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The camera is where Sony Ericsson intends the Vivaz to shine, with 8.1-megapixels to play with on still shots and the ability to shoot 720p HD video.
There are separate buttons to launch the video and still-shot camera functions, as well as the on-screen option to swap between the two.
Despite the one-button process, the camera is a little slow to get up to speed.
Using the camera functions was a breeze, with on-screen icons showing the current setup at a glance and housing menus for swapping between different features.
There is a whole range of shooting options available on the Vivaz, on a par with a number of mid-range compact digital cameras.
Although there's no manual focus you can choose between full autofocus, or specialist options for specific types of shots; macro for close-ups, infinite mode for landscape shots and portrait mode.
TEST SHOT: Infinite focus for landscape shots – the colours here have come out slightly washed out
TEST SHOT: The panorama function is really nice to use, with instructive on-screen motion detection helping you get a seamless shot
TEST SHOT: The camera didn't fare so well on moving objects, even in sports mode, with images coming out fuzzy and, in some cases, pixelated
TEST SHOT: Direct light was not handled brilliantly, with the whole image coming out much darker than it should have
TEST SHOT: Macro focus is useful for close-up shots, although we found on other shots that it tended to focus on the wrong things – like objects further from the lens
TEST SHOT: Using the camera's light in low light was very effective, although the 'low-light' mode came out slightly grainy
The Sony Ericsson Vivaz 8.1MP camera also has built-in effects. These are the solarise and sepia effects - although the latter is not as rusty as we'd like it to be.
The camera also handled colours well, even in incandescent light.
