HP PhotoSmart R927 Review

This is the record screen when using "Auto" exposure mode. At the top there are icons for storage media (SD), battery condition, number of pictures remaining, and image size/quality.

After you have taken a picture, you can preview it in playback mode and select Image Advice, then the camera will display a screen like above.

Press the Mode button ("Up" on the 4-way controller) to change the exposure mode, selections are: Auto, Landscape, Portrait, Theatre, Panorama Left, Panorama Right, Action, Night Portrait, Night Scenery, Beach, Snow, Sunset, Document, Aperture Priority, Shutter priority, Manual, and My Mode. You can also access these modes from the Record Menu.

The "Av" mode is for selecting the aperture value manually. The aperture value is dependant on the focal length of the lens and ranges from f2.8 - f7.8 in wide angle and f5.0 - f8.5 in telephoto.

The "Tv" mode is for selecting the shutter speed manually. Slow shutter speeds are used for night shots, low light situations and when you want a moving object to appear blurry (i.e. flowing water). Use of tripod is necessary for all slow shutter speed shots. Fast shutter speeds will "freeze" fast moving objects.

The Manual mode (not shown) lets you select both the aperture and shutter speed values. The camera will display an exposure meter to help you select the right settings to obtain a proper exposure.

Record menu options:
(Note, the Help option displays info. on a selected function)

Shooting Mode - Choose the desired exposure mode
Self-Timer - Off, On (10 seconds) and On - 2 Shots
Red-eye Removal - On or Off
Exposure Compensation - ±3 EV in 1/3 EV steps and Help
Adaptive Lighting - Off, High, Low, and Help
Bracketing - Off or On - take 3 shots with ±0.3, Adaptive Lighting or Color effects
Image Quality - 8MP ***, 8MP **, 5MP **, 2MP **, VGA **, Custom, or Help
Video Quality - VGA***, VGA**, QVGA*
Burst Mode - On or Off
White Balance - Auto, Sun, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Manual and Help
Auto Focus Area - Multi or Spot
AE Metering - Center, Spot, Average, and Help
ISO Speed - Auto, 100, 200, 400, and Help
Saturation - Low, Medium, High, and Help
Sharpness - Low, Medium, High, and Help
Contrast - Low, Medium, High, and Help
Date & Time Imprint - Off, Date only, Date & Time, and Help
Exit - Exit the menu system

Setup menu options:

Display Brightness - Low, Medium, High
Sounds Volume - Off, Low, High
Focus Assist Light - Auto, Off
Display Timeout - Never, 15, 30, 45, or 60 seconds
Instant Review - 1, 2, or 4 seconds, Off
Digital Zoom - On, Off
Live View Setup - On, Off
Date & Time - Set Date and Time
USB Configuration - Digital camera or Disk drive
TV Configuration - NTSC or PAL
Language - Choose from 6 different Languages
Move Images to Card - Copies images from the internal memory to a memory card
Reset Settings - Allows you to restore factory default settings
Exit - Exit the menu system

The PhotoSmart R927 captures 640x480/24fps (Best and Normal quality) or 320x240 MPEG-1 movies with sound, the length is limited only by the capacity of the memory. You can use the optical zoom while recording video, but you will hear the noise of the lens movement.

You can access the Help menu in either Record or Playback mode. This is a very useful tool, that gives users a lengthy description of various features and controls of the camera.