Customer Reviews

VuPoint DC-ST531TBLK-VP - Digital camera - compact - 5.0 Mpix / 12 Mpix (interpolated) - supported memory: MMC, SD

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If this were a 35mm camera, it would be like the disposable you buy at the drugstore - not a lot of features, but simple to use with an adequate to good quality of photos. Of course, this is not intended to be a disposable camera in that sense, we're talking about quality of image here.
Unlike the book of instructions you get with more sophisticated digitals, the VuPoint has its instructions in small type on one double-sided fold-out page. Once you've gone through them, using the camera is pretty instinctive and it's easy to scroll through the menus to change settings. It's strongest feature is its ease of use, particularly when it's in its waterproof case. Push the on/off button and in a few seconds the camera powers up and is ready to shoot stills. Hit the mode button once, and it's in the video mode, ready to shoot clips at 20 fps in the 640 x 480 size or 30 fps in the 320 x 240 size. With a little practice, it's easy to run all the functions while it's in the case. Like many cameras, it can be difficult to compose a shot on the LCD screen in bright sunlight.
The biggest downer with the camera is the digital zoom. I expected the loss of resolution with a digital-only zoom, but was surprised at the loss of sharpness. At 8x, the resulting image should still have better than VGA resolution, but even a small image on a computer screen looks blurry - and these were images shot outside on a bright day and presumably with a high shutter speed. The sharpness is visibly dropping off even at only a 2x zoom. Both videos and stills lost sharpness by using the zoom.
The VuPoint also offers in-camera interpolation to 8 megapixel and 12 megapixel files. If these make any difference in sharpness or image quality, it eluded my eye.
This will not match the performance of more expensive 5 megapixel cameras. I have a much costlier 5 megapixel Panasonic. When it shoots in the highest quality jpeg format, the resulting files are nearly 2 mb in size. With the VuPoint, those files are only about a quarter that size. That means the VuPoint is using more compression, which in turns costs detail. (On the other hand, you can get four times as many images on a memory card.) To use the 35mm analogy again, if you make an 8x10 print from a high-end SLR and one from the drug store disposable, you're going to see a quality difference. Same thing here.
The automatic exposure on the camera works well, except it missed some images at maximum zoom. Since I'm unlikely to use the maximum zoom again, that's not a serious concern. When shooting video clips, the auto exposure did a good job adjusting as the camera panned from heavy shadows to extreme brightness.
It's main strength is small size and simplicity of use. It will take pictures my Panasonic never will because it will go places I wouldn't dare take the more expensive camera, such as sailing or kayaking on a wet and windy day. It's easy to store the camera in its waterproof case in a pocket or deck storage bag, or the like, and have it handy at an instant - it can live in a rough and tumble environment where unprotected cameras can't. It's a matter of a few seconds to grab the camera, turn it on, shoot a picture or a video clip, turn it off and put it away. I'm not an experienced video person, but I like the video clips it shoots at 640 x 480. Like most still digital cameras, the zoom will not work while used in the video mode, and given the loss of zooming sharpness with this camera, that's a good thing. One small drawback is the waterproof case mutes the sounds when video recording, but you can't have everything. I like that it uses AAA batteries since it will go places where no battery charger will work. With the maximum 2 gig SD card that the camera will accommodate, you can shoot 2 hours and 23 minutes at the 640 x 480 resolution, and a few more minutes at 320 x 240 (where you're shooting at a higher fps rate.)
So far, as long as the zoom isn't used, I'm happy with the stills and videos it has taken on a couple short sailing trips. I loaned it to a friend who took it on a 2-day kayaking trip, and his images look good as well.
Battery life appears okay. The two batteries that came with the camera didn't last long, but I didn't expect they would. I put in a couple NiMH's and shot several minutes of video and several stills without appreciably impacting the charge level of the batteries. I put alkalines in before loaning it to my friend and he shot several pictures and video clips, and those batteries appear to have 2/3 of their life left.
I haven't tried it underwater and don't plan to anytime soon. All I can say is the waterproof case appears well made and with some silicone grease on the O-ring, I wouldn't hesitate to at least try it for snorkeling.
Only a couple pictures have been taken with the flash - it appears okay, nothing special. About what you'd expect from a flash rated for a maximum distance of five feet.
For the price of the camera and my intended uses, I'm satisfied, except for some mild disappointment over the zoom.

I bought this camera to take to Cozumel with me on a dive trip. This was my first shot at underwater photography and I was looking for something cheap to see if I liked the idea of taking pictures underwater. My first night there I took some practice shots above water and was extremely disappointed with the shots taken so I threw it in my bag so that I could return it when I got back to the US. On my last day that same camera had been staring at me all week so I said what the heck let's give it a try underwater. OH MY GOD THIS THING TOOK GREAT PICTURES FOR THE MONEY!!!! I was on a crazy fast drift dive and almost all my pictures came out great!!! The only ones that came out blurry where due to that fact that we had to have been moving upward of 5 knots at some points on this dive. The color quality for a camera this inexpensive was great and a little photoshopping did wonders to the color. If there were color filters available for this camera the pictures would have looked like they came from a camera costing 20X as much. I whole heartedly recommend using this as a starter underwater camera, with a little practice you will be taking amazing pictures.

