HP PhotoSmart 912

The PhotoSmart 912 is essentially a joint venture between HP and Pentax, and is the latest in a so-far unremarkable line. It's certainly a beast of a camera, and within the PC Pro office some considered it too hefty to carry everywhere.

Delivering the optics is a 3x optical zoom lens from Pentax, which unfortunately isn't interchangeable in a true SLR fashion. However, the optical viewfinder acts like that of an SLR, and this TTL (through the lens) mechanism means that shots can be accurately framed without using the power-draining LCD. We liked the 2in LCD as well, and its ability to hinge 90 degrees means low shots are much easier to take.

The 2.24 megapixel CCD produces a maximum resolution of 1,600 x 1,280 and there's an uncompressed TIFF mode for best quality. As you'd expect from a camera purporting to be an SLR, full manual control is on offer, which includes aperture, shutter speed and exposure compensation up to +/- 3EV. Unfortunately, there's no manual white balance, and in macro mode you can't even select from the presets.

Another surprise is the lack of a movie mode, while the continuous shooting function is a real disappointment, taking less than one frame per second. The time-lapse setting is a small consolation, as is the included infrared remote control, but these don't compensate enough. The ten shooting modes are selectable via a central dial, and this includes five quick preset modes such as night scene, sports and portrait. An unusual feature is the JetSend infrared interface, which allows images to be transferred wirelessly to another JetSend camera or printer. A 16Mb CompactFlash card is included, but we were disappointed that the slot doesn't support IBM Microdrives.

It was image quality, however, that really let the 912 down. While our test photos don't look terrible in isolation, our panel of judges simply didn't rate them when placed alongside rival cameras' offerings. The outdoor scene lacked detail and sharpness, as did the indoor shot. On the plus side, colour balance in the outdoor scene was very good.

The 912 is undoubtedly the best PhotoSmart camera we've seen from HP and the relatively low price makes it one of the more affordable fully manual models. Ultimately, though, the disappointing image quality leaves the 912 trailing behind the leaders.