Pros: Extremely durable, takes great quality photos, easy to use and transport, includes audio.
Cons: Small LCD screen, small internal memory, low quality videos, some trouble in direct sunlight.
The Bottom Line: The HP photosmart M425 is all that you would expect and more from an inexpensive camera. I highly recommend it as the smart way to take pictures.
luxuryliners's Full Review: Hewlett Packard HP Photosmart M425 Digital Camera ...
Overview:
The HP photosmart M425 is a 5 mega pixel, 3x optical zoom enabled digital camera. It has the capability to shoot pictures in multiple modes, record videos with audio, and even add audio to your digital photos. An included SD memory card slot on the bottom of the camera means that the number of photos you take is only limited by the size of the card that you put in the camera. The M425 operates off of two AA batteries and has a connector on the side for a 5 volt power adapter. There is a USB connection on the side of the camera and a hole to screw in a tripod mount on the bottom. The batteries, tripod, SD card, and adapter must be purchased separately but the USB cable is included with the camera. The camera is small with dimensions approximated to 3.5" L X 2.5" H x 1.5" W. It is silver in color and weighs less than 2 pounds with the batteries in, which makes it easy to carry and hold while taking pictures. The camera is made by Hewlett Packard and the vast majority of my experiences with that company have been positive.
Physical Description:
On top of the camera there are two buttons, the largest is the main button you press when taking pictures, the other is for videos and has a picture of a camera next to it. On the back of the camera there are three buttons above a 1.25" LCD screen. The first allows you to access the flash settings, the second is the printing menu, and the third is for viewing images you have already stored on your camera. The power button and blue indicator light is contoured into a groove just above the three buttons previously described. The zoom is controlled by a boomerang shaped button on the top right of the back of the camera and below that is the menu/ok button, to get to the main menu, surrounded by four directional buttons. Near the bottom of the back of the camera sits the delete button with a trash can icon imprinted next to it. A blue LED light flashes on the left side of the camera to let you know that the camera is busy processing information, the camera shuts off automatically after a few minutes and the power button will also flash as the device shuts down.
Taking Pictures:
The camera has the ability to shoot photos in various resolutions from as low as 1 megapixel all the way up to 5. You can also choose to use a VGA setting that produces low quality pictures recommended for E-mail use by the manufacturer. You can adjust the exposure compensation, white balance, and ISO speed to fine tune your photos using different easy to follow bars in the capture menu. The capture menu is easy to access: after the camera has turned on just press the large menu/ok button and the capture menu will be the first tab on the screen. You also get the option to choose from various date and time imprints on each photo or none at all. The most important feature of the capture menu is the shooting mode menu at the top. You get to select from settings such as, night portrait, landscape, fast shot, burst (multiple shots in sequence), macro (for close objects), sunset, beach and snow, and my favorite...auto mode. For most photos I recommend setting the camera to auto in mode, white balance, exposure compensation, and ISO speed because I don't know what I'm doing with them. The camera will actually suggest a shooting mode in some situations by flashing the picture icon from the capture mode shooting mode menu, in the upper left corner of the screen, as you take a picture.
Holding down the main button halfway will prepare the camera to take a picture. Two parenthesis like indicators will appear in the center of the image you are trying to shoot. If they are green, then your picture should turn out fine. If they are red, then either lighting is to low, you need to hold the camera steadier, or it is warning that some other factor will result in a poor photo. If they are green but a white glove appears next to them, the lighting is probably to low and the result would be a blurred picture. Depress the main button all the way to actually take the picture. The camera will still attempt to take a photo even after a low light or motion warning (red or gloved indicators) but the results are often poor.
The design gallery menu is also a major feature of the photosmart M425, it is the second tab next to capture mode after pressing the menu/ok button. The design menu allows you to make adjustments to photos after you have taken them. You can select color modes for your photos including black and white, sepia, or just normal color in the design gallery menu after saving the images to the card. You can remove red eyes, add borders, add audio, move images from internal memory to the SD card, and modify to the colors described above by scrolling through this menu.
The third tab from the left is the setup menu, from it you can adjust settings for display brightness, camera sounds, usb configuration, tv configuration, and language. You can also set the date and time for the camera here if it doesn't automatically prompt you to upon start up.
