The Hewlett-Packard Photosmart R817
continues the look of other R-series cameras, offering a distinctively
elegant and modern look. The R817's body is made of a tough
black plastic, which is metal-clad on the front and back and
around the lens barrel.
This is a compact camera but it
still packs a 5X optical zoom manufactured by Pentax,
a 5.1 megapixel resolution, and a 2-inch LCD monitor.
Only two buttons are on the top right side of the R817: the
large shutter release to capture still images, and
the small round button to start and stop the Video
capture.
Once started, a Video recording
lasts as long as there is space in the memory, or on the memory
card. Three image quality settings are available for the Video
mode:
VGA :
(default) captures a 640 x 480 pixel frame at 30 frames
per second and with low compression.
VGA:
captures a 640 x 480 pixel frame at 24 frames per second
using a medium compression.
QVGA:
captures a 320 x 240 pixel frame at 30 frames per second
using a strong compression.
On the opposite side, the left side,
the R817 has a button, embedded into the corner of the camera
called the Mode button. Pressing the Mode button displays
the available modes superimposed on the lower part of the monitor,
with a short explanation of the mode at the bottom:
Auto is the default
mode of the camera. The Auto mode is similar to a Program
mode on other cameras, allowing the user access to parameters
such as exposure compensation, white balance settings,
and sensitivity. However, whatever settings are selected
in this mode are not recalled after the camera has been
powered off and when turned back on, all the default settings
are restored.
Landscape mode selects
a small aperture to increase depth of field, and saturation
and sharpness are both accentuated.
Portrait mode uses
as large an aperture as possible to lessen the depth of
field to create a blurred background behind the subject.
Saturation, contrast and sharpness are automatically lessened.
Using the zoom increases the effect.
Theatre is designed
to capture images at school programs, concerts, or indoor
sporting events. The mode optimizes shutter speed and
flash, focus assist light, and camera sounds are set to
Off. AE Metering and ISO Speed options of the menu are
disabled as they are controlled by the camera.
Panorama mode allows
capturing images in a series to the right or the left
so that they can be assembled later on a computer with
the software bundled with the camera. The flash is forced
off in this mode.
Action mode optimizes
the shutter speed to freeze action. CCD sensitivity is
set to Auto, and the sensitivity will increase as much
as is required to maintain as high a shutter speed as
possible.
Beach mode applies
positive exposure compensation to ensure that highly reflective
subjects are captured accurately and are not underexposed.
Snow mode also uses
positive exposure compensation to ensure that snow is
captured as white, and not grey.
Sunset mode sets the
focus to infinity and disables the flash. In addition
orange saturation is slightly increased.
Document mode increases
contrast and lowers saturation while forcing the flash
to off, while the orientation sensor is turned off.
Aperture Value (Aperture
Priority) makes it possible to select the depth of field,
by controlling the aperture used for the shot while the
HP R817 matches it to a shutter speed. With the zoom set
to the wide angle, the apertures start at f2.8 and extend
to f8 (f2.8, f3.2, f3.6, f4, f4.5, f5, f5.6, f6.4, f7.2,
f8). With the zoom at the maximum telephoto, the aperture
range is reduced to f4.7, f5.4, f6, f6.8 and f7.6.
Time Value (Shutter
Priority) makes it possible to choose the shutter speed
and in turn how the camera stops movement. With the zoom
set to the wide angle, the shutter speeds cover from 1/2000
second down to 15 seconds. But with the zoom at the telephoto
end, the shutter speeds top out at 1/1250 second.
Manual combines
the options offered by the AV and the Tv modes. At the
wide angle setting of the zoom a range of f2.8 through
f8 is available for the apertures, while the shutter
speed tops out at 1/1000 second at f2.8 and 1/2000 second
at f8, extending to as long as 15 seconds for both.
With the zoom at its maximum telephoto setting, the
range of apertures covers from f4.7 through f7.6, while
the shutter speeds go from 1/1000 second at f4.7 to
1/1250 second at f7.6, extending here also to a maximum
exposure time of 15 seconds.
