The HP Photosmart R967 uses a
1/1.7 CCD composed of 10.5 million pixels, of which
10 million are effective when capturing the maximum image
size of 3648 x 2736 pixels. The camera offers a choice of
4 image sizes:
10MP: 3648 x 2736 pixels,
6MP: 2848 x 2144 pixels,
3MP: 2048 x 1536 pixels,
VGA: 640 x 480 pixels.
And 4 levels of compression are available for each image
size, the quality being indicated by stars:
is the least compression, but is only accessible as custom
option. It yields the highest image quality.
corresponds to an average compression level.
represents a stronger compression.
applies the strongest compression, making it possible to
save more images in a given memory space, but at a lower
image quality.
CCD sensitivity can be manually
set to 100, 200 or 400 ISO in a number of capture modes; while
with others, such as the Scene modes or the Auto Shooting
mode, sensitivity is set automatically from a range that starts
at 100 and extends to 800 ISO.
The HP R967 is equipped with a 3X optical zoom that has a
focal range of 7.5 to 22.5 mm, equivalent
to a 35 to 105 mm on a 35 mm camera. Apertures begin at f2.8
and close down to 7.8 at the wide angle end, and go from f5
to f8.5 when the zoom is at the maximum telephoto setting.
The complete shutter speed range
of the HP R967 covers from 1/2000 second to 15 seconds, but
the actual range varies with the capture mode in use, the
focal length, and whether or not the flash is used. Nevertheless,
a noise reduction process is used on all exposures of 1 second
or more.
As the HP R967 has few external controls and no "shortcuts"
are associated to the 4-direction control, the menu has to
be accessed to reach most settings. The menu the HP R967 displays
is always the same, irrespective of the current camera mode.
The section of the menu presented when the menu is called
up, however, depends on whether the camera is set to a capture
mode or the playback mode. The menu is composed of 5 sections,
each clearly identified by an icon at the top of the screen:
Capture, Playback, Design Gallery, Setup and Help.
The system shows all the capture mode options, but
access to some may be prevented depending on the shooting
mode in use:
Shooting Modes: serves to select the shooting mode.
Eighteen modes are available (see the Ergonomics
section of the review).
My Mode: is only shown when the camera is set to
My Mode, and serves to select the capture mode.
Self-Timer offers three settings: Off, On and 2-Shots.
Both On and 2-Shots offer delay times of 2, 5, 10, 20 or
30 seconds.
Red-Eye Removal: when this option is active, the
camera analyses all flash shots to detect red-eye, and corrects
it prior to recording the image.
Exposure Compensation: provides a compensation
range of ± 3 EV in 1/3 EV increments.
Adaptive Lighting has three settings: Off, Low
or High. The function processes an image immediately after
it is captured to balance bright and dark areas and reduce
harsh contrasts. The function can be used with flash photos
to brighten zones in an image that the flash was not able
to light sufficiently.
Bracketing, which captures three images with variations,
is possible for:
Adaptive Lighting: captures one normal image,
then one with adaptive lighting set to Low, and one
set to High.
Exposure Bracketing operates over ±1
EV in 1/3 EV increments.
Colour Bracketing captures one colour image,
then one sepia and one black and white.
Image Quality: see above.
Video Quality: serves to select the video quality
(see the Ergonomics section).
Burst: allows taking photos continuously until
the shutter is released, or the camera runs out of memory.
The burst rate depends on the shutter speed available to
the camera.
White Balance: Auto, Sun, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent
or Manual, which serves to set the white balance under ambient
lighting conditions.
Auto Focus Area: serves to select either of two
AF modes. Multi automatically selects the focus from one
or more of 5 AF areas aligned horizontally in the vertical
middle of the frame. Spot focuses exclusively at the centre
of the frame.
ISO Speed sets the CCD sensitivity: Auto, 100,
200 or 400 ISO.
Saturation offers three settings: Low, which attenuates
colours; Medium (default); or High, which accentuates colours.
Sharpness has three settings: Low; Medium (default);
High.
Contrast: has three settings: Low; Medium (default);
High.
Date and Time Imprint: permanently stamps the time
and date at which the image was captured on the lower left
part of the image.
My Mode Saved Settings(only shown when the
camera is set to My Mode): allows saving 18 capture-related
settings: My Mode Saved Settings(only shown when
the camera is set to My Mode) allows saving 18
capture related settings: capture mode, flash mode, burst,
focus mode, compensation, adaptive lighting, bracketing,
quality, video quality, white balance , AF Area, metering,
ISO, colour, saturation, sharpness, contrast, time and date
imprint and to decide if the camera powers up directly in
My Mode.
My Mode Help(only shown when the camera is
set to My Mode): display a guide to set My
Mode options.
Exit: serves to clear the menu off the screen.
The second section of the menu contains options relating
to the Playback mode:
Delete offers a number of options, including one
to undelete:
Cancel returns to the Playback mode menu.
This image deleted the image currently on screen.
All Except Favorites deletes all images with
the exception of those that were tagged as Favorites
in the Photosmart Express menu.
