HP Photosmart M407 4MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom & M-Series Dock
By: Hewlett-Packard Average Rating: 2.5 Total Reviews: 32
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 On: 2008-06-01
ive had this camera for approximately 5 plus years now.
i purchased it after using an earlier model for work (auction sales). I still use the camera at work and it is fantastik! I use it on a daily basis.
I have taken many wonderful pictures which have printed out beautifully from a local photo shop. I was surprised at the quality as i thought pictures came out lousy, but when uploaded, i saw that they were beautiful!
I reckommended this camera for my pastors mom, unfortunately it does not seem to be in stock atm.
 On: 2008-04-25
This was my first digital camera and I loved it. There were a few issues.
Any problem with battery life can be solved with rechargable batteries which feed the camera 4x as longer then regular batteries.
A few of my friends commented that it was hard to focus, but once you get used to teh camera it gets easier.
Kida of a bulky thing. But it worked for me for two years.
I wouldnt buy another HP camera because now there are comera that are loads better then this one here, but I will always remain fond of this one!
 On: 2007-06-20
Ive owned the M407 and an 850. Both broke within a year, though they were well cared for. There must be a reason why HP cameras have such low share of the digital camera market (not even in the top then!). But then again, HP was never meant to be a camera company, huh? Canon and Nikons seem to be the bees knees when it comes to digi cameras!
 On: 2006-11-06
I bought this camera in about February 2005 but didnt know enought about digital to know what I can actually get. Goes through batteries pretty fast. The recharge time between pictures sometimes causes me to miss another good shot. Takes way too much time between pressing shutter button and taking the picture. I just thought this was normal for digital cameras till I began reading later reviews. Then I accidentally dropped the camera onto a soft surface (loose dirt and sawdust)and now the lens is stuck most of the way out and will not retract and camera will not come on. Contacted HP to get it fix but will cost close to $100 and they will just send a reconditioned one. So I am in the market for another digital camera-maybe a Canon or Sony or something besides an HP.
On: 2006-09-25
I lost my HP R607 while on vacation and needed to replace it quickly. I couldnt fine another R607 (which I really liked), so I purchased the HP M407. I thought it would be the next best thing to my misplaced camera...NOT!! I dont like anything about this camera...Its terrible! You can take about 4 pictures with regular batteries, about 10 with rechargeable ones (even with screen off). It says "auto focus", but I dont think it has any focus at all....not far away, not close up, nothing! It takes a really looooooooong time to actually Take the picture after you press the button. I really hate it! Keep Looking...Dont buy this camera!
On: 2006-09-02
We bought one of these in the spring of 05. We took it on vacation in July of 05 and the LCD screen blacked out a few days into our vacation. I called HP and was informed that a RECONDITIONED (used) camera was all that I could get. The camera was still under the manufacturers warranty, but their policy was to replace it with a used camera, not a new one. I had to settle for the "reconditioned" camera. It has been OK since then.
HPs customer service is at best mediocre. There are the usual annoying and seemingly endless voice prompts in order to get to an actual service rep, and since HP has out-sourced all of its tech support to the third world, I had a hard time understanding the reps I spoke to.
This camera also eats a ton of batteries and takes a few seconds to engage after depressing the button, which is annoying if youre trying to photograph anything other than a posed shot.
All in all, disappointing. I will never buy another HP camera.
On: 2006-05-29
Normally I wouldnt write a review, but I have had numerous experiences with this camera that I thought I would share.
My sister first bought the camera, and I was amazed with how user friendly it was and I thought the pictures turned out pretty well. Shortly afterward, her screen blacked out, without any great impact or weather damage.
Naturally, I assumed it mustve gotten bumped in the wrong way, tough luck. I then proceeded to buy one for myself, and a couple of months after I had it, my screen also inexplicably failed to work.
And then for Christmas, my sister received a replacement camera for her broken one, and yet again, shortly after purchase, the screen was broken.
I do accept some responsibility for the damage, I imagine that if it was in a purse in a bookbag, perhaps it got rattled around a bit. But three times? I dont find this to be a coincidence, and I do not reccomend that you risk your money, because you too may have to replace it after 3 months.
