| Brand: | Vivitar | ||
| Average Rating |
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Vivitar’s ViviCam 8400 is waterproof up to 10 meters underwater! 8.1 Mega Pixels,featuring a 2.4 TFT LCD screen, and has a 8x Digital Zoom. Includes a built-in microphone,64M Nandflash Built-in memory and,10-20 sec self-timer. Comes with a USB/AV cable, Wrist Strap and Camera Pouch. more info
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Water leaked after second day of use
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
The first day I used this camera out snorkeling, it was very easy to use for taking photos and video. The pictures turned out OK, definitely better than the underwater disposable cameras I used during snorkeling. The video quality was choppy, small and mediocre.
But during the second use of this camera, the water leaked into it! The end door does not seal very well. I noticed another reviewer had the same problem too.
Small Price, but it does the job.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Just to it on a vacation to Mexico. went snorkeling and the under water videos and photos were pretty good. Above water not so good!
I only payed 90 bucks with tax and it was worth it.
Big Mistake
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I saw this in amazon and figured this was the way to go. How could you loose? So I purchased 2 of them thinking it would be a great toy to have when we go swimming and do any water sport with our kids. Well beside the 1-2 second delay in snapping the picture(giving you a blurry photo), the camera sucks the life out of your batteries in a matter of minutes (10min.). I have used good alkaline name brands Ener. & Dura. They only seem to last for a few minutes once the camera is turned on. Amazingly high energy consumption! I am returning them since I figured both of them are in the same condition. I just wont chance opening the second one. Better to just return them both and look for something better.
Unsatisfactory picture quality
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
This camera has a good price, great appearance, good waterproof integrity and takes absolutely crummy pictures. It seems as if the shutter stays open long enough that after you snap and the image freezes in the viewscreen the subject can move and blur the final image. I tried all the settings, made sure I had strong batteries and got the same result. This baby’s going back to Walmart.
Hollis
Terrible picture
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Don’t waste your money on this camera; unless you want a bunch of blurry pictures. The picture’s quality is worst than my cell (3.1MEGA)
No Audio for Video Feature
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I researched many camera models that would suit my purpose for fishing trip photography and settled on the Vivitar 8400 8.1 MP Underwater Camera. It seems superbly made and I like the way it feels in my hands, the button layout and operation is exceptional. Photos are great and video quality is satisfactory for my purposes with one big exception – there is NO MIC and NO AUDIO!!! I am very disappointed and would like to return the camera. No matter how it looks and feels, it does not meet my needs.
Nice Camera, but the Wrist Strap Sucks
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I purchased this camera for a trip to the Riviera Maya area of Mexico. It worked great although I wish the camera floated. I had a 35mm underwater camera that floated. Anyway, the wrist strap had one of those pinch type plastic buckles to connect the camera to the wrist strap and that buckle broke during a ride on a wave runner, the camera sunk and was lost. If the buckle was better, or it floated I will still have this camera.
Works but not well!
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Has so far been waterproof so far, but is slow in taking pictures and hard to see what is taken when you are underwater and the sunlight is behind you. Maybe I’m spoiled but I prefer a camera with a viewfinder and have not been able to find one that is waterproof, under several hundred dollars, and not too bulky to snorkle with. My pictures were just OK, nothing to brag about, and the flash did not help underwater.
Fantastic upgrade to those 35mm film disposable underwater cameras!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Just got this camera, and so far find it to be a fantastic value. I was drawn to this camera by it’s price and megapixel size (of up to 8.1). This price I got it for is very competitive with similar cameras of lower 3-6 megapixel ranges (I snagged it for about ninety dollars).
But please do keep an eye on the prices because I’ve seen the price on this change very frequently (in a matter of minutes) and vary about $15, since I started writing this review.
