HP Photosmart M425 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom
by Hewlett Packard
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Our Price: $321.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-3 weeks Buy Used: from $222.22 (click here) Category: Digital Camera See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of HP Photosmart M425 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom
Customer Review: Horrible quality
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this camera 4 months ago. The on/off switch no longer works and the camera is a piece a trash now. I contacted HP support. Unfortunitely, it only came with 90-day warrenty. So I was offered to pay $115 to exchange for a used one, imagine that!. That ends my desire of buying any product from HP.
So make sure purchase entended warrenty!!!
Customer Review: Horrible Shutterlag, otherwise good.
Summary: 2 Stars
I recieved this camera as a birthday present. Its great if you want a starter point and shoot, but folks should be aware of the following features. 1. you have almost no control over the image settings, the autofocus is pretty good, but you don't have many other options. 2. There is no manual view finder (i.e. no hole to look through). You have to use the digital display as viewfinder, which is a little frustrating when you are almost out of batteries. 3. The shutterlag is terrible. Unless you are very very steady, the pictures will be blurry. On the upside, its relatively cheap, it does take decent pictures, its VERY easy to use, and doesn't eat batteries. The shutterlag issue drove me bonkers, and I've switched to the sony cybershot. Customer Review: A good camera for the casual photographer
Summary: 4 Stars
I got this camera about 4 weeks ago. I've been using it as much as possible and I like it. It's easy to use, almost point and shoot. I have limited knowledge in photography, so this is good for me.
The LCD screen shows pictures in great detail, and even keeping it on all the time battery life is pretty good. Video is saved as AVI: quality is fine, but very big in file size.
I love taking pictures of the fish in my aquarium, so the macro setting is used the most. It works fine provided you have enought light.
3x optical zoom works fine. digital zoom is never used by me.
Customer Review: Ok, but could be a lot better.
Summary: 3 Stars
We wanted a simple, easy to use digital camera and the guy at Circuit City recommended this one. We just took it on our trip and while it worked ok, I wish we would've shelled out a little more and gotten a better camera.
My major complaint is that the shutter lag is awful. Scenic shots came out great, but almost anything with people came out fuzzy. Also, we had to replace the batteries twice in five days which was a hassle. I think we're going to return it and get something else.
Customer Review: For the price - excellent
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this camera for my parents - who are not tech / gadget lovers, to put it mildly.
It is very easy to use, the automatic mode is fine most of the time, the power and zoom buttons is a little fiddly, not something I noticed until I was giving the parents the "how to use it" lesson! This is not to say that they are difficult, just that some people might find them hard to use. It does what it is designed to do.
The photos are clear and sharp, colour reproduction is Ok - sometimes colours are more vibrant than in real life, but mostly this is subtle enough to just make the photos more intersting and visually appealing. (People's skin looks better - so it can be quite flattering!!!!) 5MP is easily enough for good quality prints and enlargements. With a 1/2 Gb card, you can just set the default to the highest quality and forget about it. It will store 100's of photos in that format.
The body feels a little plastic - I have a Canon Power shot SD500 which feels a lot more solid, (but cost about $200 more) and the time lag between taking shots is a little longer with the HP (with flash - can be 2 - 3 seconds), but I think that it is a great buy for the price.
AA batteries are great - especially for people who might be prone to forgetting to charge a battery for that special event.
The main reason why I didn't give it 5 stars was that I did not like the software that came with it. Editing the photos an rotating photos to display appropriately was not intuitive. Certainly not when compared to the software that came with the Canon. Admittedly, I did not spend a lot of time with the software, so maybe I just didn't see the obvious..........
I got a Kingston 512 MB Secure Digital Card (SD/512)for about $14 - and I am delighted with it. I can't believe the price of SD memory in the US. (I'm from Europe - I would expect to pay easily 3 - 4 times that in Europe). It works, there's not a lot else to say about it. It's not a high speed card, but with this camera, a high speed card would be a waste (I put a high speed card into it from my Canon and it didn't make a noticeable difference to the time lag between shots, so I assume it is the processor that is the main cause of the delay).
If you buy it, get rechargable batteries, also - the bag they suggest is expensive... I got a Targus bag (Targus DLUC02 Universal Camera Leather Case - Black ) which does the job - it does make it too big to fit in your pocket - but you will want space to carry round the extra batteries!!!!
In conclusion, this is a very very good first time digital camera. The downsides are the feel of the camera (plastic) and the lag required between shots. It is heavy on batteries, but given that there are rechargable batteries on the market - that doesn't matter so much. I didn't think the software supplied was good, but I note that others think it is, so maybe I didn't give it enough time.
Would I buy it for my parents again? Yes.