Customer Reviews

Hewlett Packard PhotoSmart 215 1.2MP Digital Camera

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

This camera is relatively inexpensive, but it's not all it's cracked up to be. Battery life, flash charging time, image processing time, and poor design all conspire to make this a frustrating item.

Battery Life: The only time this camera works as it should (i.e., flash charges in a reasonable time, LCD can be used, etc.) is when used with superior (read "expensive") batteries. There are no rechargeable power options, and when sending photos to your PC, do not attempt to use any power cord but the one HP sells (for a hefty price) or else you run the very real risk of frying the camera.

Design/Ergonomics: The camera's design is very poorly executed. It is difficult to hold the camera steadily without placing your fingers over the lens; consequently one is forced to hold the camera in an awkward way. The viewfinder is not well aligned, and has no depth (i.e., your view out the viewfinder can change a good deal as you slide your eye from one side to the other). Finally, the trigger button has a poor feeling--it's requires that you press down too long.

Flash Charging: As noted above, with anything but the best batteries, the flash will take a ridiculous amount of time to charge up: upto 25 or 30 seconds. I've missed many a photographic opportunities waiting for the flash to warm up. Furthermore the camera's default setting upon powering on is with the flash enabled, and changing that setting takes several seconds too.

Images: This camera does produce good images in most light (although it tends to overplay reds in low light, and underplay reds outdoors). However the time required to process an image between one snapshot and the next is sometimes somewhat slow.

Price: Price is the only real strong point for this unit. In retrospect I would have opted up for something more, especially considering that the price of digital cameras seems to be dropping $50 or so every six months.

First off, repeat after me, "I will not use the LCD"

Seriously, you can extend battery life very well if you perform the following steps.

1. Buy Good (E2 Energizer or Ultra Batteries)

2. Turn off the LCD, if needed only use the Quick Review feature to review photos just after shooting.

3. Get a Power Cable for when you transfer images to your PC.

4. Turn off when your not taking a picture.

5. Use the Flash only when needed.

Enjoy!

All in all it's well worth the money, I purchased mine as part of a HP Trio combo, (Printer, Scanner, Camera)

Love it!

I have had this camera for a couple of months and Im very satisfied with the camera. I have seen many reviews on this camera, most of which are not too favourable. But then there is always a price-performance curve and this camera, for me, fits right in the sweet spot.

Firstly, to dispell some myths
- Battery Life
Yes, this camera eats batteries for lunch. I get only 30 or so photos per set of quality alkalines (with instant preview on and a couple of transfers). Despite what HP says, I use rechargable NiMH batteries (1600mAH) and it works great, I get over 80 photos. My advice, get a rechargable
- Photo quality
The quality of the photos are pretty good to me atleast. Dont bother with the low and medium quality. I would recommend to get more memory (I have 128Mb) and use the high quality. It is not worth it to capture in high compression mode.
Note that this is not some cheap camera (like many others in the market). Comparison to the film camera, I would place it along with the regular autofocus canon/minolta brand. Lower than the SLRs and the high end cameras, but better than the regular $50 cameras
The photos are a bit over/under exposed at times. This is due to the single point metering. I always enhance the photos using PSP or some other tool. Increase contrast, clarify and adjust gamma and you have high quality photos that beat or come close to the pros.
I have taken a lot of photos using my Cannon EOS and scanned them at 600dpi (8MPixels) but the quality of this camera easily beats the scanned images (at much lower resolution too).
- Software
The included software sucks. Just use the included driver. I found it is much easier to use the driver rather than a CF reader. You only lose the EXIF information, but it is not worth missing the thumbnails. Use PSP or any other imaging tool to capture and enhance
- Memory
The included 4MB sucks. Go get 64 or 128MB (it costs only $50 for the 128MB). Although the camera starts with 196 photos in fine quality, it is a guess, I get over 250 photos easily (perhaps my photos are more compressible)
- Flash
Included flash is not too good. I takes long to charge and it is on by default. I would discourage you from taking pictures in the dark. Fill-in flash is not too good either. This is a camera for well lit conditions. As with any CCD, low light results in grainy pictures
- Construction
It is a BIG camera, not for your regular pockets. But for $100 what do you expect.

Finally,
I would like to see more features, but for the price, I must say, Im impressed. I have retired my film camera and gone fully digital. Maybe in a couple of years, I might get a 3 or 4MP camera, but for now, this camera is good enough for all my photos

I purchased this camera last night. The camera works fairly well, but most of my photos come out somewhat pixelated. I have an older 1.0MP camera at work that does a much better job. It does eat up batteries, but all digital cameras do. This should just be expected. This is probably a good starter camera, but don't expect photo quality. Also, most of my pictures come out a bit on the yellow side. I am trading this camera in for the Kodak C3200 tonight. My co-worker has that one, and his pictures come out very nicely. Hope this helps you decide on this camera.

I bought the camera at the original price and completley regret it. It's no longer working after 3 months and I am going to have to pay even more to repair it. I would suggest investing a little more money into something different, at least a different name brand.

General Opinion of Camera
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I am a gadget guy. I use this camera more than I was using my old 35 mm autofocus camera. I like being able to snap pics and email them right away. The quality is good enough for the internet and it is fun for my 9 year old to use. For people who are perfectionists, don't get this camera. Save your money and spend the extra hundreds for a 2.1 megapixel with an optical zoom. I, however, am having fun taking pics around work and on the weekends and rushing home to edit them in Photoshop. If you like gadgets and want to get in on digital photography and don't have much money, I recommend the camera:

This is an autofocus camera, and as with all such cameras, you have to tinker with the focus to make sure your subject is focused right. It just takes a bit of practice.