Why else did I get it? I’m going on a trip to the Bahamas in August and don’t want to take 35mm underwater disposable cameras with me. Airport X-ray machines can ruin the film if it’s in your carry on (since most of those cameras use ISO 800 film) and that’s the only luggage I plan on bringing. So I wanted to take a digital camera since I’ll be snorkeling while I’m down there, as well as have it not get ruined if it fell off a kayak or it started to rain. I’m too terrified to try one of those underwater pouches for my primary camera (a Samsung S700) due to lack of reviews on the pouch-type it would require and fear that if it got ruined I’d be out my favorite camera so I’ve opted for this camera and so far I am SO glad I did! Vivitar seems to have fit a lot of nice features into this point & shoot camera.
But if you’re looking for a professional camera, let me stop you right now and tell you to look elsewhere as this probably won’t be anywhere near your expectations. This is by no means considered a professional camera. However, if you’re looking for a better option than a 35mm underwater disposable… then it CERTAINLY provides better results than a 35mm film underwater point and shoot camera. I say this with experience from using those 35mm film underwater disaster cameras but from also working in a photo lab where I’ve seen the vast majority of what those cameras produce at water parks and the Caribbean… and the Vivitar Vivicam 8400 camera is by far so much better.
I tested it in my friends pool yesterday and it had no leaks around the gasket/closing mechanism and the pictures were surprisingly clear! I will add some sample photos to the product gallery as soon as I get some I’m willing to share with the public at-large. Overall, I give it a 4 out of 5 and that’s because I’m nitpicking.
Pro’s:
- Water resistant up to 30 feet!
- Supports an external SD memory card in up to 8GBs in size! This was great for me as I already have plenty of this type of card from my other camera. And this type card is generally inexpensive compared to other size cards. Just to give you an idea of storage capacity I put a 4gb SD card in the camera and it said I could store 1596 pictures at the highest 8.1mp setting OR 1 hour 37 minutes and 15 seconds of video! Obviously, you can do a combination of each if you switch between the modes.
- Uses AA size batteries. I’ve been using energizer rechargeables in this and got a decent amount of life from them from STEADY non-stop use. My suggestion would be to use the photo lithium or the rechargeables as I’m sure that just like all other digital cameras on the market, that they would probably suck the life out of the cheaper basic alkalines.
- Reasonably large LCD screen on the camera at 2.4 inches.
- Can record photos AND video.
- Comes with an adjustable wrist strap so it’s easy to secure to your wrist–however, should it come off your wrist the bright yellow color of this camera makes it easy to spot to retrieve unlike the blue model.
- Sinks somewhat, so you won’t have to deal with too much resistance to keep it staying underwater.
- Has the screw hole on the camera’s base for mounting to a tripod.
- When powering off the camera it clearly displays “Bye-Bye” on the LCD screen.
- Easy 1 touch “Mode” button to switch between capturing still photos or video.
- Lightning bolt button easily lets you change from auto-flash, flash (for all photos), or no-flash.
- Can take photos with Super Fine, Fine, or Normal settings.
- Although the camera is 8.1MP, you have the choice of shooting photos in the following resolutions (8M, 5M, 3M, 2M, 0.3M)-This can be great if you’re limited on how much space is on your memory card.
- You can adjust the white balance in Still Photo mode OR in Video mode. It defaults to “AWB” (auto white balance) but if you know how you’re lighting will affect your photos you can change it between Auto, Day Light, Tungsten, Fluorescent, and Cloudy.
- There are 3 Color Effect options to shoot photos in: Color, Sepia and Monochrome.
- There’s the option of changing the exposure setting from (-2.0 to +2.0): -2.0, -1.5, -1.0, -0.5, Auto, +0.5, +1.0, +1.5, +2.0
- It offers a Self Timer of either 10 seconds or 20 seconds.
- Date stamp is optional.
- A “Burst Snapshot” feature allows you to set up the camera to take 3 continuous images as you move the camera.
- Video’s are recorded in *.AVI format which are compatible with most Windows type movie-maker programs (ex: Windows Movie Maker, Corel VideoStudio, and many others)
- You can change the resolution of the video recording from 640×480 or 320×240. AND change how many frames per second it records (15fps or 30fps)
- You can “lock” the pictures you’ve taken to prevent them from being accidentally deleted.
