Customer Reviews

HP PhotoSmart 945 5.3MP Digital Camera w/ 8x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I've just purchased this camera and I love it! It takes me back to my 35mm SLR days. It is not a light-weight camera, but feels solid. Lots of features and beautiful prints. The shutter speed is a bit slow so you'll need a steady hand or tripod. But for the price and all of the extras it is excellent. I also purchased the docking station and it works like a breeze. I have an XP operating system and was able to set up in a matter of minutes.

I wanted a digital camera with a large zoom to replace my Nikon F50. The HP takes great picures and is very easy to use but the 8X optical zoom along with the electronic viewfinder makes this camera a great deal. Also put something in called Digital Flash on the menu. I am not sure how it works but brings out the details in shadows like no other camera I ahve ever used.

I have been holding off buying another digital camera until the price tradeoff and quality was right. This was a good deal for the image quality and ease of use. The 8x optical zoom is a pleasure. With or without the Digital Flash feature, this camera does an amazing job figuring out appropriate lighting situations and adjusting accordingly. The macro mode delivers beautiful crisp close-ups.

I compared many shots at 5MP between the top two compression settings and it's very hard to tell the difference, both are excellent. It does not provide a "raw" format, however, but it does not seem necessary.

I'm disappointed is the slow reaction times after pressing the shutter. I knew this ahead of time, but you have to get used to it. This seems typical of affordable digital cameras. The autofocus speed is less than stellar. Also, the "burst" mode seems almost useless. It's a good idea, but because of variable focus time and SD-card write times between shots, you have no idea what's in frame or whether or not it's in focus. Again, only big-bucks gets past these issues.

I took several hundred photos on the first day, at least half of which were action shots outdoors in fading light. Most of them were surprisingly impressive quality and focus, only a few had out-of-frame or out-of-focus subject due to the shutter lag.

Overall, I'm very pleased. This camera will hold me long into the next generation of affordable digital cameras (I'm still drooling to replace my Nikon SLR, this camera does _not_ do that!).

This is my second digital and my best. I've got a 35mm also. The HP945 when you read the instructions takes outstanding photos. I've read of the problems with the Kodak 10x optical and the Olympus 10x optical. For example the pictures out of focus and the LCD going black during the shutter release and this camera can experience these same problems but when you just read the easy to follow instructions this little baby will give you some of the best QUALITY pictures you will ever see. My only limitation is I don't get enough time off from work to enjoy it. In my opion this camera is only second to the $1,000.00 digital SLRs the colors are brilliant and sharpness excellent. And as for the 8x optical zoom with 7x digital Wow! I zoomed in on a tansformer atop the power pole accross the street approximentlly 140 feet away and when I magnified the picture I could read the serial number from the Data Tag. WONDERFUL CAMERA! P.S. Don't forget to read your instructions.

The HP945 is an exceptional digital camera. I am able to zoom in on wildlife at long distances. I have taken some incredible pictures of nesting eagles. This camera is very user friendly and downloading to a computer is a snap. Pictures can be blown up without losing resolution. I have taken pictures that compare with any 35mm camera. I have recieved many compliments on the wildlife pictures I have taken. I would recommend this camera to anyone wanting a great digital camera.

I had a chance to compare this camera with Toshiba M700 and Kodak DX4690. I rate this camera as much ahead in image quality than two above, so that HP 945 comes at the top, then Toshiba M700 and the last one is Kodak DX6490. I haven't bought this camera at Amazon, I bought it at Business Depot. To be short, I would agree with almost all negative reviews about lacking some features in this camera but it does the job.
About a negative review given by Steven Kozuch. Steven, you probably got a camera with a manufacture defect. I had something like this with the first Kodak DX6490, everything was wrong and it was freezing every few minutes. The second one was okay. Steven, I tried to reproduce you problems and I couldn't. I had reviewed more than 300 pictures/images (from the internet, my friends and myself) taken by all three cameras and the HP 945 was the best. Indeed, non of the digital cameras can give you the same quality as a film camera in the same class, so you can really compare them when you have a chance to put one next to another under the same conditions.
The HP 945 was the fastest in getting focus and it was the best in white balance and it was the best in image quality and it was the best in taking pictures in low light and without any light at all (only flash).
Sure, there are better cameras, but as many people are excited about Kodak DX6490 I can say, take the pictures and compare them, be very picky about image quality, the rest you can live with.

