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Great deal on a 5 mp underwater camera

DeniseM

DeniseM

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Joined
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Location
Northern, CA
Resorts Owned
WKORV, WKV, SDO, Hyatt High Sierra, Dolphin's Cove (Anaheim) NEW: 4 Lawa'i Beach Resort!
We love to snorkel and buy 2 or 3 underwater cameras every time we go to Hawaii. I found a great deal on a digital camera with underwater housing at WalMart. I figure it has to be at least as good as a disposable camera, and it's about the same price as buying 3 disposable cameras and paying for developing.

Vivitar Vivicam - $55.84 w/free shipping to store

I will try it out in the pool this weekend and post some pictures, too.
 
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I guess you know that the 5188 is a normal camera in a waterproof case. There are some $100+ cameras that are sealed at the factory to be waterproof.

When I tried taking pictures with my normal camera in a waterproof case there were 3 problems. The glare coming off the plastic case made it impossible to see the LCD screen, especially through goggles. It was truly "point, shoot and pray"! Secondly the autofocus wouldn't lock on because of the low contrast underwater. Your nice clean pool may not cause this problem but real snorkeling in Hawaii with lots of "floaters" in the view may. Also the floaters can capture the autofocus. I can't tell if this camera is fixed focus or autofocus but if you may have to lock the focus at a typical shooting distance.

Thirdly, on one outing I screwed up sealing the unit and it leaked. The camera wouldn't work for a few hours, then gradually over the next two days it came back to fully functional. BTW, most warranty or fixed price repairs don't include water damage! The fact that this camera is sold as a single unit may mitigate that but it is not clear whether this is a lash-up of a Vivitar camera and a 3rd party housing by WalMart or all Vivitar. I guess its cheap enough that if it drowns you can toast it goodbye with an extra Margarita back at the resort.

Edit; I see the same camera from several sellers so I guess its not a lash-up.
 
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Yes - I already have the camera in hand and that's why I called it a camera with an underwater housing. It is a Vivitar packaged set - the housing came with the camera. I don't see how I can go wrong for the price, but I'll let you know!
 
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