Picture-perfect Photosmart
CNET Rating: 8 out of 10
The good: 8x optical zoom; comfortable grip; affordable; user-friendly menu interface; vibrant colors.
The bad: Quirky optical viewfinder sensor; average quality LCD; relatively sluggish performance. The bottom line: Despite its minor quirks, the Photosmart 850 remains one of the most affordable 4-megapixel 8x zoom cameras in the market today that's designed with novice and intermediate camera users in mind.
 
When we first handled HP's 4-megapixel Photosmart 850, it hit the sweet spot for new and advanced photographers with its potent mix of 8x optical zoom, sub-US$500 sticker price, and a good range of manual and automatic features. Recently, we had a rare opportunity to take the camera out of the labs for a second spin, this time into the nether regions of Middle Earth, somewhere in New Zealand circa 2003. And So The Journey Begins
The downside of using four AA-sized batteries, not to mention carting along extras, was the added bulk and weight to the camera. As it is, the Photosmart 850 couldn't be called travel-friendly
As with most large zoom cameras, the Photosmart 850 uses a separate lens cover which sometimes stood in the way of impromptu shots. However, given the country's variable lighting moods, the 850's fairly bright 2-inch LCD screen was fine for the most part, with the electronic viewfinder (with dioptre control for people who wear glasses) working brilliantly when it got too sunny to use the LCD display. A Cauldron Of Features The most prominent feature of the 850 is no doubt its large 8x zoom lens, which was put to great use capturing the Tolkienesque scenery of New Zealand. From astonishing sweeps of mountains and volcanoes, farmland and forests, the camera's mix of automatic and manual features provided a veritable selection of choices. While it has the fully automatic mode that point-and-shoot users enjoy, it comes with a good selection of manual options such as metering, shutter speed, exposure and white balance for advanced users who want more control over their shots. For example, users can activate the manual white balance when the automatic mode fails to reproduce the colors accurately, or switch to a faster shutter speed to shoot a moving object. And if you find your images underexposed, exposure compensation is just a button away.
In keeping with its axiom to simplify things, HP adds a short description to each of the manual controls in the camera menu. For instance, when you select the landscape option in the exposure mode, a message appears at the bottom of the screen that says "Low F numbers for depth of focus". This adds a nice touch to the camera, making it easy for a newbie to grow with its features. A nifty but sometimes quirky feature on the 850 is its proximity sensor, located just below the electronic viewfinder. Users can configure it to turn on automatically when the eye moves to the viewfinder. The only gripe about the camera is its limited selection of ISO and image size settings. The onboard ISO 100 and 200 modes give users less flexibility when shooting in low-light situations, while images can only be captured in 4-megapixel or 1-megapixel resolution. Good Vs Bad Where image quality was concerned, the Photosmart 850 did not disappoint in this second outing. While some images captured during the trip lacked the crisp quality we've seen in other high-end cameras, the colors were sufficiently vibrant to pass muster, especially for outdoor scenery shots. White balance worked effectively in the automatic mode except for extreme conditions which required a different setting.
Night shots taken with the Photosmart 850 produced excellent results, too, although the onboard flash lacked the range needed at times. With no hotshoe to connect an external speedlight, the camera's flash range is limited to objects that are close by. An additional slave flash would be the next best option if you plan to shoot in low-light conditions. Forget candid shots as well. The Photosmart 850 proved to be a little sluggish, taking 5 seconds to get ready to shoot. It took roughly the same duration when taking consecutive shots. Turning off the image review option cut the interval time by only slightly. A Worthy Companion?
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