The digital zoom is a waste of time. Don't get excited. You get the same effect by taking the pic regular and then zooming in Photoshop later. BUT the macro is cool. I have gotten some cool closeup shots with it.

The quality of the pics seems to be the same as with a normal film-based camera as far as color and exposure stuff.

A lot of people have said the batteries get terrible life. This is not my experience. I have found that if I keep the camera off unless I am using it, as well as not using the LCD except for quick peeks at important shots to make sure things are okay, I can get many, many pics of a set off batteries in superfine mode. I am on around 400 total pics so far and on my third set of AA Duracell Ultras. Some have said that rechargeables work, and others have reported their CCD getting fried. I am not taking a chance. One more thing: when the camera is done with the batteries and can't take a pic, the batteries still have power and are worth holding on to for extras for flashlights, radios, etc... don't just chuck them.

Issues
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You definitely do get a parallax issue with the camera in certain situations (what you see in the viewfinder is not what the pic ends up being). This is not a big deal and is the same with all non SLR cameras. I have just gotten used to the tendency of the camera and compensate for it.

The biggest design flaw is the on/off switch. It is way too easy to flip on. I am sure my batteries would last even longer if the off switch were to stay off.

The second biggest flaw is that there is nothing protecting the lens. Well, the lens is behind a plastic clear covering, but still, you scratch the plastic covering,that's it, you are screwed.

Tips for newbies considering buying this camera
-----------------------------------------------

It is REALLY important for those thinking of getting ANY digital camera to understand that you NEED to get extras that cost you more than you are expecting:

1) You need to get a compact flash card with much bigger memory because the pictures are usually not going to make you happy unless you are using the superfine mode, and when you are using the superfine mode, you can only get around 10 pictures on the included 4mb card.

2) You need to get an AC adapter to use whenever possible to spare your batteries. You should use the AC adapter when transferring pics to your computer unless you buy a SanDisk or similar card reader (see below) instead. Also, you need the AC adapter to use when reviewing your pics on an LCD when possible, or when inside, so you can snap away with flash and not burn your batteries.

3) You need to get a compact flash reader like SanDisk. I use SanDisk. I prefer this to the included software because I can just drag the pics to my pic folder very quickly and open them up in Protoshop for processing. It is much simpler than having to hook the USB up to the camera and it saves your batteries.

All this stuff will end up costing you [extra] bucks. This is not considering costs for glossy photo paper and the like, or the batteries.

Just a note about battery usage. If you would read the user's manual you will discover that rechargeable batteries are NOT supported in this camera and any damage resulting from the use of rechargeable batteries voids the warranty. The power requirements of the camera are such that rechargeable batteries can be damaged or damage the camera and are therefore not supported in the camera. If you look on the rechargeable batteries you will notice that the power ratings are different from those of normal alkaline batteries. A better solution is to use the Photo Lithium batteries (NOT Lithium Ion batteries) with the camera, and avoid using the rear LCD as much as possible. Just a little FYI for those who post saying rechargeable batteries work great - RTFM (Read the freaking manual).

This camera is a good camera for the consumer dollar, it has a great resolution for the first time digital camera owner. The Photosmart 215 also has an intresting plethra of features such as red eye reduction 2x digital zoom (great feature self timer. This is a good camera if you're not looking to break the bank but are looking for a camera with some nice bells and wistles to play with. I only have two problems with this camera, one problem is the need to buy rechargeable batteries for this camera. I suggest you pick up some AA rechargable batteries while buying this camera this will save you $1000's of dollars over this camera's life. If you opt to go without the rechargeable batteries you will soon find out the necssety of this item because this camera can eat regular batteries by the dozen. While at the store you should also find a better memory card because the 4 megabyte card provided is less that sufficent, i recomend a 32 or 64 megabyte card. All of these items, camera batteries and compact flash card total about $270 so it's not a bad deal at all. This is a great piece of equiptment for teh average joe.

... I must admit I was very happy with the results I got from the first set of batteries. The regular gripe is there, It eats batteries for snack. Don't ask what it would do for dinner... I am using niMh rechargeable batteries without any problem so far. But since the rechargeable batteries are 1.2 volt (instead of 1.5 for regular)the camera takes a bit of time before actually releasing the shutter. And I am pretty annoyed of the fact that the camera charges the flash each time it is turned on. Even when it is bright day light. Whats up with that? I wish the charging was dependent on the existing light.

In summary great camera for the price. Quite happy with it.
A lens cover would be great though.

I have never had a problem with HP products.. they usually install with ease and work great. BUT this camera is an exception. I saw it in a compUSA ad for [price] 2 weeks ago and thought it was an excellent deal, but how disappointed I was. First, it eats up batteries faster then anything I've seen. So I decided to buy rechargeable batteries for it - only to find out after taking a closer look at the manual that THIS CAMERA DOES NOT SUPPORT RECHARABLES. It gives no real explanation as to why and HP keeps suggesting that you buy energizer e2’s (the kind that shipped with the camera.) I’m a little suspicious that this may be a marketing scheme on energizers behalf. Second, It only comes with a 4mb flash card which isn’t enough (it will only store 5 high quality photos) When I bought a 32mb card for it, THE CAMERA WENT DEAD and I had to get a replacement. HP stated to me on their forum that “the camera seems to randomly do this when upgrading the card.” Finally, the software that comes with the camera is so idiot-proof that it is absolutly worthless. It has almost no editing functions and can't even resize the photo for printing. The camera design is just really bad overall. If I hadn’t gotten it for such a low price, it would have been back on the store shelf the week I bought it.