Customer Reviews

HP PhotoSmart 735 3.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom & HP PhotoSmart 145 4" x 6" Photo Printer Bundle

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I purchased this camera before taking a trip out West. I'm not a great photographer but found that this camera took good quality pictures without much fuss on my part. I liked the fact that I could change the picture quality settings to hold more pictures (I took 92 one day without having to have a memory card) and I liked being able to set the camera to landscape or portrait or action mode depending on my subject. I found it very easy to use. It's also possible to fine-tune your settings if you're a more experienced photographer. I thought it was a really good value.

I purchased this digital camera for my wife for Christmas after comparing some 6 different cameras. This was our first digital camera, but we pretty much knew what to expect.

Some of the negative reviews I believe are a little unfair. The picture quality is completely dependent on the photographer. The camera allows you to take 1, 2, or 3 "star" pictures. The 1 star photos are the poorest quality - we found them to be equivalent of taking pictures with a cheap disposable camera. But the higher star photos are quite good, and we had no problem using the zoom.

Two words of advice - since you will need to take 2 or 3 star photos for the quality, you will also need to purchase a memory card expander. And this camera is a monster on batteries - we used Duracell Ultras for our first pictures and the batteries died after 10 pictures. My suggestion is to use the camera's manual viewfinder whenever possible, don't take too many video or audio clips, and buy decent rechargable batteries.

The viewfinder was easy to read, the directions were clear, and the camera is easy to use. For people interested in purchasing their first digital camera who don't want the poor quality of a 2MP camera and/or can't afford a 5MP, this is a smart purchase.

For the money this is a great machine. The lens is sharp, colors are well saturated, and everything on the camera actually works. This little guy has rekindled my old interest in photography, and it is possible to take this camera out and come back with hundreds of reasonable pictures. My bags full of high-end 35mm are likely to gather more dust. The optional 8881 dock works well, and the HP photoshare feature allows encoding email address targets or printing instructions on the camera for automatic download/print/email sharing when docked. Standard AA batteries (only two) and generic storage expansion are appreciated. Buy an extra few high capacity NiMH batteries on your own and you will be able to shoot all day long. Moderate resolution setting and a 256 MB SD card will keep you busy for over two hundred shots with very reasonable resolution.

The HP 735 performs much better than I expected it to, and it's highly recommended. A manual focus option is the only feature missing that I would find useful, especially for macro shots. If the functions and output do not satisfy, then the only option is to move up to >5 Mpixels at a much higher price point.

I bought the hp 735 photosmart camera to replace an hp 315 which, contrary to reviews I've read, I thought worked very well. I used it a lot for snapshots, eBay ads, and some pretty good picture taking, editing with Ulead iPhoto software that came with a scanner and displaying photos on my computer with GPhotoshow freeware, which I recommend. The 315 display was too dim. The 735 is better. The 315 had 2.1-megapixel resolution and that was fine for me because I wasn't printing larger tham ordinary print sizes but I'll tell you where the higher 3.2 MB resolution has already helped: when I wanted just a small part of a picture that I couldn't get close enough to - just used my software to crop what I wanted.

The 735 is nice sized - I like to carry it in my pants pocket.

The 16 MB internal memory is totally inadequate. I knew that but so far haven't gotten what I need, having once ordered (then resold) the wrong card on eBay. Plan on spending for more memory right away. Plan on something like a 128 MB card. That's what I expect to get, or 256 MB - I sure wish I knew for sure what product to buy & if they work right! The manual that came with it says "128 MB is the largest memory card tested by HP. Larger sizes ... should work - use at your own risk"!! So you tell me!

The movies are worthless indoors. Unless you provide very bright lighting, or can accept just a dark suggestion of what you saw. And a couple of those very few movies I've taken indoors so far had a blue line down the images! It worked ok outdoors.

You have to solve the battery issue. It ought to come with better info on batteries. I don't like being expected to research the hardware. So far, I've found most of the ordinary AA batteries I have around the house don't work. But I'll tell you this much: right now I have some Energizer Industrial batteries in it, and they seem to work fine. If only I knew where my wife bought them ...
And I have around the house some Radio Shack rechargeable batteries that work in other things - The 1.2 V 1000 mAh AA Ni-Cd versions do NOT work at all in this camera, while the 1.2V 1600 mAh AA METAL HYDRIDE versions do seem to work okay. I'd guess you had better carry some spares in your pocket when you walk out of the house with the upgraded memory card. With the 16MB, no problem.

Beyond that, it has more features than I really want to worry about - for you pros - and the biggest issue I have with those is that in a dark room I find it hard to see what settings I'm on - really more difficult that the older camera if only because with more choices it's harder to tell, for example, do I have it set for fill in flash, red eye reduction, or suppressed flash - features I DO use and find it hard to use on this camera because I can't see the tiny LCD indications in typical indoor lighting, such as in a club or coffeehouse where I'm trying to take photos of my favorite band.

I owned HP's photosmart 315 camera for the last 3 years and decided to upgrade to the HP 735 and WOW! am I glad I did.
This is one fine 'automatic' camera and I am having loads of fun with it. They really thought this one out well. I also bought the 'dock' and it is making my life with this new camera so much easier. It recharges my batteries without taking them out of the camera and it hooks up to my TV to view my photos there if I wish.
Two things I would recommend you upgrade as soon as you receive this fine, easy to use, camera:
1. Purchase a set of NiMH/1800 to 2200mHh rechargeable batteries. (Use the set that comes with it in your child's toys.)
2. Upgrade that 16MB memory card that comes with it to at least 124MB SD card or even an 256MB card. You will be glad you did. Like any computer, we always have to upgrade that memory!
HP products ROCK! No other for me. I highly recommend this camera with all it's ease of use features for the 'snapshot enthusist'! Which most of us are.

