Customer Reviews

HP Photosmart R717 6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom & R Series Dock Bundle

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

PROS:
* easy to use (I mean so simple your grandma could do it)
* great quality photos
* pre-programmed modes allow for quick set up

CONS:
* slow from start to when you can take first photo
* slow to charge flash between pictures

More on the pros:
(Easy to use) When I was shopping around for cameras I was basically walking around the store playing with each camera to and see how many controls I could figure out how to use without reading the manual. With this camera I was up and running in 5 seconds.

(great quality photos) At 6.3 megapixel you get photos of amazing quality with extreme detail (sometimes too extreme; skin imperfections are not great at up close)

(pre-programmed modes) Basically the pre-programmed mode allows you to set basic camera features (such as shutter speed and flash) all at once with a click of a button. You also get 1 mode to program yourself. This allows you to go from a portrait mode to action mode in a second rather than having to play around with all of the settings 1x1.

More on the cons:

(slow at the start) From "Off" mode to picture mode takes longer then you would expect (especially if you have to use flash). So if you want to take a picture of something quickly, you maybe very disappointed. For me this is not such a huge problem since I pretty much take portrait or landscape photos.

(slow to charge flash) I think this is a much bigger problem for this camera than the previous one I mentioned. It takes a while (think like 10 secs or so) between each flash shot. Personally I think this is the biggest flaw that this camera has. This is most annoying when you are taking pictures in a dark environment and the first one you took is not so great so you want to take another quicky, well you're going to have to wait.

Overall:

I am extremely happy with this camera. For the $ you are paying for it, you are getting a great little camera. And yes it is actually smaller than my last camera (Cannon Elph 2.3 megapixel).

This camera has been awesome, and provides all the benefits that the literature boasts. The things I don't like:

1. Boot up time
2. Time between shots (with flash, or if you use the burst mode). There have been times when I've had to wait 30-40 seconds, to take my second shot of 3 bursts.
3. Autofocus. If you really want a quick shot, and point and shoot it, even though the subject is right in front of your camera it is too quick to take the snap and your subject could be out of focus.

The last one is a killer for me, and I'm surprised others haven't mentioned this.

While film (with a Zeiss lense!) is still my preferred format, this is a great little family camera. My wife and daughters love it. Sometimes I am surprised at the quality of the pictures I can print out with very little Photo Shop fiddling -- especially outdoor shots. For indoor, which usually means flash, there are adjustment capabilities that make it possible to get very good "snapshot" pictures. I'm particular, though, most would be happy with the full auto mode. Very handy is the separate button for video clips. This is our second one, as the first was damaged, and it's an excellent value.

I previously owned an HP 435 and wanted to upgrade because the battery type in that camera just doesn't last long at all. I wanted a camera with a better battery and higher than 3.1 MP, but I loved the HP menus, quality of pics, and general ease of use. So I chose the R717 and I just wanted to write and say I love the camera, it works great especially for someone who is not an expert with cameras and just wants one to take good pics with. The review that says Circuit City gives you a free dock is not accurate, they do NOT give you a free dock, it is an error on their webpage and they do not honor errors! I found that out the hard way and you can get it for much cheaper other places!

Anyway, this is a wonderful, easy to operate camera with great picture quality and great battery life!

I had a few extra bucks and wanted to try digital photography, so after some preliminary research I bought an R717 and pluned in.

This is a little gem of a camera, perfect for hiking or travel. The lens is excellent and the zoom and close-up features work very well. The body is nicely designed, fits the hand well, and is very sturdy. I and another family member have taken a number of postcard-quality outdoor photos with it. The higher-quality image functions and some fo the other digital features, as well as learning to "tweak" the printing, add to the serious-photography potential.

I took the HP introductory digital photography course, and highly recommend it. It, along with a lot of picture-taking, helped me understand both the potential and the limitations of the R717.

The limitations, from my perspective, are as follows:

1. The flash lights up the foreground too much, making indoor shots look artificial and washed-out. I haven't yet had the chance to use the "adaptive lighting" function, which may help this problem.