 On: 2006-05-04
I have just purchased my second M407 Camera, yes thats right I said the second one. I purchased the first about a year ago and have used it in the Wilds of Idaho taking pictures in all kinds of weather at every elevation imaginable. All the pictures have turned out great. I recently had a reason to take more pictures indoors, new grand daughter. Again the pictures have been fantastic, have had several blown to 11X17 for matting and framing, great quality. I would make several suggestion to folks, buy digital camera batteries, every camera I have owned eats batteries, this HP is no different. If you spend the money and get good quality batteries they will last! Second recommendation get a SD Memory card, if you are like me you will not be happy with the interanl memory and want to take lots of pictures. So, this photographer says you cant beat the price, for the quality and service you get from HP. I forgot to mention I had a camera that didnt work, and HP replaced within 2 days with a new one, no questions asked. Good Service goes a long way in my book. Buy one you wont be sorry!
On: 2006-04-26
Great little camera with lots of features at a good price unless (a) you carry it in your pocket, in which case the very fragile LCD display will crack (HP sent me a refurb because this happened very early on during my ownership of the camera) and (b) you want pictures taken with the flash to be properly exposed. Theyre consistently, staggeringly underexposed, not usable. If you handle the camera as if you were carrying an egg and dont want to take pictures where the flash is required, this is a nice camera.
Also, avoid the HP M-series Quick Recharge kit, which includes a case (nice enough), and a charger with 4 AA NiMH batteries (2 batteries required for the camera). The batteries charge quickly - well under an hour - and discharge even faster, within 20 minutes of use. Mine came with "Powerex" branded rechargeable batteries made by Maha Energy Corp USA and exhibited this fast discharge time out of the box. There are probably better batteries out there and a generic camera case will do you.
Im disappointed - I own a lot of HP products and think HP is a great company, but they missed the mark on a few major details with this item.
On: 2006-04-04
Use digital camera batteries or the rechargeable camera batteries and quit whining that digital cameras eat batteries! Standard batteries are not meant for digital cameras. Left on, the LCD will also lesson battery life.
My family gets decent, clear pictures with good color from this camera -- that I bought for for one of my kids for $80. My son has taken many pictures of his friends -- many indoors at his school and none of those pics are blurred or out of focus. The prints are very nice as well.
I bought the camera on a whim because of the price. Im glad I did not read the reviews before purchase or I might not have taken that chance even for $80! We were pleasantly surprised with our results and decided to keep the camera.
The menu is intuitive and fun. This camera has a small internal memory. I have never had an internal memory in a digital camera before as my other cameras only have a removable memory card option. The internal memory was kind of sweet!
Also, I like that we can use regular batteries because we can pop in the regular ones if in a pinch (although it is obvious those will not last long in any digital camera).
Movies are okay to good if your lighting is good - or if you are outdoors - but this camera had not faired as well with night shots.
This is an entry level camera and it can provide decent pictures but may not be for everyone. The picture quality seems to falter when using the digital zoom so we use this camera mainly for point and shoot pictures. I have had a few decent pics with zoom but not many, it is hard. It was inexpensive enough that I dont worry about my kids taking it everywhere and reliable enough that everyone is happy with their results. We made a few 8x10 prints that were very nice so I know this camera can do that.
I recently used this camera at a party because I forgot my camera and my son had his...this one! ALL of my shots were very good. Normally, I use an 8MP digital SLR which is not a comparable camera by any means and I was still happy with the HP results. As a point and shoot, it is fine but I wouldnt want to pay more than $80 for this camera.
On: 2006-02-02
I have owned this joke of a camera for over a year now, so as someone with alot of experience with it, I advise you NOT TO BUY ONE. I wouldnt reccomend this camera if it was only $19.95 and came with a free sledgehammer to take your anger out on it when you realize you just wasted twenty bucks...
- Without buying a memory card, this camera holds a pathetic number of pictures at any setting above VGA.
- Non HP memory cards are incompatible.
- It EATS UP batteries, seriously.
- It shuts off without warning for no reason whatsoever.
- It will often not recognize rechargable batteries as being rechargable.
At this point, I am shopping for a new camera because my M407 claims that brand new batteries are "depleted" and shuts off, lovely.
On: 2006-01-23
THIS CAMERA IS THE WORST!!!I BOUGHT THIS ON BLACK FRIDAY THERE ARE MANY REASONS WHY I AM RETURNING THIS PIECE OF JUNK:
1.FIRST OF ALL, IT RUNS ON DOUBLE A BATTERIES
2.WHEN I CAME HOME I STARTED TAKING PICTURES.AFTER I TOOK MY FIRST PICTURE, IT SAID ERROR SAVING IMAGE!
