , cloudy , sunset , tunsten , flourescent ) and ISO speed ( 100 , 200 , 400 ) , but these would normall only be used by the more knowledgable photograher.

~ Size , looks and feel ~

105 * 55 * 41 mm in dimemsion and weighing a meagre 7.0 ounces with batteries installed , this camera is indeed a small lightweight item . It does however feel plasticy , and it is in this department that quality was reduced in order to provide a lower cost .
That said , it is well built and not too flimsy . I personally liken it to being a girly camera , due to its size and weight , proven by my wife who thinks it wonderfull - small compact and handbag sized.

~ What else did I miss ? ~

Hmmm , I know when replacing batteries ( 2 * AA ) settings are not lost if done quite soon( ie hours ) . Removing batteries without AC use for long periods will result in loss of settings .
The lens has an f-number of 3.5 and is of 7.9mm fixed focal length .
EV compensation levels are adjustable in steps of 0.3EV in the range +/- 1.8 EV - this function only suitable for the serious photographer .
Shutter speed is dependant on image quality setting and range from 5-1/2000 sec.

~ Optional extras ~

1) SD memory card
2) AC power adapter

~ Software CD ~

On the cd you find a USB devise driver for use with Windows 98 . Anything above Windows 98 automatically detects a USB devise and o requires no additional software . Windows 95 and below are not supported.
There is also a USB driver for Mac users using System 8.6 through to 9.x.x , although Sytem X.xx is not supported ( Mac user can get around this by running in Classic mode ) .
You also get PC only versions of Photosuite and Photvista.se . Both requires Windows 98 as a minimum ( Mac users should use Iphoto ) . Finally you get Acrobat reader 5.05.

Transfer to PC is simple and relatively quick ( that said I didn't try this with a full 256 memory card ! ) , with the camera being recognised as a removable disc ( on my XP system ) . From here it depends on your installed editing software .

~ Overview ~

A fantastic little camera ideal for general home / outdoor use . Really easy to use , has a decent mega pixel resolution which in turn provides very good photographic results and it is very affordable. Worth considering , especially if your on a tight budget.
Sadly I cannot determine its durability due to the theft of this camera a few months after purchase - so someone had an even better bargain than I did !

Summary: Good specs , easy to use , ideal entry level camera .

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