Entire Panoramic Sequence(only shown if
a panoramic sequence has been captured)deletes
all images that are part of the panoramic sequence.
All images (in Memory/on Card) deletes all
images in the internal memory or on the memory card.
Format serves to format the internal memory
or a memory card.
Undelete Last undeletes the last deleted image
as long as no other operation has occurred.
Image Advice: this option allows the camera to
analyse the image under review and indicate any error such
as focus, exposure, red-eye, etc.
Image Info: presents the capture parameters superimposed
on the image. The information includes capture mode, flash
mode, all settings that were not at their defaults values,
aperture, shutter speed, compensation, ISO setting, image
file name and size, and a histogram.
View Slideshow: presents captured images as a slide
show, displaying all images or only those tagged as Favorites,
or only videos. The on-screen time of images can be selected
(2, 5, 10, 15, 60 seconds or manual), as well as whether
or not the slide show loops (2 or 3 times or continuously),
and whether or not a sound associated with an image is played
when the image is displayed.
Stitch Panorama: presents a series of images captured
in Panorama mode as a continuous panorama which can be moved
around using the 4-direction control. The image can be assembled
completely in the camera, but because of memory restrictions,
at a lower resolution and greater compression that can be
done on a computer using the supplied software.
Record Audio: allows adding an audio clip to already
captured images (1 minute maximum), or delete an existing
audio recording.
Move Images to Card: serves to move images from
the internal memory to a memory card.
Exit: serves to exit the menu.
The third tab of the menu is entitled Creative Gallery
and is completely dedicated to image correction and manipulation.
It contains the following tools:
Apply Artistic Effects: this function allows modifying
the look of an image, and then saving it as a new image.
Effects available are: Ink Dots, Cartoon, Water Colour,
Centre Focus, Posterize, Retro, Soft Glow, Vintage, Slimming,
Sky Colour, Ground Colour, Kaleidoscope, Solarize, and Drawing.
Modify Colour serves to change the colour of an
image, and save it as a new image: Black & White, Sepia,
B&W Tints, and Colour Tints.
Add Borders adds a border effect to an image, then
allows saving it as a new image: Soft Edge, Inset Border,
Torn Edge, Burn Edge, Spatter, Oval, Circle, Rectangle,
Rounded Rectangle, Square.
Remove Red Eyes (this option is only available
for image captured with flash): Allows the camera to automatically
correct an image that contains the red-eye effect, and then
makes it possible to save changes, which overwrites the
original image; View Changes, which displays the image magnified;
or Cancel.
Rotate: serves to rotate an image clockwise in
90° increments.
Crop: makes it possible to crop an image in Landscape
(3:2 aspect ratio for printing) or Portrait (2:3 aspect
ratio).
Exit: serves to exit the menu.
The fourth section of the menu contains the Setup
options. These are detailed in the Interface and Software
section of the review.
Finally, the last section is identified by a question mark,
and is the Help menu. This section contains photography
tips, a complete list of the accessories available for the
R967, advice on the use of the camera and its controls and
modes, as well as explanations about sharing, transferring
and printing images.
This section of the menu is in fact a "built-in"
instruction manual.
The HP R967 has a 32 MB internal
memory, and is retailed without a memory card. It is, however,
compatible with SD (Secure Digital) memory cards.
The SD memory card slot is located next to the battery, and
covered by the same solid door.
The chart below provides an idea of the number of images
and the length of video that can be stored using the internal
memory, or an optional 1 GB SD card:
Photos
Memory
Internal
1
GB Card
Internal
1 GB
Card
Internal
1 GB
Card
Internal
1 GB
Card
10MP
3
169
7
351
10
484
22
1003
6MP
6
273
12
554
16
752
32
1463
3MP
11
504
21
973
28
1276
49
2221
VGA
97
4405
165
7465
201
9082
286
12888
Videos
Memory
Internal
1
GB Card
VGA Normal
24 sec.
22 min 12
sec.
VGA
53 sec.
43 min 49
sec.
QVGA
1 min 48
sec.
1 hr 25 min
04 sec.
The HP R967 is powered by a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
(R07) which fits into a slot next to the memory card.
Once in place, the battery is secured in the slot by a grey
spring-loaded latch.
The camera has a connector
underneath which serves to connect it to the HP Photosmart
6220 Camera Dock, which is included with the camera. The
connector allows recharging the battery in approximately 3
hours.
Moreover, as the dock also contains a USB port and cable,
it serves to connect the HP R967 to a computer, allowing for
the transfer of images.
More advanced Camera Docks
are also available. The HP Photosmart 6221 Premium(shown above), allows the camera to be run off household
current, and offers an Audio/Video out so images can be seen
on a television. In addition, the dock is able to recharge
a secondary battery simultaneously with the one in the camera.
Characteristics
is the least compression, but is only accessible as custom
option. It yields the highest image quality.
corresponds to an average compression level.
represents a stronger compression.
applies the strongest compression, making it possible to
save more images in a given memory space, but at a lower
image quality.
