With the HP 945 a 1/1.8 inch
5.26 million pixel CCD od which 5.08 are effective is used.
CCD sensitivity starts at 100 ISO but can be increased to 200
and 400 ISO. An Auto mode that appears to strive to maintain
100 ISO is also available.
While the HP 945 has a five million pixel CCD, its physical size is the
same as the 4 megapixel CCD that had been used with the HP 850. Therefore,
when used with the same lens, a 7.6 to 61mm, the 35mm equivalent is unchanged,
corresponding to a 37 to 300 mm lens.
Aperture start at f2.8 at
the wide angle end of the zoom and go to f11.3 in 9 steps; while at the
telephoto end, apertures start at f3.1 and
go out to f12.4 also in 9 steps.
The shutter speed range of the HP 945 covers 1/2000 sec
down to 16 seconds and is available to all shooting modes.
In addition, for images captured at low shutter speeds, the
HP 945 automatically applies noise reduction.
As the optical zoom is used, it moved through 13 distinct steps until the
maximum telephoto setting is reached, and then transits to the digital
zoom. The digital zoom places a rectangular yellow frame on the image,
indicating the area that will be cropped — an area equivalent to
what would be seen with a longer lens — and when the photo is taken
that portion is saved. Therefore, at the full "magnification" of
the 56x zoom, the image captured measures 384 x 288 pixels, and
is in reality just the centre of the full size frame.
The HP 945 uses an auto focus system that focuses on a point near the centre
of the frame. A bright red AF-assist lamp, carried over from the HP 850,
comes on under low light to help the camera focus, and if needed the AF-assist
light can be turned off in the Setup menu.
Again, as was the case with the HP 850, the HP 945 provides only 2 image
sizes: 2608 x 1952 pixels (5 megapixel), and 1296 x 976 pixels
(1 megapixel); and 3 JPEG compression settings: Best, Better and Good,
each represented by stars.
These, along with other settings, are made in the Recording menu:
EV Compensation: exposure compensation is possible
over ±3EV in 1/3EV increments.
White Balance: Auto, Sun, Shade, Tungsten (incandescent),
Fluorescent, Manual (set by pointing the camera at a white
subject.
AE Metering: Average, Centre-weighted, Spot. (Centre-weighted
is the default).
ISO: Auto, 100, 200 or 400 ISO.
Digital Flash: processes the image to brighten
shadow areas. Three settings are available: Off, Low and
High.
Colour: Full Colour, Black and White, Sepia.
Resolution: as indicated above.
Compression: Best, Better, Good.
Saturation: controls the colour saturation, Low
Medium, or High; and Medium is the default.
Sharpness: Low, Medium (default) and High.
Contrast: Low, Medium (default) and High.
Setup: enters the camera's Setup menu. The options
of the Setup menu covered in the Interface/Software section
of this review.
In addition to being able to capture 60 second video clips
with sound, the HP945 can record a sound annotation lasting
up to 60 seconds once an image has been captured.
This function, along with others, is found in the Playback menu:
Record Audio/Play: the option either allows recording
60 second of audio associated with an image, or, if already
recorded, playing the audio recording back.
Delete: deletes the current frame, or all frames,
or formats the memory card.
Magnify: magnifies an image on the screen. Magnification
is 4X in one step, and then up to 150X, filling the screen
with pixels.
Image Info: which displays the shooting data over
the image.
Setup: accesses the Setup menu.
The HP 945 is SD and MMC compatible
and has been tested to be able to work with cards up to 512MB.
Supplied with a 32MB SD (Secure Digital) card the HP 945 can store:
Best
Better
Good
5MP
11
23
48
1MP
23
48
96
The HP 945 is compatible with
the HP Photosmart 8881 Camera Dock. The camera dock can be
used to automatically download photos to a computer, or to
connect the camera to a printer to print photos directly, or
to connect the HP945 to a television to present a slide show.
The HP 945 is powered by 4 AA-size batteries and Metal Hydride (Ni-MH)
batteries, or alkaline batteries can be used. The camera dock includes
4 Ni-MH rechargeable batteries, and the batteries can be charged while
they are in the camera and the camera is in the dock. A full charge takes
approximately 15 hours.
It is worth noting that the
HP 945 appears to be a hefty power consumer, and seems to have
some difficulty estimating the remaining charge reliably. Equipped
with nearly new and freshly charged N-MH batteries — three
different brands were tested — the camera will often
show the batteries as being only half charged, or fully charged.
The use of the LCD screen also seems to drain batteries more
quickly than many other cameras.
Although the HP Photosmart
8881 camera dock is a valuable accessory, the HP 945 has its
own connections on the left side of the camera, covered by
a flexible door. At the top is the USB (1.1) port, and depending
on the cable used, the camera can be either directly connected
to a computer or any HP Photosmart printer with a front panel
USB port.
Next is the AV out which allows connecting the HP 945 to a television;
and last is a DC-In jack for the HP AC power adapter (sold separately)
which can be used to recharge the batteries in the camera.
Characteristics