The fourth and final tab is very helpful, it is the help menu. Kind of like microsofts online help (but not online) this menu answers practically any question you could have about taking pictures, what the menu's do, how to connect to a PC or television, how to print, even what batteries to use and how to increase their useful life. I have used the menu several times and it is well written, detailed, and easy to understand.
Taking Video/ Recording Audio:
Recording video and audio are two capabilities that set this camera apart from some lower priced models. First I will describe the video function of the camera. Videos are kind of low quality at 320 x 420 resolution with a bit rate of 352 kbps. They include audio and the internal microphone catches most sounds in good clarity, but it will not record quieter sounds. If you are recording a car starting or talk directly into the camera then you shouldn't have a problem but it will not capture a whisper or even the audio from a television program, unless the volume is turned way up. All videos are in AVI format and should open with recent editions of Windows Media Player. The lower quality of videos keeps the file size down on most videos so you can record longer but don't expect professional video results from this camera. The video function is just nice to have and the combination of audio with it set this camera apart from competitors.
You can also record audio to go along with still images in two different ways. The first way to record audio to your pictures is to hold down the main camera button for two seconds immediately after snapping a picture; you will here a shutter sound from the camera and observe a microphone symbol with a time clock running next to it, that means you are ready to record up to 1 minute of sounds to accompany your photo.
My Experience:
I have used this camera to record videos, take pictures, and take pictures with recorded audio. I have used the night portrait setting for dark settings, the beach and snow setting for snowy scenes, and the landscape setting for pictures of large expanses at state parks. My favorite use for the camera is to go to classic car shows and snap pictures of entrants vehicles. I just got back from a show where I took over 430 photos in bright sunlight on one set of batteries. I still had space for over 600 pictures on my 1 gb memory card and the camera was set to the maximum resolution of 5 megapixels (best).
The camera is extremely durable, I have used it now for more than 2 years and yes I have occasionally dropped it. Despite using the camera in temperatures ranging from 3 below zero to over 100 degrees stored in a car and dropping it more than once, there is still barely a scratch in the silver paint. I've replaced the batteries hundreds of times, removed and replaced the internal SD card countless times, and taken over 3,000 photos with this camera but there is virtually no wear and tear on it. The original string strap on the camera is still in great shape and the LCD screen is still fine after wiping it clean several times over the years. I have kept the camera out of the rain for the most part but a little moisture has yet to hurt it. Overall a great purchase.
Things to Watch Out for:
One of the shutters that covers the shooting lens of the camera got stuck for about a month for unknown reasons, then it miraculously started working again. I had thought the shutter broke off somehow but it was just stuck up in the camera. The locking mechanism on the bottom of the battery cartridge has become a little hard to fully shut, which could cause the batteries to fall out (something that you don't want to have happen while the camera is saving data or you could lose everything on the card). Sometimes the camera overcompensates for bright sunshine by making pictures too dark as if the contrast was turned down to low on a television. The camera alleviates bright streaks from your photo caused by reflections (remember I take a lot of pictures of cars with polished chrome) in doing so but you might need to photoshop the darkness out of some pictures if you forget to set the camera to a more sun conscious mode.
I have three complaints about the design of the camera, the first is that the LCD screen is too small when compared to the competitions offerings. My second complaint is that video quality could be a little better. Finally the internal memory is too small to make this camera useful without a memory card. You can only take 4 photos at maximum resolution using the internal memory and videos...forget it. Understand though that most digital cameras have grossly undersized internal memory so that is not unique to this one.
Final Thoughts:
I highly recommend the HP photosmart M425 considering its durability, user friendliness, array of functions, and ability to capture quality photos. This is not a camera for professionals but I think it should appeal to the other 99% of us who need an affordable, durable, camera to take on trips or just shoot photos of landscaping in the back yard. The bottom line is that this camera really lives up to its name: photo smart.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 100 This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
Features 5 MP resolution for poster-sized prints and 3x digital zoom Large, bright 1.7-inch display 16 MB internal memory plus SD/MMC card slot Plug-a...More at Amazon Marketplace
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