- A Rotate option allows you to rotate photos taken at a 5M resolution or lower, on the camera.
- English not your primary language? No problem. There are 7 language options to choose from on the submenu: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese.
- You can set the light frequency from 50Hz to 60Hz.
- The beep/buzzer sound on the camera isn’t annoying loud, but you can disable it if you’d like.
- Comes with a USB/TV-out cable so that you can play back your photos on the TV or even take photos or video’s while hooked up to the TV! Just use the USB cable provided, plug the small end into the camera and then the yellow jack to your yellow jack on your TV, and then turn on the camera! (I’ve never had this feature before and I think this is awesome!)
Con’s (and most of these are me nit-picking):
- There is a very apparent shutter-lag. The image you THINK you took will freeze on the screen after hitting the shutter for a couple seconds but in actuality it captures your picture about 1-2 seconds later and the actual captured image will flash on the screen for about a 1/2 second.
- It does not capture photos well at night or in dark areas.
- The locking/closing mechanism on the camera for the area where the SD card and battery compartment is feels a little cheap to me. I think a better material could have been used than plastic clamp/lock. So I would advise closing and opening it with care. You have to push a small black arrow right first to release the long plastic lever, pull that lever all the way down, and then the hinge will release to open the compartment for the batteries, SD card slot, and USB connection.
- Buttons on the camera seem a little stiff to press down on, this is probably due to the type of engineering required for this type of cameras purpose.
- The Vivitar 8400 is a little larger and heavier than my Samsung S700.
- There’s no lens cap to protect it when not in use.
- No separate “delete” button function. If you want to delete a picture on the camera during playback mode you have to hit the “OK/Menu” button and navigate to the delete option.
- After taking a picture, there is very little delay and it disappears very shortly off the LCD screen so there’s no time to check it. You have to use the playback mode.
- No sound on Video recordings which I think is a bummer given that the lower grade model-though priced higher (seen here: Vivitar VIVICAM-6200W 6.0 MegaPixel Underwater Camera with 4x Digital Zoom 2.0″ LCD) had the sound in its video recording option.
- No regular viewfinder like on standard cameras so that you don’t use up battery power with the live-view LCD screen. And the screen can be somewhat difficult to see underwater.
- When switching from auto-flash, flash (for all photos), or no-flash mode using the lightning bolt sometimes it “hangs up” and gets caught switching and the screen will go blank and a blue light beside the screen will flash.
- The Rotate option does not allows you to rotate photos taken at the highest 8M resolution, on the camera.
- The 61 page user manual is on the CD that comes with the PhoTags software. I realize this is a greener alternative but I would’ve liked to have had it already pre-printed.
- The Photags Express software is not compatible on Macintosh computers.
- Does not come with batteries.
***UPDATED*** 09/07/2009
I just wanted to update you all on my experience with this camera in the Bahamas… and quite frankly, I think it worked out great during all 6 days of snorkeling and swimming! And would still give it 4 stars! NO LEAKS–Even after opening it every night to access the hub in the camera so I could play the pictures and video back on the TV using the video cable that comes with the camera and re-closing it! I used Energizer Lithium AA batteries in it and did not have to change them at all the whole trip. I’ve added a few pictures from when I went snorkeling to the customer gallery… and one of the great reasons why I still think this was better than a 35mm underwater disposable… I took some great video as well! (I’ll add a compilation of video clips I shot to through a “video review” as soon as I figure out how to). However I did want to make some tips/notes for potential buyers or current users…
TIPS & NOTES:
DEFINITELY preset the white balance before entering the water or taking ANY pictures! It makes a big difference as to how your pictures and video will turn out. Do not trust the “AWB” aka “Auto White Balance” feature. I found that on sunny days that should be shot under the “daylight” white balance setting would appear blue-ish if you used the AWB setting.