I have had mine for about 3 weeks.I am still using the batteries that came with it.I have taken about 300 pictures.It takes very Sharp pictures.The 8x Zoom is outstanding.The Auto-Eye start EVF and large LCD are very good in Low light or Sunlight.LCD Gains Up so it can be used in Very Low Light.Even the digital zoom seems to be sharper than usual.Very low red-eye,uses 4AA Batteries,Aperture Priority,Shutter Priority,Low light Focus Assist Lamp.Lots of Advanced settings Video with Sound,and just Plain Fully Automatic.I also bought one for my Wife.I think it is a Very Outstanding 5.3mp Ultra-Zoom Digital Camera.Lots of Very Nice Features.Other Family Members also own HP-945 and They Love it too.It is Very Easy for beginners.Advanced settings for Advanced users.Help is built into Camera Menus.I Highly Recommend the HP-945.

I'm customer from south east asia (sorry about my english).
I bougth this camera last week (not from Amazon) and have taken about 200 photos. If someone reported that takes any seconds for the time from when you pressed the shutter button until it takes a picture, I experienced too, especially in poor lightning (sometimes even in sufficient lightning). And this is frustating when you have to keep it steady or your photos will be blurry. Then I try to use the AF/AE lock by pressing the shutter halfway, rescene the subject and go! This little baby will go faster to take a picture. I think the problem caused by the time the camera need to calculate the focus and exposure. Could this fixed by firmware ? Ask father. (HP, r u listening ?). So if you follow my suggestion above, every single photo you take will be a great picture (very good color, saturated, and sharp). Some my macro photos are also excellent. With $440 I got 5 MP camera with 8x optic zoom plus 128mb HP SD card, a mini tripod, and a camera bag as a bonus is very interesting to me. Great value !

My new HP 945 arrived two weeks ago as a replacement for a HP 315. New camera worked nice but battery charging seemed to go on and on even after just couple of pictures.

Started me to wonder. Pictures were fine and the learning curve was easy. AS I needed a bigger card I went ahead and purchased a 256 MG SD card after checking with HP Support.

Now the strange problems start -- the camera would lock up and only unlock if batteries were removed. Pictures taken seem OK but sometimes it would say it couldn't read the 256 Mg Secure Digital Card. Then once it was rebooted it would record pictures and upload to the computer. Finally today it locked up again so I called and they want it returned for repair - as usual good service they even pay the courier.

The HP rep however told me that loading pictures from a 256 MG card to a Win 2000 Operating System may not work and that I might need to get a card reader.

Whoa this is getting really off base - camera goes down within two weeks and a 256 MG card may not work with my Win 2000.

This is starting to get me a little upset. No mention by anyone in reviews or on the HP Support site about Win 2000 issues with this camera and 256 MG card. I have their email saying the camera will handle 256 MG; but how am I'm going to get some assurance about it always working with Win 2000.

There are some issues here and I want to get at the answers.

I have had my HP Photosmart 945 for about 2 years. It took great photos when it WAS working.
Now the lens motor is "frozen." When I try to power it up, I hear whirring & clicking noises. Then the lens moves out a tiny fraction of what it should before it shuts itself off. I also called HP "customer service" to see about repairing the camera (at my own expense). They said that neither repair service nor parts are available for this model. They offered me an "upgrade" to a newer model with fewer megapixels and less features for $200.00 plus. I, like some of the others, will invest my $200.00 plus into another brand with better products & customer service.

SHAME ON YOU HEWLETT PACKARD!
I expected better customer service & products with a $500.00 investment.