Sakar to Release an 8.1 Pixel Underwater Camera for Just Over $100
There is something about press releases without accompanying images that drives me crazy. Not all of them of course, that would be too many to count. No, just the ones that have me reaching for my wallet even though the product could be little more than a ghost. The one that is toying with me at the moment is one from Sakar International, the parent company of camera manufacturer Vivitar.
Although Vivitar has been making photography equipment for over 70 years, it is really not a big deal that they are far from a household name. A Canon or Nikon they are not. Generally speaking their stuff is fairly middle-of-the-road, set at a low to middle ground price range. That is a place a lot of manufacturers set up shop, but there is at least one thing that Vivitar offers -- part of the reason for the press release -- that very few, if any, other manufacturers do, a decent and affordable underwater digital camera. Their newest model, reportedly available this spring, is the Vivitar V8400P. Here are a few specs on it:
- Mid-grade camera
- High resolution 8 megapixel underwater camera
- 2.4" LCD display
- Waterproof up to 30 feet
- 8x digital zoom lens with image stabilization support
- 32mb internal storage with SD/SDHC memory card support up to 8GB maximum
- Shockproof and drop-resistant body
- Full length video capture mode
- $129.95
These bullet points are pretty much all the information that is available, and most of it was revealed earlier in the year at CES. The image above is actually of Vivitar's earlier VIVICAM-6200W 6.0 MegaPixel model. That model is a few years old and has generally seen pretty favorable reviews which has me hoping that Vivitar has used it as a blueprint for the V8400P, while adding a more powerful digital zoom, more storage capacity and more megapixels. Price is the other factor with the V8400P. At $130 it is very affordable in its class as anyone who has picked up a 24-36 exposure disposable camera while on holiday knows. These same people could also tell you that as unforgiving as underwater photography is, in most cases having the ability to wipe the slate, or in this case an 8GB SD card, clean and start over again is probably the most important feature an amateur to mid level photographer can have in the water.
--Tom Milnes
ryaninc on March 06, 2009 at 04:56 AM
Underwater cameras rock. My wife has an Olympus SW model...one of those waterproof, shockproof, freezeproof ones. We seriously love it. It goes everywhere with us, including the beach, water parks, etc. And we never worry about it.
But we paid a lot more than $129 for it. At that price, I can see a lot more people getting one.
Ben on March 07, 2009 at 04:30 PM
You lost me at 30ft... I was deeper on my first training dives. And 99% of the dives I've been on since.
Jamie on March 12, 2009 at 12:30 PM
Whereas I've never "dived" and probably never will because of middle-ear problems. Reading about this camera made me hark back to when I lived in Seattle; not only would this camera have been great to have for all those semi-submerged camping trips and wet mountain bike rides and ski adventures and sightseeing trips around the Sound with visiting family, but I could've taken it on our Hawaii trip and taken not only good "dry" vacation pictures but non-disposable-camera pictures while snorkeling. So it sounds to me like a great camera for an outdoorsy person who doesn't dive and doesn't want to invest a lot in a camera able to withstand pressure conditions s/he will probably never encounter. Cool!
sean money on July 09, 2009 at 02:01 PM
This camera is okay, basically you get what you pay for. If you just want to have some fun shooting underwater digitally i would go for it. If your looking for high quality sharp images, look somewhere else. Here's an underwater photoshoot i did with it http://seanmoney.tumblr.com/post/130047275/experimental-underwater-shoot
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