Vivitar Mini DV Camcorder (DVR-510) with 2GB Internal Storage, Night Vision - Black

This isn't a bad camera. I read the other reviews for this, but i have to disagree. I think those people made a very uninformed decision. Personally, I am the head of the video tech department at the local high school, and I believe this camera is everything it is advertised to be. You must understand that there is a big difference between a full-size camcorder and a pocket recording device, like this one. Typical battery life for a device like this is two hours; my Vivitar makes it three to four. The resolution is as it is advertised, nothing spectacular. The great feature on this is the infrared optical, which appears in black and white. It doesn't come in color; it wasn't meant to. It was simply meant to gather an image in the dark and it doest that just fine. The microphone is admittably weak though, and the students have needed a USB extension to connect to the computer because of the awkward positioning of the connector. The software is very quirky as well, but it almost always is with video equipment. This isn't the best camera ever, and there are definitely better options around that price. But the Vivitar NV gives you exactly what it advertises and the infrared is a unique and effective feature when used appropriately.

Ok so it took a day longer to get, this little camera is quite impressive. It's automatic night vision is great and it seems to be full spectrum in daylight based on the pink tint to the trees. For the price, I was impressed. All the negative reviews I would attribute to lack of knowledge of camera functions. Also zooming in does get pixelated, but if your using this for ghost hunting, who zooms in anyway? I think it's better than I ever could have expected.

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The camera itself is kind of a marginal product. It eats batteries like candy and the sound pickup is poor. I've bought some rechargeable batteries as I've been using this device a lot and went through $15 of regular ones fast. About 4 hours of record time will use up the four AAA batteries. Like they noted in the documentation going into night mode really uses up batteries. I don't think this is a problem with just this device but I'm guessing all DVR's like this go through batteries fast.

The sound pickup is not very good and any wind or loud noise will drive the circuits so you can't hear anything accept a load whooshing noise.

The software is buggy and wouldn't even operate on my XP system. It ran OK on Vista but I found it more annoying then helpful. The image editing software ran OK though. The software was one of the reasons I picked this device so I was disappointed that it wasn't worth anything.

Another issue was connecting it to a tower computer wasn't much of an option as the front USB connections were too recessed and I couldn't reach them so I had to use my lap top. Also had an issue trying to delete the files when using the USB connection, it would say the files had been deleted and when I would take the SD card and put it in the card slot the files would still be there, so I only transferred files using the card slot.

I would recommend that if you are looking for this type of device you should op for a higher quality (more expansive) recorder.

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I purchased this camera for the night vision and was pretty impressed. The camera is easy to use and the quality is excellent for the price. For inside investigations, the ir lights are enough by themselves, but outside you will need extra lighting. The same is true for every other camera (including the 3 or 4 hundred dollar ones). A 4G card will only give you 2 hrs of record time on the lowest quality, so I would suggest you purchase at least an 8G card to be on the safe side. The batteries are another plus for this product. When it comes to ir, rechargeable batteries don't last very long so the AAA batteries are much better for our field work. We used the Ultimate lithium batteries in this camera, recorded for 2 hours in full darkness and still have full battery charge. There is no way to attach this camera to a tripod or add extra lighting, but with a little creativity, we built a "adapter" for our camera light bracket and now it works just fine. I would recommend this product. It is light weight, easy to use, and pretty good quality.

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I bought this product to use for my paranormal investigation team until we can purchase a full IR camcorder set-up. So far we have used this on one investigation with amazing results!! My team and I were so pleased with how this product performed that we plan to purchase a couple more to use on future investigations too. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a basic IR camcorder for paranormal investigations or ghost hunts.

-Daniel McAdams, investigator and cameraman for Spirit Trackers Paranormal Investigation Team-