The HP Photosmart 935 is equipped
with a 5.26 megapixel CCD (indicated as 5.3 MP near the lens)
of which 5.08 are effective to capture a maximum image size
of 2608 x 1952 pixels. The CCD is rated with a starting sensitivity
of 100 ISO, but can be increased to 200 or 400 ISO in the menu.
Worth noting, sensitivity settings are not recalled automatically
once the camera has been turned off, returning instead to its
default setting of Auto, which allows the HP 935 to adjust
sensitivity over the entire range.
As with a number of earlier HP cameras, the HP 935 makes use of a Pentax
3X zoom lens with a focal length of 7.6 to 22.8 mm equivalent of
a 37 to 111 mm lens in the 35mm format.
The lens has 2 apertures f2.6
and f5.0 at the wide angle setting, closing to f4.8 and f9
when the lens is at the maximum telephoto setting; while the
shutter speed range covers from 16 seconds to 1/2000 sec.
The HP 935's has a 7X digital zoom, which when added to the 3X optical
zoom becomes the 21X zoom stencilled near the lens. The digital zoom
is a cropping zoom using the full 5 megapixel frame and cropping it gradually
as the digital zoom is increased so that the image captures a field of
view equivalent to a longer focal length. The digital zoom requires
the LCD monitor to be on, and as soon as the camera transits past the maximum
focal length of the optical zoom the image size which is indicated in the
upper corner of the screen gradually decreases, indicating the smaller
image size. At the full "magnification" of the digital zoom,
21X, the image captured measures a mere 384 x 288 pixels.
With the HP 935 only 2 image sizes are available:
5 MP =
2608 x 1952 pixels
1 MP =
1296 x 976 pixels
And either image size can be saved with 1 of 3 compression levels:
Least compression (1 :
6 approximately)
Average compression (1
: 12 approximately)
Strong compression (1
: 26 approximately)
Video clips with sound on the other hand, are captured at a single frame
size, 288 x 208 pixels, and at 15 frames per second. A maximum of 2 minutes
can be recorded at any one time, and during recording the zoom, white balance
and focus are fixed at the first frame. The video clip mode has no menu.
While there are few external controls on the HP 935, the menu provides
a number of options to control how the images are captured. Options can
be selected with the Up/Down arrows, and its setting changed with the Right
or Left arrows. Moreover, the OK button can be used to open a secondary
screen that lists all the option's settings, and adds a Help option
which displays an explanation of the options settings and their use:
Self Timer: provides a 10 second delay and can
be used to take either 1 shot, or 2 shots,
one after 10 seconds, and the next 3 seconds later.
White Balance: Auto, Sun, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent,
and Manual, which is set by pointing the lens at a white
surface under ambient light.
AE Metering: offers 3 modes, Average, Centre-Weighted and Spot.
Centre-weighted is the default and the camera returns to
it every time it is turned off.
ISO Speed: sets the CCD sensitivity (Auto, 100,
200 or 400 ISO). By default, the setting is not retained
when the camera is turned off, and when turned back on
the HP 935 returns to Auto.
Colour: has 3 options, Full Colour, Black and
White, Sepia. The setting is returned to "Full Colour",
the default, whenever the camera is turned off.
Red-eye: On or Off. When the flash is pre-fired
to reduce the red-eye effect. This setting is retained
even if the camera is powered off.
Resolution: sets the image size (see above).
Compression: sets the image quality (see above).
Saturation: Low (muted colours); Medium (the default — normal
colours); High (vivid colours).
Sharpness: Low (soft edges); Medium (the default);
High (increased edge sharpness).
Contrast: Low; Medium (the default); High (increased
contrast).
Setup: accesses the Setup menu which is common
to the Capture and Playback menus. (See the Interface
and Software section of the review for the options of the
Setup menu.)
In Playback, engaged with the button,
the HP 935 has a shorter menu
Record Audio Clip or Play: With still images,
the option shows as a microphone, and a 60 second audio
clip can be recorded. If an audio clip already exists,
or if the screen is currently showing a video clip, the
option shows as "Play".
Delete: has 5 options, Cancel, This Image, Audio
Only, All Images, Format Card.
Magnify: this option magnifies the image currently
on the monitor by 4.5X, and the 4-direction control can
be used to move the image around.
Rotate: rotates the image on the screen in 90° increments.
Image Info: (image at left) displays the
shooting data. Aperture; shutter speed; exposure compensation;
ISO; zoom position; file size; focus (macro or infinity);
and the file name and date at which it was captured.
Setup: accesses the Setup menu.
The HP 935 is supplied with
a 32MB SD memory card (Secure Digital) but is also compatible
with MMC memory cards. The card slot is located on the right
side of the camera, covered by a small hard plastic door.
With a 32MB SD card, the HP 935 can store:
Compression
Resolution
2608
x 1952
11
23
48
1296
x 976
23
48
96
The HP 935 is powered by 2 AA-size
batteries. The camera is sold with 2 AA alkalines, but is compatible
with Ni-MH batteries.
Two external connections are available behind a soft semi-transparent plastic
door on the left side of the camera. At the top is a USB (1.1) connection,
and below a DC input.
Two USB cables are supplied with
the HP 935, one to connect the camera to a USB port on a computer,
the other to connect it to an HP Photosmart printer, or an
HP printer with front panel USB port.
To view images on a television,
the optional HP 8886 camera dock needs to be purchased. The
camera connects to the dock through a special connector in
its base.
The dock includes an AC adapter that can be used to power the dock or the
camera. Two rechargeable Ni-MH batteries, which once loaded in the camera,
can be recharged while the camera is in the dock, or by plugging the power
adapter directly into the camera (15 hours for a full charge). It also
includes a video cable to connect the dock to a television and a remote
control.
Characteristics
button,
the HP 935 has a shorter menu 