Very solid, Auto mode makes point and shoot easy, Bright clear photos, Easy download, workable manual, tons of features, Feels good in hand. Easy to review pictures

Weaknesses:
Hard to see display in bright outdoors. Batteries go fast. slightly confusing access to Image Display and Capture Menu. The Capture Mode more confusing than handy. Limited shots at high resolution

Summary:
I have enjoyed using this camera, my first digital. I find it easiest to use this camera as a basic "point and shoot" I hardly use the Live Image Display although tempted to. It's fun to play cinematographer, but It burns out the batteries too fast.

I don't mess around too much with the Capture Mode option's offered; shoot Micro, Landscapes, Portraits, or Action. My technique is too spontainious for me to set the mode every time I want a shot.

More functional is the capture menu, not the easiest to locate and manipulate when you want to modify a shooting mode, but helpful when an artistic effect is desired. Items from the Capture Settings Menu that I use; The White Balance feature is good to be aware of, for example, If I shoot in the shade mode, even in bright daylight,I don't worry about backlighting. I also like the Saturation feature, nature can be Psychidelic. I leave all the other options to the default (auto) mode. I skip things like EV Compensation, although well laid out in the manual, it is too much to recall on the verge of a picture, the default (auto) mode will take a good picture.

Another Menu, the Playback Menu allows you to review your thumbnails, delete or rotate your images.

I guess I have to buy a memory card if I wish to shoot in only the 3.2MP mode. I only get 8 shots in the highest quality mode. The lowest setting is most memory efficient at 80+ pictures. 14-18 pictures in middle setting is respectable. Next stop? 5MP maybe a digital SLR

I've gotten this camera for Xmas and I am attached to it. It takes great pictures in 3 different formats and has a video option as well (you can record pretty nice videos too).
It's really easy to use, and the USB plug & play feature for connecting to any PC is awesome since you do not need to have the special software installed, thus enabling to download the photos in every computer (especially handy when you are traveling and do not carry with you your own) and emailing them.
I have heard about "swallowing batteries" by a hundred, but the time I have had the camera, I only needed to change batteries once and before running out of them it kept on warning me about it.
I am truly happy about it.

Given the price of the camera, it is a great preformer. The pictures, when set on the 2 star quality, are good, and they're somewhat better on 3 star quality (the camera has adjustable photo quality). I'd reccomend a memory card, but that's normal with digital cameras; most don't come with more than 32MG internal memory, and this one only has 16. On high quality settings, that'll last maybe 10-15 pictures.

The pictures on the higher settings are as good as one can expect from a camera in this price range; they don't compete with the 5 megapixel deals, but what do you expect? They're more than good enough for email or photo work on your PC; I blew a photo up to use as my desktop (on a 17" flatscreen) and it was still photo quality.
The video and audio capabilities are neat, but I don't use them; just have no reason. Also, they seem to eat the batteries. They do work though, and are surprisingly decent (of course, they do not compete with a camcorder).
The interface is easy to figure out, and the camera is easy to use. For most of us, it takes photos as good or better than we'll need.
The only complaint I've heard is that it eats batteries, but so long as I stay away from the video and audio features it doesn't seem to to so badly; they'll last more than the 10 pictures or so that other people mention. I've taken more than 40 pictures since I've gotten it, as well as a 2 minute video (which killed the first set of batteries), and I'm only on my second set. Just buy rechargables.

This is my second digital camera. My first (canon) turned up missing. We believe our 20 month old daughter may have tossed it in the trash. Even she knew that it was garbage..LOL! So we replaced and definately upgraded to this HP. I LOVE IT!! I take a ton of pictures between my 2 babies and selling on ebay and I couldn't be happier. The pics are crisp and clear, and you have so much control with all the manual settings. Yes, there is a delay from the time you push the button to the time the pic is actually taken but that is because it is focusing. All digitals have some kind of delay. If you are taking action pics you can manually set it for such but the quality won't be real great. If you want great quality, action pictures you are gonna need to spend a heck of a lot more than 200 on a camera, or better yet use a regular one and have the pics put on disk. I compared every single camera in this price range in person, online, and asked around to see what people had to say and I think I found the best. If you go to best buy, walmart,whatever...pick up each camera and look at it closely you can definately tell which ones are better quality, and this is definately a great quality camera. Buy this one you won't be disappointed!

Th hp735 is an good value for a 3.2MP camera. The image quality surpassed my expecations for an HP camera. The sharpness and contrast has never been an issue. The color seems to be on the blue side and a little under-saturated. But as long as I have a sharp picture, I can deal with tint and saturation in pretty much any software.

If you're starting out with a new digital camera, the HP735 is an excellent value for the price. The shutter to shot, shot to shot and turn-on time is slow but tolerable. The beginner photographer will enjoy this camera.

Pros:
1. focus brackets indicate focus lock; invaluable when you don't have time to review after the shot is taken; pretty reliable
2. lcd on the top of the camera keeps the back panel display from being cluttered
3. nice, sharp images.
4. the macro feature renders excellent close-ups with nicely blurred backgrounds.
5. their software detects already uploaded pics and gives you the option of only transfering new images.

Cons:
1. does not automatically return to your settings; you must hold the "ok" button when powering on the camera
2. not enough cursor keys to pan when zooming in to review an image.
3. slow shutter to shot; slow shot to shot; slow turn-on; this is typical of entry level digital cameras;
4. battery life but i typically carry an extra set.
5. tint and saturation is a little off; but correctable with software