Rating: 
Summary: cheap for a reason
Review: Bought the camera for a photo class because it seemed like a good deal, but have had several problems with the advance lever not working. Sending it back and forth for repair has been a hassle. I wouldn't mind it so much if I could have dealt with a local store instead of mail order for the repairs.
Rating: 
Summary: I love this camera
Review: I bought this camera for a beginners B&W photography class, and although it's basically the bottom of the line, it's a great little camera. All of my pictures came out clear, unless by my beginners error, of course. It's light weight and very easy to use. I'd reccomend this camera to anyone who wants a good SLR, beginner or non.
Rating:
Summary: I love this camera
Review: I bought this camera for a beginners B&W photography class, and although it's basically the bottom of the line, it's a great little camera. All of my pictures came out clear, unless by my beginners error, of course. It's light weight and very easy to use. I'd reccomend this camera to anyone who wants a good SLR, beginner or non.
Rating: 
Summary: Vivitar
Review: I have "done" photography for a few years,and Vivitar,while not
Nikon,does a Good job with the production of their product.Now I
saw a review 'bout the lens'f-stop,and the rated f-stop of the lens,is the Speed that it allows in light.An f-stop of f.3-f.x IS
a heckuva lot faster than say,another Brand w/an f-stop of f.4.
The "other brand" with the f.4 lens Will be a S-L-O-W-E-R lens than the Vivitar w/an f-stop of f.3. Now rhe "older" cameras,ie,
Pentax K-1000 SLR has an lens-speed(how fast the lens gathers-in
light) of f.1.8! That was thee Fastest lens on the market,at that time.And w/ TTL(thru the lens(metering))it was a "killer"
camera!Amen. 'nuf said.
Rating:
Summary: tired
Review: i have looked all over this site and there is no information for this cameria. i would like to purchase the cameria, but not enough info. thank you, elaine
Rating: 
Summary: Vivitar Camera
Review: I love this camera I was shocked to read all of those awful things about it I am going to be a photographer and I think that this is a great camera expecially for starting out photographers!
Good luck with your new camera!
Rating:
Summary: For those of us who love the essentials...
Review: I love, love, love this manual camera. Personally, I feel that a lot of the bad reviews stem from the fact that some reviewers have skewed expectations for the V3800--it would probably be best to pack your cute digital point-and-shoot for Aunt Edith's party, for instance.Don't get me wrong--it's the photographer, not the camera that produces a great picture--but this is definetely a device for those of us who are trying for "art", not the family scrapbook, and prefer not to be encumbered by extraneous settings. I'm not saying I'll never come back to my cute little Rebel EOS(there's something to be said for not having to manually wind your film!) but it's wonderful to be able to set your exposure with a few little dials. Much faster than having to sort through the all the digital silliness. And who really uses that "Night Portrait Mode" anyway? Not I. Of course, there are some flaws. The flash sync only goes up to 125 and the body is on the heavy side compared to the featherlight cameras produced these days. But even these "flaws" are easy to ignore; I can live without a fast flash sync, as I'm not one for sports photography and prefer ambient light; I also find that my camera shake is greatly reduced now that I've got something to grab on to. Buy it!! Makes you feel like Brenda Starr or Mickey Spillane, depending :)
Rating:
Summary: I love this camera
Review: I purchased this camera as my first SLR to start learning photography. The Good: The camera body is excellent. It has all the features one needs for manual photography including metering, depth of field preview, and multiple exposure. The Bad: The lens is slow (f3.4). Unless the scene is very well lit, you'll find yourself shooting at f3.4 with a slow shutter speed almost all the time at ISO 100, even with a tripod. Also, I have never been able to achieve a sharp photograph with this lens, even at mid-range apertures (f8 and f11). At first, I attributed this to inexperience and poor technique. But as soon as I started shooting with a used Sigma lens, the difference was astonishing. I finally know what a sharp photograph looks like. Overall, I would not recommend this camera package. The camera body is excellent, and is worth buying separately. However, the poor quality lens is not worth it. You will be much better off purchasing a used lens. The lens that comes with this camera can be very discouraging for beginning photographers.
Rating:
Summary: Great camera, poor lens
Review: I purchased this camera as my first SLR to start learning photography. The Good: The camera body is excellent. It has all the features one needs for manual photography including metering, depth of field preview, and multiple exposure. The Bad: The lens is slow (f3.4). Unless the scene is very well lit, you'll find yourself shooting at f3.4 with a slow shutter speed almost all the time at ISO 100, even with a tripod. Also, I have never been able to achieve a sharp photograph with this lens, even at mid-range apertures (f8 and f11). At first, I attributed this to inexperience and poor technique. But as soon as I started shooting with a used Sigma lens, the difference was astonishing. I finally know what a sharp photograph looks like. Overall, I would not recommend this camera package. The camera body is excellent, and is worth buying separately. However, the poor quality lens is not worth it. You will be much better off purchasing a used lens. The lens that comes with this camera can be very discouraging for beginning photographers.
Rating: 
Summary: Want quality? Better keep looking.
Review: I recently bought a Vivitar v3800N camera from a local, specialty camera store. After having the camera for less than 2 months and having shot only about 4 rolls of film the camera BROKE! I have taken extreme care with this camera and have not found a reason for it to malfunction. I will not recommend this camera to anyone.
I am not trying to be harsh or unfair toward Vivitar. I would just write this problem off as a fluke, but I have had two of these cameras and this exact same thing has happened....twice! If you are curious about the problem, the shutter is jammed, for some unknown reason, which I might add is quite expensive to repair. I will not buy another Vivitar camera.
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