HP Photosmart M527 6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

by HP

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.7 x 1.2 x 2.4 inches ; 14.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000DZDPEK
• Item model number: M525
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,030 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 24, 2006

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The HP Photosmart M527 6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom let you take clear, crisp photos and beautiful enlargements up to six megapixels in resolution. A 3x optical zoom and 7x digital zoom--for a total 21x zoom--lets you take impressive close-ups, and a two-inch image display makes it easy to view and frame your shots.

This compact, user-friendly camera is designed for quick, one-handed shots. You can also record video clips with sound. The Photosmart M527 includes a red-eye removal feature that lets you adjust your photos directly in the camera. You can also add borders, special effects, or change photos to black-and-white or sepia quickly and easily. It includes 16 megabytes of internal memory, and for additional storage, the camera also includes a slot for optional secure digital (SD) memory cards. Included HP Photosmart software lets you edit, organize, print, and share your digital photos easily, and a plug-and-play USB connection lets you transfer your photos to your PC or compatible printer quickly and seamlessly.

What's in the Box
HP Photosmart M527 Digital Camera, two alkaline AA batteries, USB cable, quick start guide, warranty/regulatory brochure, CD with HP Photosmart software for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh, user's guide, and wrist strap.

Product Description

HP Photosmart M527 6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent For the Price, December 28, 2006

By 

R B (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: HP Photosmart M527 6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

The HP Photosmart M527 is an all around well built camera, espicially considering the price it can be purchased at.

The body is all metal and it's honestly built like a small tank. It feels good and strong in your hands. The weight of the camera is also very evenly balanced, so you can hold it in one hand and get clear shots in almost any situation. The ergonomics and overall design also help with this. Every button on the camera can be accessed with just your one hand.

The screen is very nice, bright, and colorful, even on the lowest brightness setting. I really don't have a problem with it being "only" 2". I can't imagine a situation where the "small" screen would negatively impact the ability to accurately frame a shot.

The image quality, for the price, is also fantastic. The shots can be a little noisey. But honestly, how many cameras in this price range will not produce noisey pictures? Considering the price, the image quality is great. Sure, it doesn't look as good as a Canon that costs an extra hundred dollars. But that doesn't mean the image quality is bad. The noise disappears completely when you shrink the picture down to fit in an email. Afterall, you're not emailing friends pictures that are 3.3MB in size each, are you? ;) When printed out, using a photo printer or getting them done professionally, the prints are very colorful with good detail, definition, and color saturation. They will definitely be able to sit next to all of your other framed prints, or go in a photo album, and only you will ever know that it is a digital print because nobody else will be able to see the difference in quality.

The camera also offers multiple shooting modes that can help improve the image quality in certain situations. For example, it has a "Portrait" mode which can help the look of closeups dramatically. It also has the obvious "Night" mode which will take care of any dark or murky pictures in low light. There is a "Beach and Snow" mode which will help you with those high contrast shots in bright lighting. It has a Macro mode which has obvious uses. You can also manually adjust certain other parameters, such as ISO speed. However, you cannot adjust shutter speed or more advanced settings like that. But if you find your pictures aren't exactly what you want them to be, there are definitely modes that can help you get the quality you desire.

The camera also has a decent movie mode. It can record roughly 30 minutes of slightly better than VHS quality video, with sound, on a 512MB memory card. It's not very good in low light, but it can be good for those quick moments when you are out and wish you had a video camera. However, you cannot zoom in or out while recording. You can adjust the zoom before and after recording. But not during.

The camera also has very extensive photo editing features built-in, like the famous "slimming" effect, and you can do other things like add borders. It also has a very thorough Help system.

There are only a couple of minor gripes I have about this camera. The first is battery life. Real world battery life is about 100 shots on two alkaline batteries. So get some rechargables or lithium batteries. The second gripe is that the memory card slot is right in there with the batteries. So that can be a little bit of a pain if you use a memory card reader instead of hooking the camera up to your computer to transfer pictures.

Overall its a great camera for the price, as long as you keep you are realistic with what to expect. You're getting a complete package for not very much money. Not many other cameras under the $200 price range offer such a complete package. If you're looking for a great camera on the cheap that is built well and has a ton of features, this is definitely one to look at. However, if you want absolutely pristine image quality, you're better off looking at the $250+ Canon PowerShot A6x0 series. For me, this camera is the one that is built like a tank and will get taken with me everywhere I go. But I will keep a higher quality Canon around for those times when image quality is more important than the quick, yet good, shot.

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Megapixels aren't everything..., September 8, 2006

By 

Poindexter "dex" (Fairbanks, AK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: HP Photosmart M527 6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

Don't be fooled by the enticing 6 megpixels that this camera offers. I'd been waiting along time to upgrade from my 3 MP Nikon Coolpix SQ as the prices of the higer resolution cameras continued to drop. What've I've discovered, however, is that there is so much sensor noise in the full resolution 6 MP images from this HP camera that the additional resolution is worthless. The images look absolutely horrible. My little Nikon SQ with it's lower resolution produces much sharper pictures at every image size. Do your homework and make sure that the sensor in the camera you're buying is a good one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't BUY, November 23, 2009

By 

Lady Jane (PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: HP Photosmart M527 6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I only have this camera for under 2 years & now have battery problems. The camera no longer recognizes a charged battery. I put new ones in & can get 3 or 4 photos max til it dies. I have a charging dock that no longer charges. Very disappointing. My first HP was a 735 & it is still working great.