YES the screen can be difficult to see underwater, HOWEVER I was able to see the screen enough on a bright sunny day where the water was pretty clear and easily switch between video and picture mode. The cloudier the water is, the harder it was to see in general and of course distinguish what was on the screen–not to mention, when the water is cloudy, you can’t expect pristine pictures–that’s just silly to expect that.
Do not attempt to take pictures of anything less than 3ft in front of you as you are guaranteed to get a blurry/out-of-focus picture. The fixed focus on this camera is just not designed for pictures that close. Take your picture 3ft away for a clear shot and then crop it later. The camera has digital zoom-not optical zoom so you’re not going to gain any quality advantage to zooming when taking your picture vs. cropping it later. At least if you don’t zoom in, if something moves you have a greater chance of still capturing it.
How to play back VIDEO in the playback mode: Once you’ve found your video clip on the playback screen press the shutter button like you would if you were taking a picture. This will get the video to start playing back on the screen for you. You can hit the shutter button again to stop it.
In VIDEO mode: Be sure to hold the camera steady and move it SLOWLY underwater when you’re in video mode. Otherwise the video will probably make you feel sick when you play it back later as it will seem like it jumps all over the place.
Make sure you rinse the camera well with salt-free tap water after bringing it in the ocean. The salt can crystallize in parts of the camera later making it difficult to close the camera’s memory card/battery hatch without risking breaking the hinge. If you close your camera gently and visually inspect the closing latch on the side to make sure it is completely down and the “#1″ arrow latch is to the left, so that everything is lined up where it’s supposed to be… I don’t see why you’d end up with leaks.
The pinch clip on the wrist strap to tighten it around your wrist has shown some signs of rusting internally. However, it still works well at tightening.
With all that said, if you’re looking for a more thorough technical review, I’m sorry–just not an area of my expertise. However the “Technical Specifications” information below is straight out of the user manual and may be of use to you.
Image Sensor:
5 Mega Pixel CMOS Sensor
Image Resolution:
8M, 5M, 3M, 2M, 0.3M
Video Resolution:
VGA 640×480 ,QVGA 320X240 at 30fps or 15fps
Monitor Display:
2.4” TFT LCD
Capture:
Single, Continuous shot
Internal Memory:
64MB Flash
External Memory:
SD card up to 8 GB
Sensitivity:
Auto
Lens:
f=7.4mm, F=2.8
Shutter Speed:
Electronic shutter1/20 ~ 1/6000 sec
White Balance:
Auto, Daylight, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Cloudy
Exposure control:
-2EV to +2EV in 0.5 step
Photo effect:
Color/Sepia/Monochrome
Flash:
Auto, On, Off
Digital Zoom:
8x
Self-timer:
10s/20s
File Format:
JPEG, AVI
TV out:
NTSC / PAL
Interface:
USB 1.1
PC Camera resolution:
640 x 480
System Requirements:
Windows XP, VISTA or MAC OS9 in Mass Storage mode
Battery:
2*AA Alkaline batteries
OSD Language:
English/French/German/Spanish/Italian/Portuguese/Chinese
Auto power off:
Disable, 1 min, 3 min, 5 min
Working Temperature:
0 to 40° C
Storage Temperature:
-20 to 60° C
Great alternative to disposables
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Was a little hesitant to purchase after reading some poor reviews but thought I’d give it a shot; I just wanted an inexpensive digital camera I could take to the pool. I took about 30 photos first time out and was able to achieve results good enough to post on my blog. The reason so many reviewers get blurry shots, and the trick to taking good photos with this camera is simple (though a little annoying). There is a very long shutter lag time from when you push the button to when it takes the actual shot. However, and this is the annoying part, there is NO lag time from when you push the shutter button and when the screen freezes the image. So when you push the button the screen freezes immediately although it has yet to take the picture and you must wait for the screen to go back to live motion to know that the picture has been taken. The first couple of pictures I took I would begin to lower the camera just after the screen froze and that would be when it would actually take the picture thus making it blurry shot from my quick hand movement. So when you use this camera and want good results, push the shutter button, the screen will freeze and THEN the shot will be taken and the screen will go back to live motion. Enjoy, it’s a good one, just have to get used to the long shutter lag.
camera
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I received the camera in good time . I like it but I am disappointed in the quality of pictures it takes .
