With all of Peter‘s talk about his digital cameras, I figured I’d throw my own hat into the ring.
A few weeks ago, I purchased a Traveler 6.31 Megapixel Digital Camera, from, of all places, Aldi. As mentioned in the comments, the camera appears to be a rebranded Vivitar Vivicam 4000.
Thus far, the camera has worked wonderfully. To start with, it came loaded with accessories – 2 Lithium Ion batteries and charger, a car adapter for charging on the go, a small carrying case with belt loop and plenty of cables for connecting your camera. The 128MB SD card was a bit small, but I have others (more on those another time).
The quality of the pictures has been solid, but I must admit that I haven’t used it nearly as much as I should have. I’ll try and put it through some paces one of these days.
As I understand it, this camera went for $269 over the Christmas holidays, and even at that price it would seem to be a pretty good deal. When I bought mine, they were apparently clearing them out, because it cost only $169, making it seem like a complete steal. I’m very happy with it thus far, but I’ll keep you posted on that if it changes.
Update May 26, 2006: I encountered the “take a couple pictures and the battery dies” problem myself. Thus far, no resolution. It seems that I can take somewhere between two and five pictures and then the camera shuts down, despite the battery having a seemingly full charge.
Luckily the batteries used by the camera are fairly common, though somewhat less so in the US than in the UK. I have found them here (charger here if you need one).
Free shipping on orders over $50, though I’m not sure how long that offer lasts. I’ve used this site before, and their products seem to work just fine – or they have in the past, at any rate. Let me know your experience if you use them and I can update the information here. I haven’t yet decided if I’ll invest more money in this camera or get a new one.
Update August 8, 2006: I ended up purchasing two of the batteries and a new charger from Atbatt.com (as linked above). I used them somewhat extensively on a trip last week, and they worked wonderfully. I have tried charging the old batteries, and they still aren’t working too well, but at least the camera is working again.
Update: Alas, the camera itself finally died, due to my own problems (I dropped it). For some reason, the camera works to some degree – it will go through menus and whatnot, but it won’t actually go through with the taking of any pictures or anything. So I’ve moved on. I have another Traveler camera, and I’ll post a review of it soon. It does not take these batteries, however, so if anyone needs any, contact me using the link below if you need some and make me a fair offer if you’re interested.
Update: The camera and all accessories have been sold. Thanks!
Comments
96 responses to “Traveler Digital Camera”
Hi Mary –
I would check the lens of the camera. I managed to get something on mine and it smeared really well, meaning every picture I took had a lovely smudge on it. If this is the case with you, find a soft cloth (like you would use for cleaning glasses) and gently clean it. Then you should be set.
If this isn’t the case, then it might just be that the camera is dying. If it’s out of warranty, then there may not be a lot that you can do. Sorry if that’s the case!
I have had my 5 MP Traveler for a little over a year and I really loved it but lately I have been getting very blurry pictures…even when I take a timed picture so I know it’s not because I’m moving. On some pictures one person will be clear and another might be blurry. Very disappointing as I have been really pleased with the camera up until this time. It also seems to have a delay in taking the picture after it has focused. Battery life has always been pretty good for me just blurry shots lately.
i purchased a traveler 5.2 megapixel and it was working fine until i went to turn it on one day and it never turned on any clue on what it mite be to why it is not turning on?
I have a Traveler dc-5080 bought just over a year ago from aldi everything was fine until Saturday 14 April when taking photos of the opening of bowling green all the buildings and gents white shirts turned out a deep shade of pink anyone else had this problem
When I dropped my camera and it was badly damaged, Traveler of Germany were very helpful and have a standard price to replace the bare camera for £80 + postage . Which I did.
My DC8600 is a wonderful camera and out performs most much dearer cameras. I wouldn’t change it for anything else, since it is so easy to use with great results!
Slimline X5 from Aldi England in 2005 for £149.99p A great buy, wonderful pics, badly let down by the poor battery life.
I too am struggling to find where to purchase new battery.
Mine came with a 3.7 volt 650 mAh rating, what is the highest rating that can be purchased?
I use a one gigabyte SD card and download via a card reader, purchased from Aldi (also made by Traveler) using Microsoft Windows XP and it has been trouble free. I am now looking out for the 8.1 version.
I bought the Traveler 6.3 mega pixel camera last year, from my local Aldi here in the UK.
Within 6 months the battery life was significantly reduced. Now both batteries have completely given up the ghost and will not recharge.
My father bought the same camera at the same time and has had exactly the same problem with the batteries.
I have found exact replacements at this site.
These batteries are the actual 3.7 v 1000 mAh , which seem to be difficult to track down.
There are many 3.7 v 900 mAh out there, but strictly speaking they are not the ones that are in the camera originally.
We purchased the Traveler camera about a month ago. It is a great camera and at a VERY good price…but there’s one little problem…I lost the USB cord and have yet to find it. If anyone knows any info about where to find a new one I would be very gracious to know.
Hi Terry –
Unfortunately, no. I’ve never used any software with any digital camera. I just take the SD (or CF) card out and connect it via other methods.
Sorry that I can’t be of any help.
I have recently purchased a traveler 5.0mp digital camera, however the software is not compatible with xp. Any suggestions