3.THEN IT WORKED AND IT DIDNT WORK.I TRIED DOWNLOADING SOME OF THE PICTURES THAT WERE ACTUALLY SAVED ON THE CAMERA ONTO THE COMPUTER.WHEN I FINISHED DOWNLOADING THEM, I LOOKED FOR THE PICS ON THE COMPUTER.I F0UND THEM BUT THE PICS WERE ALL BLURRY.I WAS SO FED UP THAT I LEFT IT SITTING ON MY COMPUTER DESK FOR THE NEXT 2 MONTHS.
DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA,IT WILL BE A WASTE OF YOUR MONEY AND TIME!I ACTUALLY THOUGHT HP MADE GOOD CAMERAS.....-_-"
On: 2005-12-27
I recently had the chance to use this camera for a day at Sea World Orlando. Based upon my experience with several other cameras in this category here is my review:
Pros:
1) Excellent zoom from such a small camera.
2) Records MPEG video, makes DVD authoring easier.
3) Digital zoom is also very good.
4) Camera can be carried in the pocket all day with no damage to its rugged frame.
Cons:
1) Consumes batteries. I had to replace the 2xAA batteries twice on a day trip to Sea World with a single 128Mb photo card!
2) While taking pictures of a Sea World show, the shutter lag felt like almost a second behind. This caused several shots to loose the subject entirely.
Note: If you are looking for a good primary camera, consider the Olympus 3040Z or 4040Z.
On: 2005-12-25
For Christmas I asked for a digital camera. Since my family goes with the "you can open one before Christmas", I got this under the Christmas tree. I starting taking pictures, and I cant believe how poor the image quality is! Im taking it back on the 26th (Im sure Wal-Mart isnt open tomorrow) first thing in the morning to get a camera other than HP!
by: budman3557 On: 2005-12-22
Hewlett Packard Photosmart M407 is a nice little digital camera that is small enough to fit inside your pants pocket. This camera is one of the best buys around among cameras with greater than 4 megepixels and while there are better cameras on the market, this is a very nice one for the money.
My favorite qualities of this camera are its size, its ease of use, and its sharp resolution. Pictures can be taken in VGA (lowest quality) or in 2 MP or 4MP resolution. These higher resolutions are going to eat up more memory but they produce sharp, clear photos. For everyday picture taking, I have found the VGA to be just fine, but for someone who is more experienced as a photographer, the 4 MP setting is needed to produce the sharpest images. The ones you get with this camera at that resolution level are very good, but you need to keep in mind that the memory (without buying a memory card) is capable of storing only about 10 images at this level. Lower the quality to VGA, and you can store about 160 images.
Some of the disadvantages of this camera include its video capabilities and the placement of certain buttons and controls. The video is offered with an MPEG format and it produces images at 30 frames per second. Its quality isnt very good and I recommend it only to people who really need/want to take a video and have no other alternative. I dont like the placement of the video and picture shutters on the top of the camera either. The picture button is larger than the video shutter, like it should be since it is used more frequently. But the picture shutter is placed to the left of the video shutter on the top of the camera. The picture shutter is used more and it should be on the right side because, to most people, your instinct is to press the button furthest to the right. I cannot count the number of times I have accidentally pressed the video button by mistake.
This camera comes with batteries, two USB cables, a strap, a user manual, and HP image software. This software is nice because it helps new photographers organize pictures and upload them into a pc. The other additions are expected with a digital camera but they help aid in the usability of this electronic device.
Overall, HP Photosmart is a good digital camera for the money and it is one of the few that offers more than 4 megapixels at such a low price. It was the first digital camera I ever purchased and I havent regretted making the buying decision.
On: 2005-12-06
I was so excited to be getting this as my first digital camera. After using it for less than a week, I became VERY disappointed. The pictures werent clear, the flash was inconsistent, the batteries dont last, and it BROKE 3 times in one year. Since it was under warranty, HP sent me a new version of the same camera. They replaced it several times and each one has the same problems--it has ruined two memory cards and caused a docking station to stop recharging the batteries.
All of this to say, DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA. Pay the extra bucks and get one that you will be happy with.
On: 2005-11-07
I made the erroneous assumption that the image quality would be pretty good for all digital cameras in this mega-pixel range and bought this one based on features. The large LCD and ease of use in particular.
