Review on Vivitar 810HD Megapixel Digital Recorder by Jeremy Gums

Benefits: Uses 4 AAA batteries. Uses an 8GB HDSD card. Cons: a lot - see text. I bought this camera because the previous Vivitar 35mm film cameras I had were very good. I needed a small, light and durable camcorder that I could take with me on my motorbike to film weekend trips in the mountains. This camcorder seemed perfect until I brought it home and started working with it. This camera should be 720P HD quality. It is not. It has the correct image size, but the image quality is very poor and it shakes when panning. The lens is fixed in focus and the image of this camera is always slightly blurry in both video and photo modes. The camera adapts to changing light conditions, but the settings are very sharp and pronounced. The color is washed off. Videos become pixelated on the computer screen even at the highest resolution settings when watching movies in full screen mode. The file format is AVI which is not the best in the world. The camera records about 1.5 hours in "720P" mode and just over 2 hours in 640x480 mode on an 8GB HDSD card. A joystick protrudes from the back of the camera, which can be used to change various settings and functions. This joystick is very thin and will probably break soon. There is no built in protection (guardian) to keep him from hitting anything. The record button is right next to it and makes a very loud CLICK on the film when you press STOP. The zoom function is also a very weak control on top of the camera. The zoom function is for digital image adjustment only and at 25% zoom the image is very blurry. Well over 25% and the image is so pixelated it's almost impossible to see. There's a low-light setting, but most of the indoor videos I've shot in normal room lighting have been pretty poor. This camera has unacceptable low light capabilities. The view screen only moves horizontally. You cannot rotate the screen up or down. I found it annoying. Also, the speaker is inside the camera and is hidden by the screen when the screen is pressed against the camera. I couldn't find the volume control. My suggestion is to buy a slightly more expensive camera. The reason you buy a camcorder is to preserve memories. Store your memories in the best quality you can afford. Please note that this review is based on this one camera only. Before buying, I did not find any reviews about this model. I wish I had. I will return it with no intention of exchanging it for another of the same kind. Much luck. Hope this helps you in your search.