Sunday, September 29, 2013

Vivitar Vx029 10.1MP Digital Camera

Vivitar Vx029 10.1MP Digital CameraLet me show you why this camera is a great buy...

The viviar vivicam x029 is packed full of features:

Scene:

You can choose the options according to what the environment is and what you are taking a picture of: scenery, portrait, night scenery, night portrait , high sensitivity, sport (great for taking pictures of my active son!), beach, and party.

Resolution:

You can choose what resolution you want your pictures or videos to be:

10 M: 3648x2736

8 M: 3264x2448

7 M HD: 3648x2048

5 M: 2592x1944

3 M: 2048x1536

2 M HD: 1920x1080

VGA: 640x480

White Balance:

This is one of my favorites. You can adjust according to environmental lighting. This helps most with videos, in my opinion. Setting are:

Auto

Daylight

Cloudy

Flourescent (indoor lighting)

Incandescent (indoor lighting)

Color effect:

Many people usually change the effect of the picture once it is uploaded into the computer, but I guess this is cool feature too. Options are:

Standard (no special effect)

Sepia

Monochrome

Vivid

Light exposure:

This is another one of my favorites, and is a must have feature:

+3 lightest

+2 lighter

+1 light

0 normal

-1 dark

-2 darker

-3 darkest

Image Quality:

You can further change the quality of your pictures by choosing between normal, fine, and super fine.

Self Timer:

You can choose between 2 seconds, 5 seconds, or 10 seconds.

Other handy features included are:

anti-shake

face detect

smile capture

multiple snapshots

image sharpness

ISO

Metering

Language (9 languages)

Date/Time

Silent Mode

Auto Power off

Frequency (50 & 60 Hz)

Format SD card

Zoom

This list may look intimidating but the interface is very user-friendly. These options are found in menu mode (push the SET button to enter menu mode).

Some of the other things I like about this camera is that it is thin enough to put in my pocket, it has a large screen, it is very simple to use, and it has a linthium battery which can be charged by USB. I definately recommend this camera to anyone.

As a serious amateur who has used a variety of digital cameras from point-and-shoots (PaS) up to pro DSLRs, I can confidently assert that this is a very poor camera that is not worthy of anyone's hard-earned money. I don't believe the problem is one that can be rectified via the warranty process since I'm convinced the problem is simply one of poor design.

Someone with little to no prior experience with PaS cameras might be fooled into thinking that this is a decent device simply because they have no basis for comparison. If you are such a person, do yourself a favor and avoid this camera. Further, given the engineering competence doubts this raises in my mind regarding the manufacturer, I would strongly suggest you avoid buying any Vivitar camera.

First are the irritating design flaws that can be worked around but no user should have to deal with. For example, the flash is off by default (which is fine) and while you can manually turn it on, it reverts back to the off setting following any interaction with the menu system. For example, if you want to review the picture you just took and possibly delete it, it reverts back. Taking pictures indoors, you'll need the flash on, period. I found myself having to constantly turn it back on due to this irritating device behavior. Secondly, the camera does not automatically engage shooting mode when the shutter button is half-pressed, unlike every other camera I have ever used. This means there is no quick, easy way out of the menus which in and of itself is not a big deal other than the lack of attention to design it implies on the part of Vivitar. If they can't include such a basic usability feature, we're left to wonder just how competent the engineers working on this design were.

Lest you think this camera's limitations end with poor usability, let me assure you that the performance of this device is abysmal. In short, this is by far the worst performing camera I've ever used. Photos are plagued by noise, exposure and white balance problems. While no one in their right mind would expect perfection from a PaS camera, this device performs at a level well below that of its cost peers. I had initially hoped that the problem was simply one of poor default settings, i.e. perhaps I could find the right combination of settings to provide decent results. Alas, no ... I could not get acceptable results no matter what settings I tried. This stands in stark contrast to other PaS cameras that provide acceptable results right out of the box. The most glaring problem with this device is the horrible white balance. Nearly 100% of my test shots had serious color balance problems *even with the flash!!* It simply amazes me that the designers who presumably knew the characteristics of the flash they chose, couldn't get a passable white balance result.

Sadly for me, I bought this as a Christmas present in October and didn't test it before Christmas (because I didn't want to destroy the packaging which I would have had to do in order to open it). Consequently, I can't return it and so I have to eat the cost. I ended up replacing it with a Kodak M530 at very similar cost and guess what? The Kodak worked just fine out of the box.

Buy Vivitar Vx029 10.1MP Digital Camera Now

Just bought this thing yes, on sale for about $35 and it seems like a good deal. Tiny, with a ton of features (as observed above) that I'm enjoying like a kid. Sure, had to buy a memory card big deal, bought two of 'em. The flash problem is NOT a problem. Mine stays on flash (three modes) until it times out (shuts off) or I shut it off. If you can't think to turn the flash ON well. New to digital photography, I'm ready to finally join the 21st Century and send pics over the Net like the rest of humanity. Have a wedding coming up soon I'll let you know how the XO29 performs. Just tinkering with it so far, I find knowledge of film ISO ratings, depth-of-field (there's a macro setting), light and color (no need of a sepia filter; it's internal), manipulations all make the thing more a toy that, so far, takes darn good pictures.

(Edit up-date 3/6/11) The pictures are great!! I'm using 7M-HD resolution, Sport shutter, Fine quality, anti-shake, auto white-balance, standard color, normal sharpness, normal exposure, 200 ISO, center metering. I can blow the pics up to large computer-screen size no hash, noise, or grain; just a good really large picture. HOWEVER one pic of a hovering toy helicopter at max tele-lens did have some color etching along the outline of the image, but that's it. If I used a higher ISO with a long lens I'm sure the quality would suffer but you get that with film too. The macro is superb; pics of jewelry are sharp and clear.

Ah, I did think of another flaw no paper instruction manual; the manual's on a disc that you must download. Very detailed all the instructions are the same (for the various features), and this is because once you select one, you just click through it and go on to the next. Only the people who can't turn the FLASH on will suffer button phobia.

(Edit up-date #2, 5/23) Using VGA 640x480, Fine setting, Auto scene took lots of video at a wedding, many stills, all in different light from bright sun to indoor dancing; all came out super. Many stills blown up to 5x7 prints with absolutely no grain fine hair detail, great! Bright sun shot of baseball game 100 feet, telephoto of batter, terrific! Videos are very good.

Read Best Reviews of Vivitar Vx029 10.1MP Digital Camera Here

I bought this camera as a cheap replacement to use while my wife and kids are away with our real camera. Anyway, I've owned 5 or 6 digital cameras and this is by far the worst. It makes me long for those digital cameras from the 90's where everyone looked a sickly yellow/green. This camera takes nothing but blurry/grainy photos. I thought they looked really bad on the display, but thought it was just a poor quality display. That's not the case, the display is showing the true quality of the horrible photo. The pictures from this camera will make the pictures from your cell phone look like they were taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. Don't buy this camera at any price.

Want Vivitar Vx029 10.1MP Digital Camera Discount?

This camera is absolutely terrible for all of the reasons in the mentioned by the other reviewers. I've had several cameras and decided to get this camera as a gift for my son for Christmas. It cannot take a good picture. One time use generic cameras that you can get at a pharmacy or department store take pictures much better than this terrible camera.

WORST CAMERA EVER NOT WORTH 10 BUCKS!! SERIOUSLY!!

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