Vivitar 8400 Camera
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I purchased this camera in hopes of getting some great underwater pictures of my trip to the Bahama’s. After taking a large number of pic’s, I began to review the underwater shots of a beautful diving day. Upon review, I would say that only abot 25% 0f them were worth saving. Most were blurry, but that is to be expected. Not all shots come out clear. However, I was never able to get the flash to work even upon calling customer service. The camera has been sent back for repair or replacement. I will hold out my final opinion after seeing how this all pans out! RS
Best buy for your money!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this camera to go snorkling in Cozumel with. I just got back from my trip and it took such good photos. Also it takes the SDHC card which is nice. I was able to take an 11 minute video. The buttons are easy to use and simple. I’m so glad I got this camera instead of disposables. There is no view finder but i was still about to get great pictures. Plus if you are taking pictures of fish, its not like the stand still. I did take the batteries and card out after i was done in the water to dry out (just in case). Hope this helps!
Leaked water
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Given that the camera leaked water and died on my second day of snorkeling, I consider my 3-star rating to be extra generous. I’ve returned the camera for repair/replacement under the terms of the warranty.
The photos that I recovered from the 1st day were pretty good…certainly better/more convenient than using a disposable camera. The video quality is also decent, though there is no sound recording, which is fine for most underwater videography. Considering the camera’s low (tempting) price, the photo & video quality were just about what I expected, if not a little better. A negative is that it is somewhat difficult to use underwater: the view screen is hard to see, and the image of the photo you just took remains on the view screen for barely a second. On land, I found some of the functions non-intuitive (such as reviewing and deleting images), and the camera sometimes “froze,” requiring me to turn it off and on again to reset.
Overall, I find the ViviCam 8400 serves as a relatively inexpensive, moderate upgrade to disposable cameras. If it hadn’t leaked water and died on me, I might have even give it 4 stars given the low price. I’ll be interested to see if other reviewers experience issues with water leakage.
Good All Around Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Product is a good camera for any type of environment.
Fits well in travel case and/or purse. Doesn’t take
the highest quality picture, but, good for the type
of camera. The product was delivered on time and in
good condition.
Expensive digital disposable
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
We were looking for a digital answer to the expensive underwater disposables and this looked to be the answer. It is not. We purchased this camera after seeing good reviews and understood that your $100 only gets you so much. The camera was ordered 2 weeks before a two week vacation in the Bahamas. First dive … approx 100 nice quality pictures and even good video quality. Noticed some dampness on USB hook-up to the laptop but nothing severe. Second dive … 15 pictures and the camera is dead. Pulled the card to save the picures and the LCD screen and camera/memory card compartment is soaking wet. … Dead camera. Returned from vacation just as the 30 day product return policy kicked. Final evaluation: About 100 nice pictures for $100. Don’t buy it. Spend the money and get something better.
Vivitar Vivicam 8400 Great Underwater Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Recently went on a Cruise to the West Caribbean, the camera worked great for both land and underwater. The photos
were clear and crisp along with the video. I had added a larger memory card and used ALK Batteries, the camera lasted without having to change the batteries. This camera is very water tight, I scuba dived to 40ft with no leaks to the camera. The only problem I had with this camera, it is hard to see the view finder underwater, I had to just point and shoot. Overall I give this camera a Vivitar ViviCam 8400 8.1 MP 2.4-Inch TFT LCD Screen Underwater Digital Camerahigh rating.
Designed to Flood
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I can’t comment on the quality of the pictures from this camera as I don’t have any yet, and may never if the SD chip was ruined..