My Mode makes it possible
to create a customized set of shooting parameters including
the specific shooting mode (any of the other modes listed
above) and save these settings so they can be recalled
later, such as when My Mode is selected amongst
the modes list presented when the Mode button is pressed.
The settings that are recalled as part of this mode are
selectable, and can be chosen in the menu. Moreover, the
camera can be configured to automatically start
in the My Mode program.
The power switch is at the centre top of the back, a
push-on, push-off system. When the R817 is on, a blue LED
glows next to the switch.
To the right and slightly below the power
switch, the arc-shaped zoom control, forms the top
of an elongated concave area that ends with the 4-direction
control.
As is now common, the zoom control not only controls the
focal length — wide angle
on the left and telephoto
on the right — it also controls the magnification
of parts of an image in Playback (up to 10X), or the display
thumbnails of captured photos
(9 per screen) when pushed to the wide angle side.
The 4-direction control's only function
is to navigate the menus and the photos when the camera is
in Playback mode, and select apertures or shutter speeds when
the camera is set to Av, Tv, or M modes.
At its centre is the MENU / OK button. The button
serves to display the 5-part menu of the HP R817which
is the same menu whatever the mode the camera is in. (For
more information about the menu, see the Characteristics
and the Interface and Software sections of the
review.)
Four more buttons are aligned below
the 2-inch, 153,600 pixel, LCD monitor that serves to
both frame shots, and review them as there is no optical viewfinder.
Of the four buttons below the
monitor, one is separate, on the right:
The View/Playback
button selects whether the camera is in Capture or Playback
mode. In addition, when this button is pressed and held
while the Power Switch is activated, the camera starts
in the Playback mode, and does not deploy the lens.
The other three buttons are aligned
on the lower left, and when pressed, each button overlays
a icon menu on the monitor, much like the mode button. Starting
on the right:
Starts the Self-timer
or the Burst mode. The Self-timer offers a 10-second
delay, or a 2-shot Self-timer which captures
one photo after 10 seconds and another 4 seconds after.
The Burst mode captures up to 4 photos at the
highest resolution and the frame rate depends on the
shutter speed possible with the ambient light. The Burst
mode remains in effect until changed again.
Controls the Focus modes,
cycling through:
AF, the default, which allows the camera to
focus from 50 cm (20 inches) to infinity.
Macro mode, which lets the camera focus from
12 cm to 1 m ( 4.7 to 39.4 inches).
Super Macro which locks the zoom at the wide
angle end, and allows the camera to focus on a subject
that is from 3 to 20 cm (1.2 to 7.9 inches) from the
front of the lens.
Infinity sets the focus to infinity, perfect
for situations such as night photography when the AF
might be unable to acquire focus, or landscapes.
Manual Focus makes it possible to set the focus
using the up and down arrows of the 4-direction
control. A magnified view of the centre of the frame,
an aid to focusing, is presented on the monitor for
approximately 2 seconds after the focus adjust buttons
have been used.
The last button is to select
the Flash modes, cycling through: Auto, Auto with
red-eye reduction, Forced On (fill-in flash), Forced Off
and Night, which is a first curtain flash with red-eye
reduction and serves to capture a subject in front of
a dark scene.
The HP R817 offers a nice-looking
and modern look. Its controls are well-placed and very responsive.
The 4-direction control, shaped to follow the contours of
the hollow it terminates, is particularly worthy of note as
it is surprisingly efficient and comfortable to use.
This said, while the R817 powers up relatively quickly —
it is ready to shoot in under 3 seconds — it is not
particularly fast to shoot. And when used outdoors, the monitor
can become very difficult too see, making framing a shot a
bit of a hit and miss affair.
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Ergonomics
:
(default) captures a 640 x 480 pixel frame at 30 frames
per second and with low compression.
:
captures a 640 x 480 pixel frame at 24 frames per second
using a medium compression.
:
captures a 320 x 240 pixel frame at 30 frames per second
using a strong compression.
on the left and telephoto 
on the right — it also controls the magnification 
of parts of an image in Playback (up to 10X), or the display
thumbnails of captured photos 
(9 per screen) when pushed to the wide angle side.
