As we had noted while reviewing the
HP R707, this series of HP cameras have interfaces that use a
good combination of colours and a very legible font. Moreover,
they emphasize helping the user understand the camera's functions
and photography terms and concepts, and do so well.
The menu system is likewise quite straightforward and all its sections
remain visible and accessible at all times. One of these, Setup,
is identified by a wrench icon, and provides for the basic configuration
of the R607:
Camera Sounds: to turn off or control the volume of
camera sounds (Off, Low or High).
Live View Setup: On or Off. Decides if the LCD monitor
is automatically turned on at the same time as the camera.
Date & Time: sets the time and date on the camera
as well as the date and time format.
USB serves to select the USB protocol: PTP, to allow
the camera to be recognized as a camera, and allow for the
automatic transfer of images by the HP software; or Mass
Storage, to have the camera recognized as an external hard
disk.
TV Configuration: decides the video out signal for
the R607, either NTSC or PAL.
Language: selects the interface language (English,
German, Spanish, French, Italian or Dutch).
Move Images to Card: serves to transfer images from
the internal memory of the R607 to a memory card.
Reset Settings: resets all parameters to their factory
defaults, with the exception of the date and time, interface
language, TV and USB configuration.
Exit: to exit the menu.
A printed manual is included with the camera. The manual provides
in-depth information about the camera, its functions and those
of various modes.
Software
In North America a single CD
is included with the HP R607. Called HP Image Zone Software,
the disc also provides a copy of ArcSoft's Panorama Maker,
version 3.5 for Windows, and version 8 for Macintosh, as well
as the complete manual for the camera in PDF format (Adobe
Acrobat).
Worth noting, the complete software package requires a sizeable 437
MB of disk space, and takes over 11 minutes to install on a fast
machine.
The program starts with HP Director,
a small application that serves to launch different portions
of the HP software. HP Director offers access to HP Image
Zone, which serves to open images, perform some editing,
and print photos; Transfer Images, which serves to automatically
download images from the camera; Creative Ideas, which opens
up an extensive section that provides instruction on the types
of tasks that can be accomplished with the software; HP Shopping,
which simply opens up a browser window onto HP's main web site;
and last, Software Update,which opens
a browser window to check for updates for the HP software installed
from the CD.
Image Zone is the primary
section of the program that serves to view photos, including
shooting parameters. Each section of Image Zone is identified
at the top of the window with a tab and the first, My Images,
presents images as thumbnails or, if a particular image is double
clicked, shown in a larger size with controls below to allow
moving forwards or backwards through the other images contained
in the folder.
Some image editing is possible
by selecting the second tab. A selected image is then presented
in the main window, while the tools to modify it are listed on
the left. The image can be auto enhanced, red-eye can be eliminated,
the image cropped, flipped, resized and rotated as desired. In
addition, the overall brightness, sharpness and colour saturation
can be adjusted.
The image can then be re-saved as a new image, or by overwriting the original.
The third tab, Projects,
serves to create album pages, cards or flyers. The next tab, HP
Memories Disc, allows burning images onto CD so that they
can be preserved, shared, or viewed on a TV or computer. The
last tab, HP Instant Share, is a guide that provides step
by step instructions to share images via e-mail, order prints
online, or create online albums.
Finally, Panorama Maker is installed along with HP's software, but
is accessed as an independent program. Panorama Maker serves to assemble
series of images captured with the R607's panorama mode into single panoramic
images.
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Interface & Software
