The HP Photosmart 935 offers a 3X Pentax
optical zoom lens and a 5.0 megapixel image size at a very reasonable
price. Regrettably, HP continues the practice — confusing
for many buyers — of combining the 3X optical zoom and
the 7X digital zoom of the camera, and stencilling a whooping 21X
zoom near the lens. However, were this accurate, it would
be reflected in the focal length numbers on the front
of the lens which would be 7.6 to 159.6 mm, and
not 7.6 to 22.8mm.
,
effectively a second shutter release dedicated to the Movie mode.
The top left side of the HP 935 provides
the Mode Dial, and two rectangular buttons which, each time they
are pressed, light up a small yellow LED to indicate the selected
function. The button closest to the front of the camera is for:
Macro mode which lets
the camera focus on a subject between 14 and 70 cm (5.5 to
27.3 in.) when the lens is at the wide angle setting; and
40 to 70 cm (15.4 to 27.3 in.) at the telephoto setting.
Infinity mode, effectively
a Landscape mode, which sets the focus to infinity.
The other button, the one nearest the back,
controls the flash modes. Worth noting, when the flash mode is Auto there
is no indicator light:
Forced Off.
Forced On (Fill-in) can be used
to add light to a backlit subject.
Night (Slow Synch) which first
fires the flash and then leaves the shutter open long enough
to capture the background.
The Mode Dial provides 5 shooting modes,
of which 3 are Scene modes:
Full Auto Mode:
the HP 935 selects aperture and shutter speed. All other
settings available in the camera's menu remain available.
Aperture Value: allows setting
either one of two aperture values when the camera's LCD
monitor is on. All other settings remain available.
Portrait Mode: pre selects
as wide an aperture as possible to blur the background
of the main subject slightly. Camera sensitivity (ISO)
is controlled automatically.
Landscape Mode:
pre selects a small aperture to increase depth of field.
Camera sensitivity (ISO) is controlled automatically.
Action Mode: maximizes the
shutter speed to freeze action. Camera sensitivity is automatically
controlled and can be increased to obtain as high a shutter
speed as possible.
The back of the HP 935 supports the remaining controls. First, at the top
and to the upper right of the optical viewfinder is the On/Off switch.
Further to the right is the zoom control which, unlike the majority of
cameras nowadays, has no additional function in Playback.
Below is a 1.5 inch LCD monitor with 113,578
pixels and 3 buttons on its right edge.
Live View Button: serves
to turn the LCD monitor On or Off.
Playback: turns the playback
mode On or Off. In addition, when the HP 935 is in the Playback
mode, touching the zoom button, or the shutter release returns
the camera to the capture mode.
Share: calls up a menu
that allows printing 1, 2, or 3 copies of selected photos;
or, with prior installation using the software provided,
selecting either e-mail addresses or a distribution list
to which selected photos will be e-mailed automatically
when the HP 935 is connected to a computer.
Last is the 4-direction navigation controller which serves to make
menu selections, or change from one photo to the next in Playback. At its
centre is an OK button that calls up the HP 935's menus, or clears
them off the monitor, and which when held in while the camera is powered
up allows some settings to be recalled. In addition, when the monitor is
turned on, the right and left arrows are used to set exposure
compensation — ±3EV in 0.5 EV increments — while the up and down arrows
are used to choose the aperture in the Av mode.
The HP 935 is easy to operate as
it has few complex or advanced functions. However, it is also
relatively slow to respond to the controls. It can take up to
10 seconds for the camera to be ready for use when first turned
on, a length of time which in part is due to the fact that by
default the camera starts with the flash set to Auto, and should
it be necessary for the shot, it has to charge before the shutter
will release.
Introduction
