The PhotoSmart 620 is equipped with a 3x optical zoom lens, 5.4 - 16.2mm (equivalent to 35-105mm on 35mm camera). Its maximum aperture is f2.8 - f4.4 and the auto focus range is from 20cm to infinity in wide angle or telephoto. There is no macro mode but it does have a 1.3 to 4x digital zoom feature.

The lens extends when powered up and when powered down it is retracted back flush to the body and is protected by a clip-on 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 a central focusing guide (cross hairs.) It shows approximately 85% of the captured image. There is no diopter adjustment. The LEDs indicate focus and camera status.

The built-in auto-adjusting flash has settings for Auto, Fill, Red-eye reduction and Off. Its coverage is about average with a maximum range of 0.5 to 3.5 m in wide angle and 0.5 to 2.0 m in telephoto.

Controls on the back - across the top (left to right) self timer, image quality and flash mode. Buttons across the bottom (left to right) the SHARE button which lets you select printing and emailing options. Under the 1.5" color LCD are the navigation LEFT and RIGHT buttons which also make UP and DOWN selections in menu screens. The OK button calls up the menu system, accepts selections and also switches the camera into Playback mode. The Monitor button to the right turns the LCD display on or off.

Because the color LCD is the only information display it is enabled briefly whenever you press any of the buttons that change features or options.

Controls on the top (left to right): Power button, the Movie record button (seperate from the shutter release and unique to any digicam except for the PhotoSmart 720) and the still image shutter release. You no longer have to go into a menu and change the exposure mode to quickly switch from still to movie capture -- kudos to HP for adding this useful feature.

The PhotoSmart 620 has 8MB of internal memory which can be easily expanded by adding any size Secure Digital memory card up to 128MB.

The internal memory can store approx. 7 "Best" or 14 "Better" 1632 x 1232 images and about 87 "Good" quality 640 x 480 images.

The USB 1.1 port is located in the side of the grip along with the SD card slot. The USB port is for downloading data to computer and can also be used to directly connect the camera to most HP printers. The DC IN port (on other side, not shown) is for the optional AC power adapter.

On the bottom of the camera is an 8-pin connector for the optional HP 8881 Digital Dock that carries video, USB and power. The video out feature can only be used with the optional dock.

The PhotoSmart 620 is powered by four standard AA type batteries. A set of alkaline batteries are supplied but I highly recommend using high-capacity NiMH rechargeables which pack 3-5x the power.

The optional HP 8881 Digital Dock includes a set of NiMH batteries and charges them whenever the camera is docked. The buttons on the front of the dock let you quickly download images to the computer, output to a HP photo printer or display a slide show on your TV set.

The HP Digital Dock has I/O connectors for power in from the AC adapter, video out to television, USB out to printer and USB I/O to computer. It has a neat little sliding cover over the USB ports which keeps you from having both connected at the same time.