Some of the HP 850's features are bound to attract the attention of both
new and experienced photographers. Starting with an 8X optical zoom lens,
the HP 850 also offers an electronic viewfinder which avoids the parallax
error inherent to all non-TTL (Through The Lens) viewfinders; some basic
Priority modes and a shutter speed with a low of 16 seconds. These are
the type of features one tends to associate with the more expensive —
and complex — digital cameras.
Yet, even with these features, the HP 850 is in fact a very simple camera,
clearly designed more for the point and shoot photographer than the advanced
user.
This fact is evidenced by the very basic set of controls available, unlike
what is offered on some other cameras that have broadly comparable capabilities
in terms of optics and ergonomics. Not only is the simplicity of the HP
850 revealed by the absence of any complex setting, it can also be seen
in the functioning of the camera.
For instance, there is no simple way to have the camera remember any of
its recording menu settings after it has been powered off. Likewise, the
camera only offers 2 image sizes, and provides no uncompressed image format.
This simplicity can even be seen in the fact that the AF assist light
will always turn on — even in Landscape mode — whenever the
light is insufficient for the AF system to focus by itself.
Moreover, the HP 850 isn't particularly fast in use. It takes the cameras
about 5 seconds to start, time mostly spent on deploying the lens, and
when the shutter release is half squeezed to pre-focus, the image freezes,
often for more than a second, as the HP 850 determines and sets the shooting
parameters.
Indeed, the HP 850 is best characterized as a big zoom, easy-to-use, point
and shoot; a camera designed for users that want to take fuss-free photos.
Aperture:
f5.9, shutter speed: 1/581 sec., 100 ISO
Aperture:
f4, shutter speed: 1/437 sec., 100 ISO.
However, while the HP 850 is simple to use, this doesn't mean that it
doesn't have a generally high image quality. Photos shot with it reveal
it to have accurate colour and good saturation, and although only a compressed
format is available, it yields fine details.
Much of that stems from the fact that the lens is bright, offering an
f2.8 aperture at its widest angle and f3.1 at the maximum telephoto, which
lets the camera capture images at shutter speeds high enough to avoid
camera shake.
In
addition, the CCD is limited to a maximum sensitivity of 200 ISO, restricting
the level of noise in the image, even when the camera automatically boosts
the sensitivity to 200 ISO, in order to maintain a higher shutter speed.
When the light is too low, the pop-up flash pumps out a sufficient amount
of light to easily cover 3 meters (10 feet), and yields bright and evenly
lit photos except at the widest angle.
Aperture:
f2.9, shutter speed: 1/33 sec., 200 ISO
Still,
when used in a dimly-lit room, the image shown by the HP 850's viewfinder
can be a bit surprising. The camera increases the gain of the CCD far
beyond the 200 ISO mark while focusing, and shows a grainy image, one
which can occasionally take on odd colours. Yet, when the photo is captured,
the result is usually very good.
When everything is taken into consideration — the simplicity of
the camera but the good images it captures; the presence of a couple of
priority modes that allow for limited experimentation; an 8X zoom lens
combined with a sharp EVF — the little idiosyncrasies of the HP
850 can be left aside. Clearly, this is a camera that offers a fair bit
of value for the money.
