HP products review


HP Photosmart R707

At press briefings during PMA 2004 HP staffproblem or flash not charged. I'd prefer a
quietly admitted they had finally realizedseparate indicator for flash and focus
that the company's digital cameras sufferedreadiness,  but  this  is  a  minor  niggle.
from something of an 'image problem'. Big,
seemingly designed to resemble a house brick,The LCD monitor is a fairly typical 1.5-inch
and made from the kind of materials normally119,000 pixel affair, it's sharp and bright
found only on the dashboard of a 1980'swith sufficient resolution, and the refresh
hatchback, the Photosmart range simplyrate is significantly better than earlier HP
couldn't compete with the slick, shiny andmodels. My only complaint is that screen is
keenly priced Far Eastern offerings. From nowturned off after about 30 seconds (something
on, we were told, HP cameras would beyou can't change) to save batteries. The
designed for style, speed and ease of use,camera can be woken up by half-pressing the
and would no longer be twice the size ofshutter, but the live preview has to be
their direct competitors. The 5 megapixel, 3xre-activated by pressing the record button,
zoom, Photosmart R707 is the first of thisan  unnecessary  extra  step.
new wave of slimmed-down, metal-bodied HP
cameras, offering a tempting mix ofHP's new design 'signature' is a wave-shaped
thoughtful design and some genuinelyindent moulded into the front of the camera
innovative features. Most of these are aimedto improve grip. It adds a little flair to
at ensuring less experienced users avoidthe design and certainly seems to do the job
common photographic pitfalls, somethingwithout adding to the bulk of the body. The
possible mainly due to the inclusion of abrushed steel cladding looks and feels very
clever Texas Instruments Digital Signalluxurious, but we found it quite easy to
Processor (DSP). The power of the DSP isscratch, and inevitably it shows every greasy
obvious when you look at some of the featuresfingerprint. If you like your camera to look
it has allowed HP to shoehorn into the R707:clean you'll be wiping the fascia with your
T-shirt  every  10  minutes.
Adaptive lighting technology ('digital fill
flash')In a move we struggle to understand (also
seen on Canon's new PowerShot S1 IS) there
In-camera  red-eye  removalare two shutter releases - one for stills,
the other for movies (it only works when the
MPEG  movie  modecamera is set to movie mode). The results
from the R707's movie mode are certainly
Comprehensive  on-screen camera instructionsimpressive, which makes the fact that I kept
pressing the 'wrong' capture button whenever
In-camera  panorama  stitching  (preview)I tried to use it doubly annoying. Another
minor niggle is the main stills capture
'Image advice' - on-screen help system thatbutton,  which  could  be  more responsive.
analyses saved pictures, identifies problems
and suggests how they could have beenAt a glance the R707 might look like nothing
avoided.more than a stylish point-and-shoot camera,
but once you start to dig a little deeper
The R707 is surprisingly comfortable in youryou'll find a real wealth of features
hand, with the subtle moulding of the frontdesigned to help the novice snapper, as well
plate offering considerably more secureas a few manual controls thrown in for the
single-handed operation than appearancesmore experienced user. As with most compact
might suggest. The two controls most used incameras with limited real estate available
everyday snapping - the shutter release andfor external controls the majority of the
zoom rocker - are perfectly positioned,more advanced features are accessed via the
though I felt more comfortable supporting theextensive on-screen menu system. The most
camera with both hands as operating the zoomcommonly accessed functions - macro mode,
meant relaxing my grip. There are eight otherflash mode and self-timer - get their own
clearly marked buttons on the rear, plus abuttons, as do HP's now standard instant
4-way controller and the power switch. Atsharing  and  printing  features.
180g the R707 is weightier than it looks,
which helps keep the camera stable whenRear  of  camera
shooting. One minor point - the R707 can get
mighty warm in continuous use, something youThe main controls are ranged around the top
need to bear in mind if you want the bestand right sides of the 1.5-inch LCD. These
possible image quality (noise increases asoffer quick access to macro mode, manual
the  camera  temperature  rises).focus, self-timer and continuous shooting
(burst) mode, plus buttons for switching
Body  elementsbetween playback and record modes and HP's
instant share and instant print functions.
The R707 has a combined SD/MMC and batteryThe camera is turned on and off with a slider
slot (fortunately the battery is held in withbutton next to the optical viewfinder. The
a latch so no chance of losing it whenright-hand side of the rear of the camera is
changing cards. Although no card is suppliedhome to a small zoom rocker switch that falls
in the box. The camera can handle any SD orperfectly under the thumb, and a four-way
MMC card from 8MB to 2GB. The battery is acontroller surrounding the Menu/OK button.
L1812A Lithium Ion that is rechargedPressing this once brings up the on-screen
in-camera, and - if you can find one anywheremenus, which are navigated using the
- the camera can also use a Duracell CP1directional 'arrow' keys. Another press of
disposable cell. In our tests battery lifethe central button confirms menu selections.
with the supplied rechargeable was excellent.
Top  of  camera
The optical viewfinder is a standard direct
view affair that is really too small forOn the top of the camera you'll find two
regular use. And if you wear spectacles,shutter releases - the main one is for taking
forget it; there's no dioptric adjustment andstills, the smaller one to the left is a
you'll never see the entire frame with your'stop/start' button for recording movies.
glasses on. The upper LED (red) lights upOver the lens is another small button that
during movie capture, the lower (green) LEDcycles through the R707's various shooting
glows when the camera is ready to take amodes.
picture, or blinks to indicate a focus



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