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HP PhotoSmart 935 5.3MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

HP PhotoSmart 935 5.3MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

List Price: $394.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I loved my Kodak... but this is a nice upgrade.
Review: ... Personally, I think some of the HP Cameras are ugly...but I dont sleep with it,
and who can beat a 5.3MP DigiCam with a MSRP of [the price] ? I have mine on Windows XP>> NO PROBLEM. With a 128MB SD Card I get 48 High Res(5.3MP) Pix(I only take High Res)(1.0/5.3MP switchable) Recommend a 256MB or higher
card. Batteries? ,about the same as my Kodak, just use 1800MAH or higher,(2200MAH now available from MahaEnergy) have spares and limit viewscreen use as with all cams. Features... lots. Dock is great... [the price] EXTRA(MSRP). My Excellent deal... Provantage (ohio) Camera & Dock Bundle BOTH(look-up thier p/n Q2218A)... smooth transaction. About the Cam Bag not included..so what
I spent [price] on a nice bag that fits in my Briefcase. OVERALL>>>
Ugly...Performs...Unbeatable Value as of this writing. OH ,BuyDig
offers this cam for less than provantage BUT DOES NOT INCLUDE THE DOCK even though ad says so.(JERKS) KODAK...I still love ya, I just needed a 5MP NOW, for under five bills... and you didnt have it. My MLS Photos are now better than 95% of the others.
SWEET.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Camera is a Lemon
Review: After quite a bit of research, I bought this camera (HP PhotoSmart 935) and thought I had made a good choice. I was wrong. When I received the camera, the SD card that came with it could not be accessed by the camera. I called HP and they sent me a new one. The new card worked, but even with lithium batteries, I was only able to take 2-3 pictures before the camera shut down due to low battery power. However, I could start the camera back up after 1 minute and take another 2-3 pictures before it shut down again, and I could repeat this process multiple times before the batteries gave out altogether. I also tried rechargeable batteries and the HP docking station, but had the same problem, so I returned the camera and HP sent me a new one. The new camera had the EXACT SAME PROBLEM. After talking to several HP techies, I returned the second camera and received a third. And of course, the third camera also had the EXACT SAME PROBLEM. I can only conclude that there is a design and/or production flaw in this camera. I strongly recommend that no one buy this camera until HP can discover and correct the problem.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very good Camera
Review: An awsome camera. The only bad thing about it is, it drains batteries very quickly when using the live view. Make sure to buy a more memory for it. The 32 meg that comes with it holds less then 16 pictures on the best quilty.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: MyMac.com Product Review
Review: Back at the start of November 2003, I wrote a review of another HP digital camera, the HP Photosmart 435, a 3MP model. That review was hard to write, as I have had good experiences with HP products for a number of years, and the 435 was simply the worse HP product I had ever used. To give a fair review, I had to score that camera very low, and a part of me just could not reconcile the fact that HP had made a bad product.

With the HP Photosmart 935, I feel that HP has vindicated the trust I have always felt for their products. While not perfect, and in fact flawed in a very few places, the HP Photosmart 935 is a great camera, one I would happy replace my aging Kodak with.

The HP Photosmart 935 is a 36-bit 5.3 -megapixel digital camera sporting 3x optical zoom lens, using a 7.6MM - 22.8MM Pentax Zoom lens. It also has 7x Digital zoom, which for any serious picture taker or photographer knows to avoid like the plague. (Digital zoom is worthless if you want quality pictures.)

The 1.5 inch backlit LED (521x218 pixel) digital viewfinder is remarkable in its clarity, but suffers from the same ailment most viewfinders on digital cameras does, which is blurry and hard to view from any angle except right behind the unit. Not a criticism of the 935, but simply pointing out the need for better LCD's in all digital cameras.

The controls are easy to use, in both settings and operation. Too many cameras try to pack as much controls as they can on the top and back on their digital cameras, and while there are quite a few on the 935, all buttons and controls are easy to use and in appropriate spots, rather than a hodgepodge of tiny buttons clustered together. Kudos to HP for understanding that a degree in engineering should not be needed to simply change shutter speed, or even turn on/off the viewfinder to save battery life.

Speaking of battery life, I found that the HP Photosmart 935 goes through them like there is no tomorrow. A brand-new set of Duracell batteries (the 935 uses two AA for power) only lasted for fifty pictures before running too low to allow the viewfinder to work. While battery life can be prolonged simply by not using the viewfinder, getting close to 250 pictures before needing a battery change, I found that the 935 still used up batteries faster than any of the previous digital cameras I have used. I do applaud HP for using standard AA batteries rather than the more expensive, and harder to find, CR-V3 variety, power consumption may be an issue. Look for rechargeable batteries for this unit.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: excellent service:
Review: Excellent service... thank you Digicam + ...
You did exactly as promised... you even sent it
priority mail ... i got it within 72 hours...
You get 5 stars in my book ...
Highly recommend ... great price,great service.

satisfied customer,
c.e. copeland

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Simple to use, easy to share.
Review: First let me say I read all the poor reviews (mostly because of battery life) and I haven't had any of these problems myself. I am not sure if HP 935's had a defect which they have since fixed? Anyway, I acknowledge the problem, but have not expierenced it myself. I was able to take 70-100 pictures before charging my batterys.

I bought the HP 935 just a few weeks ago and I love it. It is simple to use, but at the same time takes great pics! I also bought the docking bay and it makes it very easy to upload / print / edit pics.

