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A review by theflyingzebra on Vivitar ViviCam 5199 September 17th, 2007
Author's product rating:
Picture Quality
Good
Range & Quality of Features
Average
Ease of Use
Very Easy
Durability
Good
Overall Look & Design
Good
Value for Money
Excellent
Advantages:
Price / simple to use / decent photos
Disadvantages:
Flash / zoom
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I bought this for a reasonable £40 off eBay for the simple reason I decided it would soon pay for itself, and it has. I don't take many photos and was a firm believer in the disposable camera several times a year for music festivals and the occasional party or "big" event. After the costs of buying 3 or 4 disposable cameras and then developing then I decided it would be worth investing in a decent but cheap camera that I wouldn't be gutted about if it did die or get lost / stolen.
The camera's interface is very easy to use though, and switching between shoot and view is simple so you can see if you've taken a decent shot.
The picture quality of the photos are decent and satisfactory although the results after using the zoom are far from perfect. On using the zoom for something not so far away to get it in the picture better the zoom is alright but over a greater distance it is pretty inneffective, not so good considering the point of a zoom.
Despite the not-so-good zoom function the close up is useful. I found it very useful for taking pictures of cracks and the like to make an inventory for my university house
My main problem with the camera however would be the flash feature, maybe this is why people try before they buy. The camera will always turn on with the flash function off which is fair enough (although annoying at times) but after switching to flash mode you have to wait anything up to 30 seconds for the camera to be ready to shoot with. Not ideal when taking photos in the dark at festivals. The quality also takes a dive when using the flash function.
I only used the video function once, the quality was nothing special but definately a feature that adds to rather than hinders this camera. The sound from the video didn't handle 70 thousand singing the national anthem at Wembley too well but on normal speaking volume is fine.
Battery life is one of the most important (yet neglected) functions in modern tecchnology. The 5199 runs on two AAA batteries which were provided and ran out within half an hour of my playing with. Another set ran out in an hour until I realised my mistake. Rechargable batteries are a must in my opinion for such a camera and buying soem Uniross 1000 mAh rechargables certainly did the trick. On these the camera lasted six days of Leeds festival and I reccon could have gone on longer (only one block of the battery bar went down).
There is a built in memory that holds a few photos but in my view you're much better off buying a memory card. The 5199 can take up to a 1GB SD card (another few pounds off eBay at most).
As for the actual look and feel of the camera, looks great, feels cheap. This shouldn't take away from it though as it is certainly hasn't fallen apart in my hands yet; I guess it's just the feel of the plastic casing. The screen is big enough to see details on and you can zoom in on photos you have taken already. The quality of the screen doesn't always do photos justice though and once on my computer they did look better than I had expected, although watch out that you hold the camera steady a second before and after shooting.
Along with the camera in the box there were cables to connect it to your computer and TV as well as a little bag to keep it safe in your pocket and some idiot proof instructions.
I've given the 5199 four stars. If I had paid nearer £100 it would be three stars but for what you get £40 is a real steal. Although not perfect I'm not going to replace this camera until I need to but if you're after a camera for alot more frequent use and a little more proffesional look in the photographs I reccomend you move up the price and specification range.
Advantages: Cheap, easy to use, great picture quality Disadvantages: Battery life could be better
Now as far as cheap digital cameras go this is a good one. Its 5 megapixel resolution may seem small these days but for a basic point and shoot camera its ideal. The picture quality is very good for a camera of this price. There is no optical viewfinder so using the TFT screen all the time can be draining to the batteries but thats the only real negative with this camera. Another handy feature not seen with many cameras is the inclusion of a voice ... ...a fairly large 2.5" lcd screen and a couple of colour effect features. One thing I did notice with the Vivicam was that it didn't really matter what image quality setting you used to take your photos with as the pictures all looked the same quality. All in all a very good camera for the price and certainly recommended. Verdict: Great value and good picture quality means this is a great buy. ...
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Advantages: light, high res for the price Disadvantages: uses AAA baterries instead of a rechargeable Lithium ion one
This is an easy to use 5 mega pixel digital camera . It has a 4x digital zoom and a large (2.5") monitor. Although it does not have an optical veiw finder. It has six white balance settings (Auto, sunny, cloudy, tungdten bulb and two fluorescent settings) self timer (10, 15, 20 sec option) The camera can be connected to you PC or laptop via a USB (included) and can also be connected to your TV via the 'video in' soccets. The focal range of the camera ... ...draw backs are that it requires two AAA size batteries and not one of the rechargeable lithium batteries many digital cameras have, also there is no cover for the lens unlike other modles where the lens goes into the camera body when switched off hence it is more vounerable to being scratched. The flash has a default setting of 'off' so you will need to remember to turn it on yourself.
The camera measures about 9 cm x 5.5 cm x 3 cm.
It has an inbuilt ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: High megapixel camera, large screen, seems pretty robust. Disadvantages: Not very well in the dark & the flash can be too powerful.
Short Review:
When I brought it I was looking for at least a decent digital camera and that's what this is, decent. I brought it for about £30 (round about) inc. delivery off the internet.
The picture quality itself quite good during the day time but on during the night and you can barely see anything at all. I was expecting it to do better in the dark compared to my mobile phone, also using the flash usually makes the image overbright, making ... ...use cameras in the dark then this would be only a minor negative. I think besides that, the camera itself does have some impressive features for it's price. It is capable of taking images in "5 megapixels" but more importantly has a nice big LCD screen on the back.
Well anyway the image quality is great despite it not doing that well at night, and the screen on the back is of good quality & represents the actual images well. It is a pretty standard ...
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Picture Quality
Range & Quality of Feat...
Ease of Use
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Overall Look & Design
Value for Money
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17.06.2008
Mr Alan B Lee Review ofVivitar ViviCam 5199by
biglab77
...clear, and sharp, unlike the Vivitar image). Don't be fooled, the camera itself may look smart, compact, with a large screen, but that's about as good as it gets. My advice to anyone is steer well clear. Stick with Olympus, Fuji, Nikon etc. after all you by a camera to take good photograhs with, not because it looks good !
Happy clicking. ...
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+ Small
+ Good size screen
+ Takes SD memory card
- Feels cheap when held/buttons are pressed
- Doesn't use a rechargable battery
- Only 5mp - that quality is available on phones now
- Always says 'busy' & screen goes black when simplest functions are tried to be carried out
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Hama is committed to developing and delivering products that achieve the highest performance at a most competitive price, within easy reach of everybody. Hama has dedicated manufacturing facilities and partners all over the world to meet the needs of all its customers for years to come. PRODUCT FEATURES: 5.0 Mega Pixel; 2.5" Color TFT Display; Digital Zoom X4; MMC or SD card support up to 1GB; Movie clipmode; PC Cam; 16 MB onboard.
First of all we bought this camera for my daughter for her birthday, but she hasn't had time to use it properly yet.We have been using it instead of the one we have because of ease of use.And this cost about £80 less than ours.
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