I bought this camera off eBay a few months ago. It was the best value for money at the time and the fact that it was Hewlett Packard made it more tempting to buy. Nearly everything else i have is HP, scanner, printer, computer and they have never given me any problems. The parcel arrived a few days after the auction ending and i was surprised with all the extras that came with it. There was a small tripod stand with the legs moveable so you can position it anyway you want, There was a printer in which the camera docks and can print straight from the camera rather than going through the PC. There was also a 512mb memory card which is very useful as well as a pair of Energizer Lithium batteries.
I took it out of the box as soon as i got in an began testing it. The camera first starts up with a on screen setup guide, setting the time and date. It then goes straight to stills mode in which you can start snapping away. The 1.8inch LCD screen is very clear and not too bright or dull to use. It is also clear to read the text on the screen. It shows EXACTLY what the pictures will look like when printed or put onto the computer whereas the viewfinder is often slightly out of alignment.
The ergonomics of the camera are excellent as it can easily fit comfortably into just 1 hand if your good. The size is also pretty good as it is not too big nor too small (approx W10cm x D4cm x H5cm) The camera lens is 5.2 megapixel with a CCD sensor which i have found to be excellent as i can blow up pictures to poster size without any signs of pixellation.
It has an optical zoom of 3x with a digital zoom of 7x making a total zoom of 21x, however using the digital zoom decreases the size of the picture. Quality is also affected but not by much so the pictures wil still look good on 4"x6" photo paper. The camera also has 6 shooting modes where it adjusts the settings automatically to give the best quality. These settings are Beach/Snow, Action, Macro, Portrait, Landscape and Action.
It also has a built in red eye removal feature which is easy to use once a picture is taken. Another good feature of this camera is the exposure compensation tool which, in intervals of 0.5, ranges from -2 to +2. The picture files are created in JPEG format which is excellent as it uses a small amount of memory compared to BMPs. The camera has a built in 16mb memory but it is best getting a memory card to boost the number of pictures that can be taken.
It also has a video capture feature which records video but without sound. The video is recorded in MPEG format at 15fps with a resolution of 288x216. The cameras built in flash can be either set to flash in every picture, flash only in dark pictures, not flash at all or flash in a way that reduces Red Eye. It also has a self timer feature which lasts 10 seconds and gives you time to get ready for your pic.
It can also be used as a voice recorder as audio can be recorded but i haven't used this feature. Pictures can also be stamped with the date and time or this can be taken off if you want to keep the photo looking special. The date and time is rather quite large and takes up a significant amount of space in the bottom left corner.
The camera can also be set to either work through Plug and Play where you just plug it into the USB and can view the pictures (easiest method) or installed such that it only works with the software on the disc provided. This is more advanced and i haven't really used the software as i have no need for it.
Overall, i would seriously recommend this camera for someone who is not willing to spend over £100 for a camera. It is the best value for money i have seen and i have used this to take nearly all my pictures which are now in supreme quality around the house.
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