I was a little worried after reading some of the reviews on this item, but I really needed something that could take a good getting wet and survive. Well, this will do that, and has done that for me.

First I want to talk about the picture quality. I found that as long as I don't try to take pictures indoors at night close up the picture is at least as good as my major name brand higher quality camera. I have taken pictures in rain, underwater, outdoors, indoors, in poorly lit places, in full sun and from a boat with no problems. Indoors in poor light with a flash close up was the only set of conditions that produced poor quality pictures for me. I will be using this mostly outdoors in the day time so no problem for me. I have a "good" camera for when conditions are ideal for not killing my camera.

This camera is small, light, easy to manage, easy to operate and really is waterproof.

Under things I could care less about, the video quality is just about acceptable and the audio is OK at best. I only tried this feature out because the camera could do it. My test will probably be the only time I ever use the video mode. If I want a digital video camera I will buy something made for that purpose, and if I decide to shoot video underwater, I would probably strip off the audio anyway.

The down side, the camera takes 2AAA batteries, so they run down fast. The batteries that came with the camera from the factory only lasted long enough to take a few test shots. I am now running rechargeable batteries and have taken about 40 photos with no flash and they still are holding the same charge.

Another problem I have seen is that the clock appears to get screwed up at midnight for some reason. I have reset the clock in the early AM and it worked fine all day, but it turns into a pumpkin at midnight. I want to use the camera for photoploting so I just have to make sure I reset the clock when I go out for the day, no big deal to me, I do this anyway when I am photoploting.

Bottom Line. It works underwater and wet, the batteries last all day for me, the clock will hold time all day once set in the AM. I like it, I use it and it works for what I want to do with it.

Bought this for my six year old as an alternative to the Fisher Price Kid-Tough Digital camera. The price is about the same as the FP toy camera, plus the waterproof and shockproof casing makes it a better deal for an active kid; you can take it kayaking, to the pool, to the lake, and the waterpark! My son loves being able to take his own pictures and download them to his iPhoto library! The picture quality is only fair; but it's still better than the FP toy camera. Also, the ISO speed only goes up to 200, so using the built-in flash is necessary for indoor and low-light photography.

Length:: 2:43 Mins

This is a great camera for the money, took it to Coki Beach in St. Thomas. Here I am feeding the fish. Still shots were also good.

This is exactly like the camera I got that sported the 'Vivitar' brand, as far as I can tell. Please let me know if this is not correct.
I wish I could get more excited about this product, but even though it performed well underwater, my photos were lost because I tried to follow the instructions. The instructions told me to go to the format menu, and so I did and zapped my once-in-a-lifetime photos. I otherwise like this camera, I carry it with me everywhere, every day because it is very, very small and light. Any camera (from other brands) that looks like this one, including
INTOVA INWD-IC600 6.0 Megapixel Digital Camera with Waterproof Housing -180FT
SVP Acqua DC-1231Bk 12MP Max. Digital Still Camera with waterproof case (2GB High Speed SD Card & Tripod Included)
is probably the exact same device so don't be fooled by claims of 12 Megapixels from other cameras.
We got it for snorkeling in the Bahamas and did not want to risk any loss or damage to our regular cameras. I am glad we did that. Get some VERY long-life alkaline AAA batteries and a 2GB SD card to go with this product so that you will able to take a lot of photos or videos without having to re-surface.
The waterproof case has a lot of buttons on the back so that you can navigate the camera's controls just as well without the case. When the distance switch on the side is on `flower' the focus is at about a foot or less.
This is a SMALL camera and is about the size of larger cigarette box. Be careful with reading the instructions and practice with it (a lot) before you get in the water. Please, please read the instructions for the waterproof case before you try and put the camera in it and use it. The latch may not operate the way you expect and you might damage it!
You might consider:
Vivitar VIVICAM-6200W 6.0 MegaPixel Underwater Camera with 4x Digital Zoom 2.0" LCD or SeaLife SL 320 Reef Master Mini Digital Camera

I purchased this to replace an older Canon underwater camera (film type). I am very impressed with the quality of the camera. I've taken a few underwater pictures in the swimming pool as well as a few above water...they look great. Will give it a real workout next Spring in the Bahamas. I hightly recommend the new Duracell LiOH AAA rechargable batteries.

I purchesed this camera to allow me to get some underwater shots. My usual camera is a prosumer range DSLR so my expectations for a under $100 camera were not high. For the money, this camera should perform well. The alternatives are disposable film cameras and they are not good. My uther alternative is a $600+ underwater shell for my Canon - Too expensive. For the money, this camera should serve you well.

I was pleased with the whole process of this purchase. Billing went smoothly. I received my camera sooner than I was originally told. The item came well packaged. We took this camera to the Caribbean to use on snorkeling adventures. This camera took as good a picture as did a more expensive Olympus camera we also used. I was pleased with this purchase.

I bought this camera for a trip to Cancun. I wanted to do Scuba Diving and I brought this along. This camera package is probably the best underwater camera package for under $100. The pictures came out clear. The camera also has video capability with sound. Great buy!!