HP Raises the Bar
Written: Aug 17 '05 (Updated Sep 25 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Battery Life: |
|
|
| Photo Quality: |
|
|
| Shutter Lag |
|
|
|
Pros: Easy to use & feature filled, fast, compact, great price
Cons: More manual settings makes slower picture, lithium-ion battery charges in camera
The Bottom Line: If you're looking for easy to use, good quality, compact, and a moderate price, this camera is it.
|
|
|
| wsmunch's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Photosmart R707 Digital Camera |
(This is a repost of my original review, which disappeared through some epinions crack)
Once again HP outdoes themselves with their value-market but powerful technology. I had previously owned (and reviewed) the HP Photosmart 935 camera and this new R707 ended up to be a lot more than expected for a next-generation camera. I wasn't sure if the R707 was a Pentax-made camera like the previous years' HP models but it seemed pretty well-built. HP makes and invents technology but have other reputable companies build the items which are out of their expertise (like the cameras). Most new cameras that are released to replace an older version aren't that much different from the original. They look a little sleeker, or add a few minor features, or increase the mega-pixel while remaining in the same price bracket (or maybe a bit less), or any combination thereof. When customers ask me for an older model camera which isn't available I show them the new, equivalent unit. When they ask me "what's different about it" they usually hear "not much". But when people ask me about what is new with the HP R707 they usually get an earful (and this was even before I had purchased it).
I notice that the first thing that attracts people to take a look at the R707 is the size. It's *slightly* larger than the compact Canon Powershot S-series, which is a huge improvement over the HP 935 model. The 935 has wonderful performance, but people want small, compact cameras and HP definitely delivered with the R707. The front of the camera is a sleek, brushed steel, while the back of the camera is a flat black. The black is some sort of hard-rubber so the camera gives a smooth grip-feel to it. The controls are comfortably laid out where one can operate the common functions with one hand (wrist strap is always recommended!)
The next question I usually get is "how good is the quality?". 5-Megapixel camera for excellent pictures, but you have HUGE control over your picture quality and file size. The HP 935 only had two megapixel-modes and a few quality/compression modes. With the R707 you can choose between 5, 3, 1, VGA, and custom. With the custom you can specify the megapixel and the compression with 4 levels of file compression. It's interesting how a low-compressed 3 megapixel setting is larger is file-size than a high-compressed 5 megapixel setting.
"Is it easy to use?". Users will be glad to know that the R707 is the EASIEST camera to navigate. There is only one menu with 5 menu tabs: capture, playback, share, setup, help. Each menu tab has it's own background color so it's easy to pick out what menu you're in. The common ones people will use will be the capture and playback menus. People using the HP instant-share will use that menu, setup is done once since most people leave settings as-is, and the help menu is used for those curious and have questions. The clean layout seems to borrow from Canon's menu system but definitely kicks it up a notch in easy to use and navigate. For those wondering about how well the LCD works outdoors, not only is it better than the previous models, but you can also set the brightness of the LCD (low, medium, high) to find a comfortable level. Maybe not as bright as a Sony, but the outdoor performance is impressive nonetheless.
"What can it do?". 10 shooting modes (including a custom mode), and manual controls for EV comp, quality, white balance, ISO speed, AE metering, adaptive lighting, color, saturation, sharpness, contrast, and bracketing. Users can choose a shooting mode to optimize the type of picture they want to take and still fine-tune the settings on top of that (and only the custom mode saves the settings after switching off so you don't have to worry about defaulting the settings for the other shooting modes). What is great is that ALL of these settings have a "help" option which delivers paragraphs of explanations on the particular feature and what the settings will do for the outcome of the picture. So even those who have no idea what the setting does can read the help and get the info. You basically don't need a manual with this camera since most of it is built in. The camera can even give you tips on pictures you have taken (if applicable) and a suggestion on how it could be better.
And the key features that really make it stand out are the adaptive lighting, in-camera red-eye removal, and panoramic shooting. The adaptive lighting is a Hewlett Packard technology that will bring out the shadows in pictures that it takes. So instead of having the main subject being well-lit and the background being dark, the shadows will be lighter and more detailed so the picture will actually look like how you see it live. In-camera red-eye removal is handy! Don't have to worry so much about the red-eye flash with this tool. When viewing a picture in the camera, you can select the red-eye removal option and about 14 seconds later the screen will refresh with boxes around the areas it believes to be red-eye. If you're satisfied that they are correct, just choose "yes" to save the new changes and voila! While not perfect, it gives an easy answer to red-eye for those who don't know (or have the desire to learn) photoshop methods for red-eye removal. The panoramic mode is awesome too. It lets you take up to 5 pictures that you can have "stitched" together so-to-speak. Most cameras will only let you stitch two pictures together. When you take the first picture, the camera creates a thin outline of objects on the right-hand side of the screen so you can use this outline as a guide when you turn slightly to take the next shot. Easier with a tripod, but is easy to use once you get the hang of it. You can preview the entire panorama in-camera too. Makes it great and really easy when you want to combine the pictures in programs like Photoshop.
Other notable features of the R707 would be the 4-shot burst-mode, self-timer, 320x240 30fps video shooting mode, manual focusing, and 8x digital zoom. The burst mode will take 4 rapid-succession shots which is really fun to use. Even without the burst mode on one can take a picture *almost* every other second (depending on settings) which is pretty keen, but the burst mode gives that "fashion photographer" feel. Since it takes the pictures really quick, there is a wait for all the data to save which can take up to 18 seconds or so. A Sandisk Ultra SD card should reduce that time significantly so the burst mode can be enjoyed more. The video and sound seem to be improved from the 935 model. And people can still make voice recordings with the R707 like with the 935. Even though the camera can take video, it's not a camcorder so you can't zoom in and out while recording. While not a camcorder, the video quality is pretty good coming from a camera, and the sound quality has been improved.
The camera uses a lithium-ion battery instead of AA batteries which is good and bad at the same time. Good because it's the reason why the camera is so compact, but bad because you have to use the camera to charge the battery. I wish HP gave a separate charger for the battery instead of the AC-Adapter, but for those (like me) who don't like to use the electronic to charge the battery you can purchase the charger through their website. I would recommend it since those who charge the battery and forget it for awhile will come back to a rather warm camera, which can affect performance in the long run. One other thing that I noticed is the more effects one has turned on, the longer it takes to save the picture file. The camera will tell you this too, so turning on the adaptive lighting and other non-default controls will cause a longer delay in-between shots. It's not too bad, but it was noticeable when I wanted to get out a shot right afterwards. Once again a Sandisk Ultra SD card would probably take care of that since it transfers data faster, and they're nicely affordable when you wait for the cards to go on sale.
As a whole the camera is smaller, faster, easier to use, and well-rounded with features and controls that most people can quickly understand. Those wanting a more "professional" camera (with F-stops and aperture controls), once again, should be directed to a Canon, though not necessarily something in a higher price bracket. A 5 megapixel, 3x optical 8x digital zoom, easy to navigate, feature-filled manual control, digital camera at a $349.99 retail price makes this camera spectacular to get for a first-time digital camera buyer or someone looking for a really good camera to replace an older one with. Despite the few minor drawbacks, this camera definitely stands out in both looks and performance.
Update 9/23/05: This camera just survived a trip through the washing machine while still in a leather case. When removed, the camera and case were wet and the camera would not turn on. I thought at first I would have to get a new camera, but after a few hours of sitting on the table I tried to turn it on one more time and it started up as if nothing had ever happened. Quite impressive.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 349.99
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.