DurocShark
Lifer
After my beloved Olympus C-4000 did the lemming thing out of the Guacamole Bus, I've been digicam-less for a few weeks. This was unacceptable since I needed to eBay some stuff, as well as the fact that my daughter's 3rd birthday party was today. So yesterday I did some quick research and bought a HP Photosmart M425 5mp camera.
HP Photosmart M425
A few features I liked:
3x Optical Zoom
Movie Clips
In camera redeye removal
Small amount (16mb) of built in memory for emergencies
$130 price tag at Circuit City
Boot up time is fast. Just a couple seconds. Switching between viewing photos and taking photos is very fast. It's nice that the lens stays out for the first 30 seconds or so of viewing in case you're just taking a quick peek at the last image and want to immediately shoot some more.
Menus are kind of a pain since there's no button on the camera set to exit the menus. You have to navigate to the exit option. The buttons on the camera are minimal but all the important stuff is right there.
I like how movie mode is just another button near the shutter. The On button is highly visible, but you have to pay attention to it to push it - It's wedged in a corner, so you can't push it accidentally.
The LCD is small, but bright and clear.
The flash is weak. Really weak. But works for most people shooting within 20 feet or so. Because of the weak flash, the camera automatically selects ASA 400 when shooting flash. This makes flash images grainier than they would be at ASA 100.
Autofocus is fast and accurate. The delay from button press to actual capture is 1/4 what it was in my old Olympus. It's still not the intant shot of an SLR or a film camera, but it works.
Built in redeye removal is great. The end result is nearly as good as I can do with 20 minutes in Photoshop for a tiny fraction of the time.
All said, this camera was a bargain at $130. It's an awesome snapshot camera. Now to find another C-4000 for my more creative work. 🙂
HP Photosmart M425
A few features I liked:
3x Optical Zoom
Movie Clips
In camera redeye removal
Small amount (16mb) of built in memory for emergencies
$130 price tag at Circuit City
Boot up time is fast. Just a couple seconds. Switching between viewing photos and taking photos is very fast. It's nice that the lens stays out for the first 30 seconds or so of viewing in case you're just taking a quick peek at the last image and want to immediately shoot some more.
Menus are kind of a pain since there's no button on the camera set to exit the menus. You have to navigate to the exit option. The buttons on the camera are minimal but all the important stuff is right there.
I like how movie mode is just another button near the shutter. The On button is highly visible, but you have to pay attention to it to push it - It's wedged in a corner, so you can't push it accidentally.
The LCD is small, but bright and clear.
The flash is weak. Really weak. But works for most people shooting within 20 feet or so. Because of the weak flash, the camera automatically selects ASA 400 when shooting flash. This makes flash images grainier than they would be at ASA 100.
Autofocus is fast and accurate. The delay from button press to actual capture is 1/4 what it was in my old Olympus. It's still not the intant shot of an SLR or a film camera, but it works.
Built in redeye removal is great. The end result is nearly as good as I can do with 20 minutes in Photoshop for a tiny fraction of the time.
All said, this camera was a bargain at $130. It's an awesome snapshot camera. Now to find another C-4000 for my more creative work. 🙂