However, the problem is that the color, especially with flash, is just cadaverous. The images look like someone put them in some photo editing software and applied the `Dirty Dishwater filter. Look at the customer image section above and look at the photo of the kid playing with the puzzle. See the ho hum flesh tones? Thats what you get.
Over the last 20 years, Ive shot thousands of rolls of film and owned Minolta, Canon, Nikon, Ricoh, Olympus, and Kodak products. I know what to expect in different lighting situations and Ive seen better results from disposable drug store cameras than this HP.
HP makes some outstanding printers and scanners but they should offer a refund to anyone who was unfortunate enough to select this camera. Check the residual value on auction sites and you can see this one isnt a coveted model.
On: 2005-10-22
I dont like writing a lot, so I will keep this simple and to the point. To summarize: this is not a very good camera...at all.
I first saw this camera at staples and being one of the cheapest cameras drawled me into purchasing. All I really wanted was a simple point and shoot camera and I believed that HP could handle that. I was mistaken.
* This camera eats batteries even with the LCD screen off
* The pictures are almost always blurry/soft even with shutter at max - I almost never get a good sharp picture
* It has a slow start up and very slow write and read
* Video is awful, both in video and sound - plus no speaker
* Too many menus make it very confusing and time consuming
The only thing that I liked about it was the simple fact that it took SD cards which isnt saying very much. Also, this camera brakes very easily. I put a small force on the extended lens and it jammed and refused to retract. I was also talking to someone with the same camera that said they returned theirs 4 times for the exact same reason.
I am very displeased with this camera and do not recommend it in the least bid. My advice would to spend a few extra dollars and get something nice that will last. I am looking into the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ4.
On: 2005-10-11
The good part about this cameral.
*Not to much $$$
*Greats on prints that are smaller than 20x30
*The manual book is built-in to the cameral. So no longer do you have to filp through books.
* Tech support was fast.
* supports many different other different languages.
* You can connect drectly to your printer... IF it suppots pictbridge or HP instant share
* very simple to use
-------------------------------------------
The bad part about this cameral.
* You have to use lithium or NiMH batterys. Alkaline batterys only gives you 4 shots.
* some pictures are a bit darker than usuall.
* Not a great idea to bring to the beach or almost any were. My cameral got sand into the lens and the moving parts inside. So when I ever turn it on, you will hear a cracking nosies. Also, after a few hits on the ground the screws starts to comeout. HP said that they cant replace the screws because they said they dont make the screws.
*Not compatiable with other HP hardware like my HP scanjet 4600,and HP Laserjet 3015. But they did reless updates for that problems.
* There is no battery indicator. They only show when the battery is very low.
* They install too many differnt othere HP software that I dont need.
* No speakers for you to listen back your viedos.
* The resolution of the viedos are horriable.
* We dont need 3 flash in one picture, do we?
* A bit more thick than you expected from the pictures.
* This a big battery sucker even if you use rechargeable or lithium batterys.
* you have to buy there HP dock to watch your viedos on the tv (which will cost you about $50) note: the dock charges the battery very slowly, so go to radio shack and buy your self a fast charger.
* the mic. hardly picks up anything
* no steady shot if your hands are shacking so much from you freazing.
* i dont really use instant share because ink is just too expensive. Thats why I have a laser printer. But my pictures are only black and white. So thats why I send them to Snapfish and tell them to print them. Only 12 cents per print, cant beat that.
Overall I give this a 4 because HP tech support does help in a language that you ACTUALLY understand. The cameral is very simple for anyone to use even if you dont speak engulish. A lot of your problems can be soved by just going to hp support web site.
On: 2005-10-04
I picked up this camera and a memory card for under $150. I was looking for a low cost camera to document a project. This camera is doing a great job.
The original (lithium) batteries are just about spent after 2 months (548 pictures). Lithium batteries last much longer than alkaline or rechargeables.
Photo quality is comparable to an older Olympus digital camera that I used to use.
On: 2005-09-21
This camera is the worst. I was so dissappointed with it. Everytime I use it I get so fed up that I go back to using my regular camera. The delay is so bad that sometimes it takes me 25 pictures to get it right. The batteries go so fast and always need to be recharged. I wont even take this camera out for the day because I dont trust the batteries and this light always says flash is charging and you cant snap the picture. Whats the point? Spend your money elsewhere this ones a waste.We even disconnected the printer because it was useless and cheap are regular printer prints better pictures!
