Wednesday 15 February 2012

Product Review: Vivitar ViviCam T135 3D Digital Camera

This is a review of the Vivitar Vivicam T135, which I bought last September. The Vivitar website shows better specs, so I assume there is an updated version out now. This review is of the old version, which does not have an optical zoom.

This camera allows you to take the old style 3D photographs, like the one on the right, which you need the red and blue 3D glasses to view, and look very odd without 3D glasses.  There are cameras that let you take the new style 3D photos that look 2D without the grey 3D glasses and 3D with.

The obvious downside of the red-blue 3D photos is how bad they look without the glasses, but the benefit is that with the glasses, you can view them on any screen and even view printed pictures. The other style of 3D photos, known as 'Real 3D' look 2D when printed, in playback on the camera and on most screens, except 3D TVs and 3D digital photo frames.

Now as 'standard' digital cameras go, this one is not great, and not worth the £80rrp, if you are not going to use the 3D.  That said, you can pick it up for £35 plus postage on the price-drop TV channels and it is very light and marginally better than most mobile phone cameras, so if you want a cheap light phone camera alternative, it's probably worth £35, but bear in mind, it is not a decent digital camera, it's just a slightly better phone camera.

The only real reason to buy this camera is for the red and blue 3D, which I've already mentioned has its limitations, but can be quite fun and does have novelty value. 

First the downside; the camera can't take 3D and normal photos at the same time, so if you want one of each, you have to manually switch between modes and take two separate pictures. There's a limit to how good any photos can be, with no optical zoom and 3D photos are no exception. As with all cameras, using the digital zoom can make the photos blurry.

Now onto the 3D... The flash cannot be used in 3D mode, so the photos don't come out well in low light. In good light, when the 3D works, it is good, but sometimes it doesn't quite work.  Sometimes, the photo is mostly in 3D, but one part doesn't quite work, or the whole thing works, but there's still patches of red.  This photo, for example, doesn't quite work, although it was taken at night, and this one has red patches.

For the most part, the 3D does work and if you want 3D photos that you can print, rather than the 'real 3D' photos that you can't, this is a good cheap option, as long as your expectations aren't too high. Below is a normal and 3D shot of Miami, so you can compare the two. Neither is great, because the camera specifications aren't that high, but it should give you an idea of what to expect.



My conclusion is that the Vivitar Vivicam T135 is a cheap (if you can get it for £35) fun novelty gadget and it's worth buying, if that's all you want, but don't expect it to take great photos.

6 comments:

  1. Notice yours has the same two faults as mine, the date resets to 01/01/2011 12:00am on each power up and imprints the date/time on each photo.

    As a fun camera, worth no more than the £35 I've seen on e-bay or the like, Not worth the £80 I've seen going for

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  2. Yeah, it's a fun cheap gadget, if you can get it for less than £40, but not worth the £80 rrp.

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  3. nice review you have shared... thanks for sharing such nice and awesome review... i like it very much keep sharing this type of great review.... http://www.technologyexplores.com

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  4. Awesome post i had a great experience of this 3D Camera its very easy to operate it and very helpful for my daily life

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  5. Thanks for sharing this post ,,i am using this 3d camera from last few months i never face any kind of problem


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  6. I just have read your review and found some high quality pictures on your blog. You have provided a nice review for those who are looking to buy a new camera. But, still there are some buyers who are not able to buy expensive cameras. If someone is looking to buy a new camera under a tight budget then it is recommended to check this list of digital cameras under $300 before buying the best one. I bet you will find the best one for your needs.

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