Digital Camera Review: Vivitar ViviCam 7022

The Vivitar ViviCam 7022 is an inexpensive digital camera that offers an impressive list of features including 7.1 megapixel resolution, 4x digital zoom, 1.8-inch preview screen, smile and face detection, anti-shake technology, a self-timer, continuous shooting, automatic flash, red-eye reduction, and video. The camera is powered by 3 AAA batteries and requires an SD card for storing photos. The camera is threaded for a standard tripod or monopod. For only $39.00 at Walmart, the attractively styled Vivitar ViviCam 7022 sure seems like a lot of camera for the money.

For under $40, the Vivitar ViviCam 7022 is easy to operate. There is simply a power button, a zoom toggle, a shutter button, a mode selector button, and a multifunction directional button control that is shaped like a plus sign. The mode selector button lets you switch between photo, video, and review mode. You could easily just point and shoot. However, to get the most out of the inexpensive ViviCam 7022, you have to use the "Set" button in the center of the multifunction directional buttons to dive into the menu system.

The menus on the Vivitar ViviCam 7022 allow you to play with a surprising variety of settings. First, you can set the resolution of your photos. The Vivitar ViviCam 7022 also lets you set the white balance of the camera for automatic, incandescent, fluorescent, daylight, or cloudy lighting. You can set the ISO sensitivity to auto, 100, 200, or 400. You can choose from nine scene settings (auto, scenery, portrait, night scenery, night portrait, high sensitivity, beach, sport, or party). The flash can be set to auto, red-eye reduction, force, or off. You can also use the menu to turn face detection, smile capture, and anti-shake features on. You can set the Vivitar ViviCam 7022 digital camera for more or less lighting. You can even choose for your photos to be taken with vivid, sepia toned, monotone, or standard color effects. Even with all the menus, a simple mechanical switch on the side of the camera switches the ViviCam between macro and landscape modes. The macro mode lets the camera take pictures of objects 30 to 45 centimeters away. While the landscape mode is for normal photo taking for subjects 1.5 meters to an infinite distance away. For under $40, this digital camera provides a lot of options.

Despite the impressive list of features, the Vivitar ViviCam 7022 also faces very stiff competition in the marketplace. While the inexpensive little Vivitar is certainly a much better camera than cheap drugstore digital cameras like the Aries 3-in-1 digital camera or the Vivitar 3 in 1 Digital Mini Camera, the photo quality certainly doesn't match higher end cameras. Zoom cameras such as the Kodak Z950 digital camera get you much closer to the action with a much better focus and better results. But, even my 3x zoom RCA Small Wonder takes much higher quality digital photographs in most cases than the Vivitar Vivicam 7022. The lens on the Vivitar Vivicam is marked f=5.1mm and F=2.8. While you can zoom up to 4x, focus seems to be fixed.

When set for higher resolutions, the inexpensive little camera uses AAA batteries fairly quickly as well. However, AAA battery power can be a blessing when you can't access your charger. The Vivitar Vivicam uses a fairly standard USB cable with a large end for your computer and a small end for your camera. It's much easier to keep track of and replace than the proprietary cable on my Kodak Z950 Easyshare Camera. If you needed a camera at the last minute, you could run into Walmart and buy the Vivitar Vivicam 7022, an SD card, and some AAA batteries fairly quickly. However, when you factor in the cost of batteries, a nice used film camera like my Canon SureShot Z135 might be a better deal. Fortunately, the Vivitar software is easy to use and the camera has ways to directly upload photos to Facebook and other popular websites.

Overall, this camera is an acceptable cheap snapshot camera for casual use. It serves as a backup for more expensive digital and film cameras and can easily be thrown in a pocket. If price is a factor, the $39 Vivitar Vivicam is just about the cheapest digital camera possible that will give you nice normal snapshots. However, if you spend another $30 to $50 more, you will find other cameras that are much nicer. If you just need an inexpensive digital camera or a camera for kids, the Vivitar Vivicam 7022 might do that job. This camera can be a fun pocket camera.

Sources: Vivitar ViviCam 7022 Manual