The PhotoSmart R717 is equipped with a 3x optical zoom lens, 8 - 24 mm (equivalent to 39-117mm on 35mm camera). Its aperture range is f2.8 - f4.8 in wide angle, f4.9 - f8.4 in telephoto, and the auto focus range is from 0.5m to infinity (wide angle) and 0.7m to infinity (telephoto). Macro mode covers from 0.14m to 0.9m (wide) and 0.5m to 1.0m (tele). There is also a 8x digital zoom feature.

The lens extends when powered up and when powered down it is retracted back flush to the body and protected by a built-in lens cap. There are no filter threads or any other visible means of attaching anything to the lens.

The real image optical zoom viewfinder is large and bright with central focusing marks. It shows approximately 80% of the captured image. There is no diopter adjustment. The LEDs indicate movie recording, focus and flash status.

The Built-in auto-adjusting flash has modes for Auto, Forced Off, Auto w/Red-Eye, Forced On, Night, Night w/Red Eye).

Flash working distance: Wide - ISO Speed set to Auto: 5 meters (16.5 feet)
Telephoto - ISO Speed set to Auto: 2.8 meters (9 feet)

Controls on the back: At the top center is the ON/OFF switch, the LED to the left indicates camera ready and image processing. To the right is the Zoom control, which in playback mode it brings up the thumbnail index and magnifies an image. The Menu/OK button calls up the onscreen menu system and accepts selections. The 4-way selector is for navigating menus and selecting pictures for playback.

Buttons around the LCD: The red Camera button is Record mode, the blue Arrow button is for Playback mode. The Macro/MF (Flower/Manual Focus) button selects between different focus settings. The Flash button changes the flash mode. The Selftimer/Burst button allows you to select between Normal, Self-timer, Self-timer - 2 shots, and burst modes.

Controls on the top: the Mode button changes between Auto, Action, Landscape, Portrait, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Aperture Priority, Panorama, Document, and My Mode. A handy feature that we've seen on other PhotoSmart cameras, a separate shutter release for capturing still images and movie clips. No need to bring up a menu or flip a mode dial when you want to capture a movie, just press the small shutter button.

The PhotoSmart R717 comes with 32MB of internal memory and is compatible with SD (Secure Digital) cards up to 1GB. It's also compatible with MMC (MultiMedia) type cards.

The I/O ports are on the left side and include a DC IN port for charging the camera battery or using the AC power adapter, and the USB 2.0 port for downloading data to a computer. The R717 can be directly connected to any PictBridge printer for computerless-printing.

On the bottom of the camera is a connector for the HP R-series Camera Dock that carries audio, video, USB and power.

The PhotoSmart R717 is powered by either the HP R07 Li-ion rechargeable battery (included), or a disposable Duracell CP1 battery. Though the CP1 batteries are a bit expensive (about $13), we recommend carrying one with you in case your rechargeable goes dead when you need it the most.

The optional HP R-series Camera Dock includes a second R07 rechargeable Li-ion battery and can charge both the in-camera and spare batteries simultaneously. It comes with a second AC adapter, which allows you to leave one at home and take the other one along with you into the field.

The buttons on the front of the dock let you quickly download images to the computer or display a slide show on your TV set. The dock can be placed on top of your TV set and you can control playback with the included remote control.

The HP R-series Dock has I/O connectors for DC in from the AC adapter, video/audio out to television, and a USB port to connect to a computer or printer (cables included.)