Mark McKay (6/19/99):
I liked the Vivicam 3000 for a variety of reason (as a low end camera) and consider it a good buy for those who are interested in digital photography, but reticent to spend a lot of money. First, this camera is perfect for those who want to create flyers, jazz up web pages, send email photos etc... The one I bought (summer of '98) came with the 2 meg memory card, in addition to the .5 meg onboard. Adequate memory is essential to reasonable use of any digital camera. With this card I got around 67 pictures, high resolution, which I was impressed with. It also records sound and has a flash, and takes six AA batteries. I like the fact that it took the additional batteries because it allowed me to use the camera longer and use recharged akalines. (I got a great recharger from Crane.com called the Saitek Revolutionary Charger and only had to buy a 40 pack of batteries from Costco that I used until now May '99). The sound was OK in some cases, like if you talk directly into the mike on the front of the camera, or have loud enough input (concert music, or a chainsaw; I got both, though not at the same time : ). I would have liked a mike input so I could increase the quality. The flash is fairly strong, to the point of washing out faces within six feet, but sometimes it was just right. The camera can take pretty good indoor shots, but that was more luck than finesse for me. You can choose the file size (compression) and with the 2.0 version of the software the images are in .jpg format. My pictures were around 100k, and I could crop them down to 20k in MS Photo Editor for emailing. They still look OK on the screen. The pictures printed looked OK, but not "Photo Realistic", but that could've been because of my printer (HP 820Cxi). I had to return the camera a couple of times for repair, and I found Vivitar very responsive and helpful with warranty work. The CMOS needed to be replaced and the flash stopped working. It comes with a one year warranty. I didn't use any of the add-on software except what you used for downloading the pictures. I liked the slide show that came with it, except I couldn't save slide shows like I could with my Vivicam 2000. If you buy this camera, you probably should look at buying Photo Explorer from Ulead or something like that. Also the construction was somewhat cheap on the camera, but passable. It was a little bulky, but I could put it in my pocket if necessary, so it's not like the older Kodaks that were as big as video cameras. Overall, I would say this could be a good value camera if the price is right.
Bryan Scholl (1/2/99):
For the price, an excellent beginner camera for those who just want the average point and shoot photograph. Would suggest that you invest in a memory card, as it holds only about 5 pictures on the best compression and highest resolution. I am currently searching for one now. But, it's great not having to deal with film! And wonderful to snap a picture and be able to send it via email anywhere, and at a reasonable resolution quality.
 DCRP Camera Sample Photos
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