The only complaint I have is the fact that you can only take pictures in 1mp or 5mp. There is no way to take 2mp,3mp or 4mp pictures. That doesn't really bother me, but it is a small disadvantage.

For the money this is a great buy.

As far as accessorys go get some NiMH batterys, some extra SD cards, the camera dock and plenty of ink and photo paper! You are going to be printing beautiful photos right away!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: HP 935 - Absolute Joke of a Camera
Review: HP 935 not worth it. Please read.

Despite all of the many, many flaws of this 5.3 mega pixel camera, it still serves a purpose.

If you are seriously considering this camera - please read on, and be careful how you spend your money!

~THE BAD~
- Very slow in many respects!
- Very slow read and write times to/from the memory card.
- Slow at taking pictures.
- Very slow on start-up.
- Not very accurate colour reproduction on professionally printed prints.
- Colour tones seem muted or slightly washed out
- Battery life very low. Way below average.
- 7x digital zoom awful. You can't tell what you're taking a picture of; it's so small on the screen.
- 5.3 megapixels does not make more detailed pictures. Only larger ones. For more detail, go with interlaced digicams.
- Flash effective for only half the distance it should be for.
- Software glitches
- CCD is obvously low quality: too much "noise" in pictures.

~THE GOOD~
- 5.3 megapixels make for huge pictures. If you need them.
- Pentax lens.
- Lots of picture-taking options.

~ THE STORY~
one of my buddies has a Sony 3.2 mp camera which takes far superior pictures in almost every respect. The colours are more vivid and more accurate. The 5.3 mp of the HP 935 only makes a larger picture, because, once you've reached "Photograph Quality" prints, you can't get any clearer unless you buy an interlaced digital camera.

We both had our pictures printed at the same professional photo booth. The result? All of our pals who saw our pictures agree that hers are better. And, sadly, I would have to agree as well.

~OTHER CAMERAS~
This is a sub-par camera not to be taken seriously.
Even 3.2 megapixel Sony cameras take way better pictures than this HP.
I suspect that you'll get even better results with a modern 2.0 or 2.1 mp camera, by almost any other company.
Consider anything BUT this camera, unless you enjoy wasting money.

***************
~THE END~
Overall - HP has a long way to go before they'll be taken seriously in the camera world. Given the chance again, I would not buy this camera. Image quality is sub-par. Colour is sub-accurate. Price is too steep for what it is. If this camera cost $200 (Canadian) it would be fantastic. Because that's what it should be worth.

Bottom line is: This is a joke of a camera.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: value camera, but you can do better
Review: HP's new 5MP, 3x zoom digicam offers point-and-shoot ease to value buyers. this camera will provide pictures for large prints or cropping. uses HP's instant share system, making printing and sharing photos very simple. however, performance lags the competition.

pros:
- accurate color reproduction
- very good auto white balance
- consistent contrast and wide dynamic range
- low noise at ISO 100 and 200
- good flash performance (limited range though), good exposure, good contrast, no color cast
- uses HP's instant share system makes it very easy to print and share photos
- easy to use interface
- clear full text message display
- has excellent in-camera manual that provides help each setting
- control over image parameters (tone, color, sharpness)
- audio clip recording
- optional dock provides additional functionality
- excellent battery life
- uses non-proprietary AA battery - just make sure to buy rechargeables
- includes a remote (for viewing images only)
- USB connectivity
- compact 3.8 x 1.8 x 2.6 in and light 9.9 oz

cons:
- extremely slow processing and file write times - this is a deal-breaker for me
- artifacts show up when you enlarge photos
- no AF assist lamp so you'll need some light for this camera to focus
- unimpressive macro performance
- no manual exposure mode and limited preset exposure modes - only 3 built in (sports, landscape, and portrait)
- aperture-priority mode only allows two apertures
- slow start-up: almost 5 seconds
- slow auto-focus with shutter lag in the 1.5 second range
- shot-to-shot time runs 2 to 3 seconds with no continuous-shooting mode
- dark and slow frame rate 1.5-inch LCD is difficult to see outdoors; what you see is jerky
- limited flash range of 8.2 feet
- only two image size options
- the supplied 32MB SD card is inadequate; be prepared to shell out more $$ for more memory

as indicated, this camera is very easy to use but the processing and file write times are glacial. for the same price, a canon s50 will provide more flexibility and manual control yet still be a perfectly good point and shoot camera.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great camera for the price
Review: I am not a tech-person so I have to pass on that this camera is a non-tech person's dream. Very easy to get started - intuitive interface that meant I could start taking photos (even having NEVER used a digital camera before) after reading the most basic info in the users manual which I'm grateful for as I received this camera for a Christmas present and wanted to use it right away.

I don't think you can get a 5.3 megapixel camera with a Pentax lense that compares to this camera for the price. Good value in my opinion.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Camera!
Review: I bought this camera after seeing it on the Oprah show as one of her Favorite Things for Spring and now I know why. It is a great camera!! This is my first digital camera and when I was shopping around this was definitely the easier camera to use. The LCD screen is great and when you choose an item or change a selection the camera explains in a sentence or two about the new selection and hints of when to use the setting.
This camera is not the smallest on the market but it is small and it is actually lighter than my friends Canon PowerShot 400.
I just got back from a trip from Colorado and my pictures were beautiful. Very clean and crisp. It was excellent during the day and in the evenings with low light. It is a very quiet camera which was great when I hiking so I didn't disturb any wildlife. I couldn't be happier.
I would definitely recommend and the price on Amazon is the best around!


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