On: 2005-09-08
The Photosmart m407 is very easy to use and understand but the picture quality is definitely not as good as other models in this range. It can only be recommended for people who are new to digital cameras and ease of use is more important than picture quality.
***PLUS POINTS for this camera include:
- nice compact design that fits easily into a shirt pocket yet isnt so small that it is difficult to use
- a good 1.8" inch screen along with a normal viewfinder for when you want to conserve battery life.
- has ability to shoot video at 30fps and has a dedicated button to start the video recording (although the quality is very poor compared to a lot of other digital cameras and is not something you want to use to record precious moments)
- help menus are built into the interface so it makes it easy for beginners to understand what all the features and options mean.
- allows you to instantly email pictures when you connect it to your computer with the insta-share software installed.
- has a proper 3x optical zoom lens in addition to the digital zoom (optical zoom is MUCH better than digital zoom because it doesnt lower your picture quality like digital zoom does)
- Has manual settings for different lighting conditions (although you will have to dig through the menus to set this because there is no dedicated button).
- It has 16 mb of internal storage and it accepts SD cards which are relatively cheap and easy to find these days.
- uses AA rechargeable batteries so you can easily find replacements.
- has most of the features that you would expect these days, such as timer, scene modes, thumbnail view, etc.
*** NEGATIVE FEATURES of this camera include:
- a weak flash that occasionally struggles to brighten up night time photos
- the screen has a delay so you cannot use it to try and view different subjects quickly
- Occasional lockup of the camera software so you have to shut it off and turn it on again.
- No speaker on the camera itself so if you shoot video you wont be able to play it back and hear the sound from the camera
- does not have a TV out port (that is only included in the camera dock) so you cannot connect this camera to your tv to view your pictures
Most people think that a camera with higher megapixels is better than one with lower megapixels... this is not always the case especially with this camera. The lens that a camera uses is just as important (if not more important) as the megapixels and unfortunately this camera, despite being 4.0 megapixels does not take pictures that are any better than my 3 year old Kodak 2.0 megapixel camera with a Retinar lens.
Most of the pictures that you take with the HP photosmart m407 do not have very bright colors and do not stand out in any way. I find that I spend a lot of time correcting the pictures on my computer so that they will even be worth developing. I very rarely had to do that with my old Kodak. Granted I can blow up the pictures to 8x10 and maybe higher with the HP (the 2.0 megapixel Kodak was only good for upto 5x7) but the fact remains that if the picture is not very good then you would not want to blow it up that large to begin with.
On: 2005-09-05
I loved my last HP camera so I decided to buy the 407M. I regret it. After only a few months the camera started freezing up and to reset it I had to remove the batteries. It also is very slow and I had a hard time taking pictures of my baby girl because by the time the camera took the picture she would already be out of the "Kodak moment". The camera also needed new batteries after every set of pictures that I took. I am currently trying to get techinical help from HP. I would not recommend this camera at all.
On: 2005-08-23
It is a easy camera, it is not complicate, the share option is excellent: with this option you can send pictures for a lot your friends without having to attach the pictures, it is a great camera.
On: 2005-07-21
Positive:
+ 3x Optical Zoom
+ 1.8" LCD
+ Dock Avaliable
+ Many Manual Features
+ Internal Memory, But Only 16MB So Almost Useless
Negative:
- Very Poor Photo Quality
- Very Poor Video Quality
- Only Lithium Batteries Included
The image quality isnt as bad as what some people said, but its still kinda poor. You probably should do some more research unless you dont mind poor photo quality.
On: 2005-07-11
I bought this camera after deciding between this, a Sony, and a Canon. I made a BIG mistake.
For starters, the HP M407 is very easy to use. I didnt even read the instruction manual. I felt there was no need to. The buttons were easily placed, and the picture taking was easy. The ON/OFF switch is pretty cool. I enjoyed the way it switches. Yeah, thats weird, but I liked it.*
I never used the software that came with the camera. I just went to HPs webiste, and downloaded the drivers in minutes.*
The features on the camera are great. The zoom in feature works great, and zooms in farther than most cameras. The 1.8" LCD is BIG, and its great for STORING ("hint") photos.*
I have dropped it once (see why later), and it stood up to it. The camera seems to be made of strong material.*
* = these are things that earn the camera one star
So, if the M407 is easy to use, is durable, and has features, why did I give it one star?
