this camera fried underwater on its second use. water got inside camera and made it unusable. i stayed within the 10 ft range in the ocean and it still broke. piece of crap!

I can't comment on the quality of the pictures from this camera as I don't have any yet, and may never if the SD chip was ruined..

On the camera's third trip into the water I noticed water in the view screen area. Then I noticed that the battery/SD card compartment door was not properly seated. I have diagnosed the underlying problem as poor design with respect to the battery compartment door locking mechanism. There is a single release button which stands proud of the surrounding surface. If it is bumped or brushes up against your wrist it can easily release the locking lever on the battery compartment door. The locking lever is spring-loaded to pop up into a position where it is easy to manipulate to complete opening the battery compartment door. But it appears that, even with the locking lever only partially raised, the watertight seal will have been broken allowing water to enter the camera.

A good solution might be to have two relase buttons rather than one and for both to be recessed so that they are not easy to release accidently. The locking lever should also be redesigned so that it does not automatically pop up into a semi-opened condition.

If you already have one of these cameras and have not flooded it, I suggest that you try electrical tape over the release button and the locking lever as a way to prevent accidental opening. If Vivitar replaces mine (it goes in the mail tomorrow), that is what I am going to try.

I saw this in amazon and figured this was the way to go. How could you loose? So I purchased 2 of them thinking it would be a great toy to have when we go swimming and do any water sport with our kids. Well beside the 1-2 second delay in snapping the picture(giving you a blurry photo), the camera sucks the life out of your batteries in a matter of minutes (10min.). I have used good alkaline name brands Ener. & Dura. They only seem to last for a few minutes once the camera is turned on. Amazingly high energy consumption! I am returning them since I figured both of them are in the same condition. I just wont chance opening the second one. Better to just return them both and look for something better.

I purchased this camera in hopes of getting some great underwater pictures of my trip to the Bahama's. After taking a large number of pic's, I began to review the underwater shots of a beautful diving day. Upon review, I would say that only abot 25% 0f them were worth saving. Most were blurry, but that is to be expected. Not all shots come out clear. However, I was never able to get the flash to work even upon calling customer service. The camera has been sent back for repair or replacement. I will hold out my final opinion after seeing how this all pans out! RS

The first day I used this camera out snorkeling, it was very easy to use for taking photos and video. The pictures turned out OK, definitely better than the underwater disposable cameras I used during snorkeling. The video quality was choppy, small and mediocre.

But during the second use of this camera, the water leaked into it! The end door does not seal very well. I noticed another reviewer had the same problem too.