After previously reviewing a number of Vivitar cameras in the past, we have decided to publish our ultimate Vivitar dvr508 review after seeing some people asking questions about the dvr508. After receiving mixed reviews upon it initial release to the market, the dvr508 has struggled to recover and is definitely an underwhelming camera in the Vivitar line up.
In all honesty, we would recommend that you actually avoid the camera altogether and pick up the Sosun 301S Plus (Click here to check for product prices and availability) instead. Overall, it is a much better camera with a very similar price tag that provides better functionality, better performance, a higher build quality while also boasting a much better reputation. You can click here to read a number of reviews left by people who own the Sosun 301S Plus or you can click here to read reviews that have been left by people who use the Vivitar dvr508.
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Table of Contents
User Interface And Control System
The DVR 508 has a pretty basic control system as shown in the photograph above but in all fairness, for its price tag, this is to be expected anyway. As you can see, it is based around a directional pad, a few control buttons, and an LCD screen allowing you to control the various settings available on the camera. One common issue with this is that the buttons can sometimes struggle to register presses and end up wasting a little bit of time while getting a little frustrating if you commonly tweak your camera settings.
That actual navigation menu on the video camera is very easy to navigate in all fairness to it making it very easy for you to pick up and work. We are confident that you will be able to quickly and easily fly through the various settings and options in the navigation menu without issue allowing you to tweak any required settings to get the best of the camera for your particular circumstances.
Although Vivitar has definitely put effort into ensuring the design of the interface is as easy as possible to use, we do feel that they could have taken a step back before shipping it to ensure that the buttons actually perform as intended when pressed. This is the first area that the Sosun 301S Plus (Click here to check for product prices and availability) pulls ahead of the Vivitar dvr508 in our opinion as its interface system is much better in our opinion.
Performance And Functionality
Although the Vivitar dvr508 is billed as being a high definition camera the actual video quality is very poor, especially when compared to some of the other entry level video cameras on the market. The test footage below was recorded using the Vivitar dvr508 and although it looks like it is in low light conditions in the footage, the actual conditions were not as dark as the video suggests.
Although we did not experience it yourself, we have seen a number of reports from other people who have the Vivitar dvr508 mentioning how their audio quality was either very poor to the point that you could not understand it to their audio track simply not recording anything at all.
Now, as our regular readers will know, we always try to be as fair as possible when it comes to our camera reviews but when it comes to the Vivitar dvr508 we really are struggling to find anything positive when it comes to its performance. That is why we have chosen to include the image above directly from Amazon showing that at the time of writing at least, almost half of all the reviews the camera has received have rated it one out of five stars. We just wanted to any new readers that we are trying to be as fair as possible for the camera but its reputation amongst the community, as shown above, should speak for itself.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
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Build Quality
As with many of the other entry-level Vivitar cameras on the market, the build quality is its only real redeeming feature but with such a poor level of performance, having a solid build quality is essentially useless. That said, the camera body is solid and it is made from some lightweight materials that are pretty robust for its price point on the market.
Our Verdict
In all honesty, there really is not much more to cover and brings us to the end of our Vivitar dvr508 review. We feel that we have made our feeling for the camera clear but just to make our position clear, we would not feel comfortable recommending the Vivitar dvr508 to any of our readers. It has so many flaws and a very bad reputation within the community.
As we mentioned at the start of the article, if you are in the market for a cheap, entry-level video camera then go with the Sosun 301S Plus (Click here to check for product prices and availability) as it is a much better camera in both our opinion and the oppinion of the community.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
Click Here To Check For Prices On This Product!
The video below offers an additional third-party, independent review for the Vivitar DVR508 to offer our readers an independent opinion of the product.
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