Sakar Rolls Out Vivitar Line, Adds Kodak Brand

By TWICE Staff -- TWICE, 3/9/2009

LAS VEGAS — Sakar pulled back the curtain on its first Vivitar-branded digital cameras since acquiring the decades-old photo brand last year.

The company also added another iconic photo brand to its stable — Kodak — in a license deal that will see Sakar sell Kodak-branded film cameras and computer accessories.

The Vivitar lineup, announced at PMA, will include digital cameras, video cameras, SLR lenses and flashes, and a battery charger — all expected to ship in the spring.

The 8-megapixel V8400P ($129) is waterproof to a depth of 30 feet. It features an 8x digital zoom, 2.4-inch LCD and 32MB of internal memory.

The $249 DVR840XHD records digital video and snaps 5-megapixel stills with a 5x optical zoom and a 3-inch LCD. It offers MP3/MP4 playback and voice recording options.

The 8-megapixel V8025 sports an 8x digital zoom, 2.4-inch touch-screen LCD, and face and smile detection. It will retail for $99.

In its accessories line, the new Vivitar series-1 d-SLR lens will include an 85mm F1.4A spherical lens for portraits plus a 500mm and 800mm f/8.0 mirror lens. The lenses are compatible with both film and digital SLRs.

The lens line will also include a 650-1,300mm preset lens with a universal mounting ring (T-mount) and a 650-1,300mm super telephoto lens that offers a zoom range from 16 feet to infinity for both film and digital-SLR cameras, the company said. Prices will range from $149.95 to $399.

A lithium-ion battery charger — Ultimate Smart — will feature one-hour charging on 100-volt or 240-volt sources. It can be plugged into car chargers and will retail for $49.99.

Finally, Sakar will ship a line of Vivitar series-1 d-SLR flashes, including the DF-283 AF flash and DF-383 power-zoom LCD display flash. The units work with digital SLRs from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Pentax and Panasonic and will range in cost from $129 to $199.

Sakar also said it would produce and distribute Kodak-branded 35mm cameras and accessories. A dozen SKUs are expected in the second quarter and will include film SLRs for $200 down to Web cams, 35mm film cameras and memory card readers in the $15 to $20 range, the company said.

The brand license will also allow Sakar to sell Kodak-branded computer mice, mouse pads, multimedia keyboards and laptop cooling docks, with prices expected to fall between $15 and $80.