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HP Photosmart R927

First Impressions Review

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Modes

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Image Parameters
November 09, 2006 By Emily Raymond
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Manual Control Options      
The HP Photosmart R927 has plenty of manual controls and modes. Manual, shutter speed priority, and aperture priority modes are available, as well as a customizable My Mode. My Mode is the only mode on the camera that "remembers" its settings; the other modes return to the default settings. The HP R927 offers users manual control over the exposure with shutter speed and aperture settings that can be controlled with the multi-selector. In more automatic modes, there is an exposure compensation scale that is a little easier to use for beginners. There are other manual controls available too, such as the ISO, white balance, and focus. Those will be discussed in the coming sections.
 
Focus
Auto Focus (6.25)
The HP R927 has a through-the-lens auto focus system that normally focuses from 19.7 inches, or 50 cm, in wide and from 23.6 inches in telephoto. The camera has several focus modes accessible from the designated button marked with a flower icon. Normal, Macro, Auto Macro, Infinity, and Manual options can be found there. The macro mode certainly isn’t incredible; it can only focus from 4.7-39.4 inches. This isn’t very impressive at a time when most compact models can focus an inch from the lens. The auto macro mode bridges the gap between the normal and macro modes; it is optimized for when users aren’t so sure of when to use the macro mode and seems like the most logical choice to use because it has the widest focal range. The focus system shows up on the display screen as green brackets when focused and red when it can’t find the focus or the subject is out of range. The focus isn’t super fast, but it isn’t as ridiculously slow as one might find on a compact model. I snapped several pictures of my son swinging at the park and often the background would be perfectly focused and his face would be out of focus – even though he was centered in the frame. The focus system is supposed to be speedy because it works continuously. In fact, this is perhaps one of the most annoying aspects of the HP927. The continuous auto focus system sounds like a creature's trapped inside the camera and banging on the stainless steel housing to try and get out. The audible focus is picked up in the movie mode and is louder than subjects in most cases. Unfortunately, users cannot turn off the continuous auto focus.
 
Manual Focus (1.0)
Technically, the R927 has a manual focus mode. It is completely unusable though. The camera automatically magnifies the center of the image – but it does so digitally. The resolution of the center image is so awful that it is impossible to tell if the subject is in focus or not. The magnified view is also in black and white, so the whole "manual focus" option is quite useless.

Metering (7.0)
This digital camera has the typical metering options available from its recording menu: Average, Center-weighted, and Spot. There is a live view that shows how the exposure is affected when users switch from the default Average metering mode.
 
Exposure (7.5)
Standard compact digital cameras offer a +/- 2 exposure compensation range, but the R927 extends that to +/- 3 in the same 1/3 increments. There are numbers to show the exposure value and a live view to boot.

ISO (6.0)
As evidenced by the R927’s short ISO range, HP has not caught up with its competition in terms of ISO sensitivity. At a time when more and more compact digital cameras are offering ISO 800 or even 1600 settings, the HP Photosmart R927 still has the old standard 100, 200, and 400 settings. There is also an automatic setting, of course. There are no high ISO settings or modes, so shooting in low light without the flash could be a problem. The camera does have a Theatre scene mode, but it will require a tripod to keep subjects from blurring.
 
White Balance (7.0)
The HP Photosmart R927 has a short list of white balance settings: Auto, Sun, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent, and Manual. The list is missing a white balance mode tailored to the flash and perhaps a few more fluorescent, but it does have a manual white balance mode that will be far more accurate than any preset anyway. The manual mode is easy to set with its on-screen directions. The white balance menu displays example pictures, but does not show a live view of the exposure and lighting.
 
Shutter Speed (6.0)
The HP Photosmart R927 has a decent shutter speed range that can be manually controlled. The longest exposure can be set to  16 seconds and the fastest the shutter can flip is 1/2000th of a second. Manual and shutter priority modes are available, and when the shutter speed is adjusted there is a live view.
 
Aperture (6.5)
The HP’s lens has maximum apertures of f/2.8 in wide and f/5.0 in telephoto. The aperture can shrink as small as f/7.8 in wide and f/8.5 in telephoto. There are plenty of options available, as this is not a two-stop aperture. The R927 has manual and aperture priority modes where users can adjust the aperture via the multi-selector.
 

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HP Photosmart R927
First Impressions Review
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Previous: Page 5

Modes

Previous: Page 7

Image Parameters