Viewfinder
Like all of the cameras being released by HP this week at CES 2006, the M425 does not have a viewfinder. With a measurement of 3.82 inches across, and the market this camera is intended for, the exclusion of a viewfinder should not be viewed as a huge loss. While it is true that an optical viewfinder would save on battery life, the inaccurate frame coverage and impossibly small size of it often make viewfinders found within this price range non-functional and useless.
LCD Screen
Although the lack of a viewfinder on this camera isn’t detrimental, the size and resolution of the LCD screen is markedly sub par. This camera model, the least expensive within both the M and R-series, has a petite 1.7-inch LCD with 115 K pixels. This means that menu structures that were so easy to read on the high-end R927 are suddenly a strain to navigate, and while not impossible to use, it certainly makes efficient movement through the menus more complicated. Also, solarization and obscured viewing tended to occur with more regularity when shooting with this camera. And finally, when switching between the Design Gallery and Capture menu, the LCD tended to go blank and take a second to reactivate.
Flash
The flash settings for the HP Photosmart M425 may be found when the user enters the Flash menu via the flash button positioned on the back of the camera. This button is slender and horizontal, and has been placed on the cusp between the raised LCD screen and the back of the camera. This odd and unintuitive placement makes engagement of this feature more complicated.
Once the flash button has been found and pressed, an onscreen menu allows the user to rotate between the following options: Auto, Auto with Red-eye reduction, flash off, and flash on. Interestingly, out of all the new HP cameras, this one has its flash closest to the center axis of the lens. This means that the flash will produce more even coverage and fewer shadows. The flash range on the HP Photosmart M425 is 12.5 ft. (wide) and 6.9 ft. (telephoto).
It is also possible to correct Red-eye when reviewing images in playback by entering the Design Gallery menu and selecting the Remove Red-eye submenu.
Zoom Lens
The zoom lens for the HP Photosmart M425 features 3x optical zoom and telescopes out from the camera body. When not in use, this lens barrel retracts into the camera, and automatic lens covers snap over to protect the glass. The 3x optical zoom HP Precision lens has a max aperture of f/2.8 (wide) to f/4.7 (tele) with a variable focal range of 6mm to 18mm. The telescoping lens should make it harder for users to accidentally mask or cover the glass when shooting, unlike the flush lens of the R725 by HP, for example.
