Hewlett Packard Photosmart R717 Digital Camera
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- Digital Zoom: 8x
- Camera Type: Standard Point and Shoot
- Weight: 0.4 lb.
- LCD Screen Size: 1.8 in.
- Resolution: 6.2 Megapixel
- Optical Zoom: 3x
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This one is leaving me one way or another.
Pros
Great macro,zoom,menus,colour screen. fits my big hand ok, factory support is 2nd to none.
Cons
Battery life, inconsistent auto mode, needs tripod for macro and zoom, and image stabalizer.
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
Maybe I got 2 turkeys. Poor performance and battery life. make sure you can take it back for at least 30 days. Try before you keep.
Bought a new R 717 on an after christmas sale, new in box.
Read manual completely, cover to cover.
Picture color balance was very good, auto focus was pretty good, but never razor sharp. The Macro function was superb, but you HAD to have the camera on a tripod because of picture shake and blur (keep reading ). I always had to use a digital editing program to punch up the brightness or contrast. Placement of the zoom button is superb and the camera itself, while it is a bit smallish, is Ok to hold, though I do prefer my old HP 315 better because it is bigger and weighs a little more. The extra size and weight keeps camera shake down as this R717 has no image stabalization, which is a REAL problem with the zoom up, macro, or long shutter times.
The battery life is definitely an issue. Using the color screen at the back, on LOW brightness, I can get no more than 60 - 80 pics, with the instant review OFF before the camera tells me that the battery is too low for live view.
And that was following HP's battery instructions inside the manual TO THE LETTER !!
Oh BTW, when that happens, the digital zoom is also locked out because you need the live view for it, only optical is available.
Fast FWD one month later. Just took the camera off charge. Turned on.....nothing. Checked battery with voltmeter ( I'm a 20 year electronic technologist ). Battery fully charged, camera dead !!.
Sent back to HP via phone support. Superb service. Got brand new camera in around a week.
New camera seems ok. Well, if there is any tricky lighting, the R717 falls flat on its face. I dont know how many pics I took that I cant fix !!.
I have read the manual over and over, experimented with each adjustable setting, just to see the difference it makes in the picture. I have reset the camera after each "experiment" and pretty much to no avail, I cant get this thing to take a good picture in anything less than optimal conditions.
Seemed to take OK pictures for a while, then at my sons bowling windup at the bowling alley, the stupid camera, completely in AUTO mode, the brain dead "point it and shoot" mode, served up some real turkeys of snapshots. Talk about wrercking a set of memories. Out of 26 shots, 4 were good. And this was no "glow-bowling-extravaganza", the alleys were very well lit and the camera didnt know what to do.
OK, thats it, enough.
Out of all the awesome HP products I have owned over the years, and easily the most expensive, this one is awful.
Now before contacting HP to see if I can get my money back, I made sure that I didnt do something embarassingly stupid that wrecked an event. After checking through EVERY menu selection COMPLETELY, this camera failed me.
Looks like, for the time being, I am going to have to un-retire my old HP315. It always took great "point and shoot" pictures if you didnt use the all digital zoom.
Sorry HP. This one is a turkey. I will buy another Digltal cam, but you can be rest assured, and I am TRULY SORRY to say this,.....it WON'T be an HP.
Read manual completely, cover to cover.
Picture color balance was very good, auto focus was pretty good, but never razor sharp. The Macro function was superb, but you HAD to have the camera on a tripod because of picture shake and blur (keep reading ). I always had to use a digital editing program to punch up the brightness or contrast. Placement of the zoom button is superb and the camera itself, while it is a bit smallish, is Ok to hold, though I do prefer my old HP 315 better because it is bigger and weighs a little more. The extra size and weight keeps camera shake down as this R717 has no image stabalization, which is a REAL problem with the zoom up, macro, or long shutter times.
The battery life is definitely an issue. Using the color screen at the back, on LOW brightness, I can get no more than 60 - 80 pics, with the instant review OFF before the camera tells me that the battery is too low for live view.
And that was following HP's battery instructions inside the manual TO THE LETTER !!
Oh BTW, when that happens, the digital zoom is also locked out because you need the live view for it, only optical is available.
Fast FWD one month later. Just took the camera off charge. Turned on.....nothing. Checked battery with voltmeter ( I'm a 20 year electronic technologist ). Battery fully charged, camera dead !!.
Sent back to HP via phone support. Superb service. Got brand new camera in around a week.
New camera seems ok. Well, if there is any tricky lighting, the R717 falls flat on its face. I dont know how many pics I took that I cant fix !!.
I have read the manual over and over, experimented with each adjustable setting, just to see the difference it makes in the picture. I have reset the camera after each "experiment" and pretty much to no avail, I cant get this thing to take a good picture in anything less than optimal conditions.
Seemed to take OK pictures for a while, then at my sons bowling windup at the bowling alley, the stupid camera, completely in AUTO mode, the brain dead "point it and shoot" mode, served up some real turkeys of snapshots. Talk about wrercking a set of memories. Out of 26 shots, 4 were good. And this was no "glow-bowling-extravaganza", the alleys were very well lit and the camera didnt know what to do.
OK, thats it, enough.
Out of all the awesome HP products I have owned over the years, and easily the most expensive, this one is awful.
Now before contacting HP to see if I can get my money back, I made sure that I didnt do something embarassingly stupid that wrecked an event. After checking through EVERY menu selection COMPLETELY, this camera failed me.
Looks like, for the time being, I am going to have to un-retire my old HP315. It always took great "point and shoot" pictures if you didnt use the all digital zoom.
Sorry HP. This one is a turkey. I will buy another Digltal cam, but you can be rest assured, and I am TRULY SORRY to say this,.....it WON'T be an HP.