2. It doesn't do well in low-light situations where movement is involved, although with more experience I have found that it will take excellent indoor still photos (portraits, for example) using available light.

3. With quite a bit of practice I have found that it will take spectacular sunset photos, although the colors aren't quite true-to-life - the software adds too much yellow, and the prints sometimes have a "paint-by-numbers" quality.

4. The view-finder is a bit off and I don't used it very much, instead rely on the "live-view" function. It is sometimes difficult to see the screen, so there is a bit of guess-work involved in certain outdoor conditions.

I don't see the need for a docking station, at least for my uses. Downloading and e-mailing photos is pretty user-friendly with the camera just as it is. A bigger memory card, a spare battery and charger, and a portable hard drive for storage would be more useful accessories than a dock, in my opinion. I store my photos on RW CD's. A quirk of the HP Image Zone software is that it won't record your photos to CD, so I just use the "My pictures" program on MS XP, which works just fine. I think the Adobe Photoshop Starter Edition, version 3.0 (free), will also do that.

I have had very good experience with HP customer service, once I got used to the Indian accents. And HP's online courses are very helpful.

For the price this is a great little camera. Its drawbacks have only one remedy: Money. More money will get you a better camera, but I don't think you will get a better camera than this for less money.

I received this camera as a Christmas present last year and I love it! It's very user-friendly, compact, and you get high quality pictures with it. I especially like the zoom feature. The built-in directions for the multitude of settings are handy--no need to lug the owner's manual around.

This is a fantastic digital camera. I take this camera with me every time I leave the house!!
Along with the HP PHOTOSMART GOGO PORTABLE PRINTER 475, I am on cloud 9.
This camera is easy to use and perfect for my needs.
I will say this: if you are expecting professional quality photos, then maybe you should spend the money for your craft. It amazes me that so many people expect "professional work" from a $224.00 digital camera.
If you want caviar---buy caviar!!
DO NOT GET ME WRONG, the picture quality of this camera is awesome.
I am not a professional, I just use this camera for everyday life pictures.
Be Blessed!!

I have been searching for a really good digital camera for several months. My first digital I ever bought was a 2mp and it took horrible pictures. So after looking at several cameras such as the Canon SD300 and the Canon A85, I decided I wanted the HP R717 and was overjoyed when I received it for my b-day! I choose the HP because it had a combination of the things I wanted out of the Canon's but with higher mexapixels. The pictures taken with the HP R717 are very clear and crisp. The adaptive lighting feature is amazing and so is the red eye removal. The camera has great features at a great price. I hightly recommend anyone getting this camera!

Bought a HP R707 for my daughter along with a Kodak digital camera for my other daughter Christmas 2004. Both took great pictures but the Kodak buttons were difficult to use. HP R707 was very easy to use in comparision. The R707 was stolen, oops,(aboard the USS Kennedy CV-67)and we replaced it with a R717. Still a great camera. I used it until my daughter took it back to her ship. I liked it so much I bought another one for myself. Using a tripod this took excellent night photos. As noted by the other reviewer, flash takes a couple seconds to charge, and processing photos takes a few seconds however the Burst feature worked fast. The viewfinder feature was essential to me buying this camera instead of the R817 that did not have that feature.

We just received our HP R717 Digital Camera yesterday. I played with the camera and attempted to use/change features. Most of the features are intuitive and do not require reading the complete manual prior to use.

I also purchased the docking station and it is much smaller than I expected. No connection problems, and takes little space on my computer desk. All adapters for the R717 came with the unit - no problems whatsoever.

I took some test shots and found the camera had more features, beter quality color and detail than I ever expected.

I read the other reviews before purchasing the camera and feel anything under a 5 star rating is under-rating this great camera!

Dealing with the Indian tech support can be frustrating in attempting to resolve an issue - word of advice - e-mail tech support - very helpful and overcomes the language barrier.

Thrilled in Albuquerque