On the camera’s third trip into the water I noticed water in the view screen area. Then I noticed that the battery/SD card compartment door was not properly seated. I have diagnosed the underlying problem as poor design with respect to the battery compartment door locking mechanism. There is a single release button which stands proud of the surrounding surface. If it is bumped or brushes up against your wrist it can easily release the locking lever on the battery compartment door. The locking lever is spring-loaded to pop up into a position where it is easy to manipulate to complete opening the battery compartment door. But it appears that, even with the locking lever only partially raised, the watertight seal will have been broken allowing water to enter the camera.
A good solution might be to have two relase buttons rather than one and for both to be recessed so that they are not easy to release accidently. The locking lever should also be redesigned so that it does not automatically pop up into a semi-opened condition.
If you already have one of these cameras and have not flooded it, I suggest that you try electrical tape over the release button and the locking lever as a way to prevent accidental opening. If Vivitar replaces mine (it goes in the mail tomorrow), that is what I am going to try.
Leaks within 10 minutes of water entry
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Very unhappy with this camera. Went snorkling with this camera on Oahu North Shore. It leaked within 10 minutes of entering the water. Bottom line we were snorkling, it leaked at a depth of about 2 feet. Batteries reacted with water and destroyed the sd card. I returned to the beach and a couple from Texas asked if the camera leaked–I said yes and they said they had the same problem–Their camera leaked within 10 minutes of entering the water.
Do not waste your money. Only useful as a traditional digital camera–DO NOT GO SWIMMING WITH IT.
POOR!!!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
The camers looks like it was made by Fisher Price… Plastic, the locking door is plastic… It took OK pictures out of the water but I tried it under water (1 or 2 feet) and it got water in the lens. Every picture after that was cloudy!!! If you want a good under water camera pay the extra money… “You get what you pay for!”
Not a Pro Cam but good for the price.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This camera looks like a Fisher Price toy.
I bought this cam with the intent on doing an underwater photo session in a pool with a model. I was going to slave fire my studio lights off the small built in flash. Then I was going to edit the photos in the computer and create Beautiful Mermaid images from the photos captured with this camera.
The session NEVER happened because the camera never showed up!
It was lost in shipping.
I missed the photo session by 14 days.
The GOOD thing is that Amazon made it “right” and sent out another camera NEXT DAY.
I got it the next day and played with it a bit. I’m not impressed with the LOOKS or STYLE.
The BIGGEST issue with this camera is the SLOW SHUTTER LAG.
You MUST hold the camera still even AFTER snapping the shutter.
If you do that, then the photos are nice and sharp.
Video is nice also (not GREAT… just nice)
but what do you expect for under $100.00?
I have yet to see what this camera can “really” do underwater. I will use a tripod in the pool for this just because the shutter lag. I will upload the results of our first session (If this site lets me edit this review).
Overall, I’d get it again for the price.
Not worth any amount of Money
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I bought this camera for a vacation my husband and I took to Hawaii. I had done a lot of research and this camera had great reviews and wasn’t very expensive. However, once we took the camera into the water (a pool, actually), we got 10 pictures snapped off before the camera broke. The case leaked and water got into it. It even ruined our memory card. So, we couldn’t get the pictures off of it – I never got to see how they turned out. It was a complete waste of money and cost me more in the end (replacing the memory card). I suspect, I would have had better luck with a disposable waterproof camera. I would never recommend this camera to anyone!
takes getting used to
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Just bought this for a trip to a waterpark. Played with it in our pool to test it out. We had lots of fun with it, only got a few good shots because it is hard to see the LCD screen underwater. Pictures are actually pretty clear. I am actually a trained photographer so I am not used to point and shoot small cameras, but this one is actually pretty fun.
Downside is that it takes regular AA batteries which I am sure will need replacing after only one day of shooting.
broke on second use
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
this camera fried underwater on its second use. water got inside camera and made it unusable. i stayed within the 10 ft range in the ocean and it still broke. piece of crap!