Nice Camera at a Nicer Price
Written: Aug 01 '04 (Updated Aug 25 '04)
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Pros: Same quality as Canon A70 at half the price.Just 2 Batteries. Sharp LCD
Cons: Faulty Battery meter, more than average noise, soft focus..just as Canon A70.
The Bottom Line: This is a good camera. I swapped it for the 720 due to it's weight and timing performance even if it makes slightly lower quality pictures.
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| eiapoce's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Photosmart 735 Digital Camera |
I got this camera right after mine HP720 and Canon A70. I am updating this review after testing of another 2 digicams (Sony DSCP-P93 and Pentax Optio 30)
PROS
It is compact and the structure looks rugged enought to withstand some accidental fall. As the other HP the controls are accessible on the top next to a secondary display with the basic informations. For further programming modes and settings you are supposed to use the camera LCD and the menu buttons.
There are advanced controls like aperture and White Balance but the best part of HP cameras is that they usually don't need setting those fancy options and make the best picture on "auto" mode (which is selected by default when you turn on the camera).
This camera sports a brilliant LCD display and has generally fast operating times (startup - shutter relay - Autofocus). It is faster and focuses a tad better than the HP720 (in low light situations) but just like the Canon A70 exibits a soft image.
It does perform extremely well in macro mode where, differently from other makes, it is possible to optically zoom-in and thus capture incredibly small details.
Memory types accepted by the camera are MMC and SD. They are not the cheapest but also not the most expensive avaiable in the market and prices of the MMCs are falling (look on ebay). See also the Cons on memory usage!
The price of this camera is low. If you don't need a supersharp camera wich is fast to operate and portable then this could be your choice.
CONS
Simply photos from this camera are not as "sharp" as those produced by the HP720. There has to be a noise recuction system somewhere in the software that blurs the pictures! Specially at wide angle picture quality is somewhat disappointing.
Also the Jpeg compression even at maximum quality exibits artifact (maybe a result of a noisy sensor) and a wopping filesize of average 1.600 Kb per photo (as much as the double of my former camera!) A MMC is mandatory
I found some "problem" with the flash at night: sometimes it is not up to the task of making light on the subject and the result is a dark picture or a picture missing all the background. For night shooting the performance is average and a tripod is mandatory (as with the other cameras). On the other hand the available "night shooting mode" coupled with a tripod gives excellent results.
Lastly Battery life is average (not excellent) and the battery meter suffers from some serious problem: After the first four/five photos is likely to show little or no charge remaining on fresh batteries!... But the camera won't stop working either so... just ignore it and keep shooting! A secondary pack of batteries is strongly suggested.
In the Average :
Movie mode. It takes movies with audio ;-) The quality is medium if compared to the new cameras on the market. So this is not Pro or Cons the camera.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 165
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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Epinions.com ID:
eiapoce
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Reviews written: 42
Trusted by: 1 member
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