HP PhotoSmart R927 Review

The PhotoSmart R927 is equipped with a Fuji 3x optical zoom lens, 7.8 - 22 mm (equivalent to 35-105mm on 35mm camera). Its aperture range is f2.8 - f7.8 in wide angle, f5.0 - f8.5 in telephoto. 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.

Auto focus is achieved by a TTL, contrast-gradient AF system. There are Normal, Macro, Infinity and Manual focus modes with either multi-zone or spot focus options. The auto focus range is from 0.5 m (20 in.) - infinity in Wide and 0.6m (23.6 in.) - infinity in Telephoto, the Macro range in Wide is 0.12 m - 1 m (4.7 in. - 39.4 in.).

The Built-in auto-adjusting flash has modes for Auto, Forced Off, Auto w/Red-Eye, Forced On, and Night. The maximum flash working distance in Wide or Tele with ISO set to Auto is 15.6 ft. (4.75 m).

On the back is a large and bright 3.0-inch color LCD with 230,400 pixels of resolution. The LCD has a 170-degree wide viewing angle and shows 100% as the live viewfinder and during image review.

Controls on the back: On the top edge is the Movie mode shutter release.

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. In record mode you press "up" to change exposure modes (Auto, Action, Landscape, Portrait, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Aperture Priority, Shutter priority, Panorama, Document, Theatre and My Mode). In playback you press "down" to delete an image.

Controls on top: The Flash button changes the flash mode. The Macro/MF (Flower/Manual Focus) button selects between different focus settings. The Print/Share button for printing or emailing images. The Camera button is Record mode, the blue Arrow button is for Playback mode. The On/Off button turns the camera on and off. 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 R927 comes with 32MB of internal memory and is compatible with SD (Secure Digital) cards up to 2GB. Shown here is the nifty new SanDisk Ultra II Plus USB 1.0GB SD card. It is a fast and spacious card and has a built-in high-speed USB 2.0 connector - no card reader needed, just plug it into your USB port to transfer data very quickly.

The only I/O port is the docking connector on the bottom. The R927 comes with this HP 6220 Camera Dock that has a jack for the AC adapter/battery charger and the USB 1.1 connector. The USB cable can also be directly connected to any PictBridge printer for computerless-printing.

The optional HP 6221 Premium Camera Dock allows connection to a TV and the HP 6222 Wireless Dock Base adds wireless networking to the HP 6221 camera dock.

The PhotoSmart R927 is powered by the proprietary HP R07 Li-ion rechargeable battery. Battery life is 100 shots minimum, 200 shots maximum by CIPA standards.

Maximum recharging time is 4-6 hours via the supplied docking cradle.