The photo and video quality is so poor that I cant use a word to describe it. Its worse than terrible. The photos, like many others (Person, S. Swanson, Electronics Dude) have said. The pictures are VERY, and I mean VERY dull. There ARE, like once again, others have said, dots on the photos. It looks like Im watching local TV with my antenna down. My cellphone picture quality is better than this, and it is 3 years old. The videos are even worse.
Even with all those good things, dont weigh out to this negatative. Why? What else are you gonna use it for? To look at the buttons and push them? Nope. Your gonna want to take pictures, and this is probably the WORST photo quality Ive seen EVER. Even the HP 3.1 megapixel camera is better. I dont know why this is, but it is so.
Also, the battery life is very weak at 6-hours with rechargeable batteries. Most cameras last 10-15 hours.
Im suprised also by the good reviews. If you think this camera is good, you either dont know what a digital camera is, or you havent tried anything else.
Please, get either a Canon Powershot (SD300) or a Sony Cybershot (DSCS40, the DSCP73 is better, but theyre discontinued), and leave this one on the shelves.
On: 2005-07-02
The camera has a lot of features, but the photo quality is unbelievably horrible. I get better pictures with my cellphone. The picture are blurry, and have odd green spots on the photos, like Im using no antenna for my TV.
Get a Sony Cybershot, like the other person said. Their pictures are so much clearer. You wont be dissappointed with the Sony.
I never expected this FROM HP!!!
On: 2005-06-17
First off, I do not own this camera, my friend happens to. I really wish my Sony had the features of the 1.8" LCD (with backlighting), esay gripping, and a few other picture taking options that I dont have with my Cybershot. There are also bigger zoom options, as well as more user-friendly software (but if you have Windows XP, you dont really need photo software). There is one issue that is a bit dissappointing... flash quality. The pictures taken without flash are great, just see the customer images. But, you cant take photos in the dark, because the flash is awful. Why? The pictures are of horrible quality! The fuzz is not just easily shown on the LCD, but on the computer, youll not see anything but fuzz! The video is even worse. There are green spots and fuzz over everything. The videos dont have flash, so the video option is basically useless. Both with and without flash. The videos on my Sony are crystal clear, even on a big, 17" monitor. The picture quality on my Sony is WAY BETTER THAN THIS HP, ESPECIALLY ON FLASH! I even did a test on photos and took a picture in flash and without flash on both cameras. The HP lost on both points.
If youre looking for good quality pictures and decent videos, pick up a Sony Cybershot instead. The M407 is below average, even with its features.
Unrecommended.
On: 2005-06-16
I bought this camera on the promise that it "blew away" all other 4 megapixel cameras on the market in its price range. That statement couldnt be farther from the truth. The features are nice and easy to learn and use. However, the truth is most 3 megapixel cameras out there will provide better image quality than this camera. Every image is dark, cold (blue), and flat (no contrast.) Ive tinkered with all the settings and nothing seems to improve the EXTREMELY POOR image quality. The flash seems to make things worse. Spend your money elsewhere!
On: 2005-05-30
this is the first digital camera i have ever owned (besides my camera phone Samsung a670) and i am very happy with it.
The buttons are very well placed and easty to use. The name on the button is the name of the function, very nice.
The screen on this baby is huge!!!1.8 inches to be exact!!
The camera takes movies with audio, but ypu cant actually hear audio on the camera, you have to download the movie to your computer.
The software to upload pics is VERY easy to use. All you have to do is first before you do anything else is put the CD in. Then you can connect the cord to the computer. Make sure the camera is off (or else it wonyt connect) and then connect the other side of the cord to the camera. Many pics can be downloaded in a matter of moments.
The camera features auto flash, macro mode, portrait mode ( it will focus on the person you are taking a pic of and blur the backround), snow and beach mode, landscape mode, auto mode, and many other things.
The camera also features 16MB internal memory (w/o memory card) whitch will store about 9 pics on the highest setting, and 150 at the lowest. The difference between the highest resololution setting and the lowest is not even noticible. I dont think ill ever need a memory card!
The only bad things are that a battery recharger is not included, you have to buy it through HP. Anothere thing is that you can not hear audio from movies you make on the camera itself. The last thing is that the movie mode is kind of blurry.
This camera is awesome because it is even BETTER by featuring an 1.8 inch LCD screen and instant share than my friends $250.00 Sony Cybershot.
I am 13 yrs. old and i hope to have this AWESOME camera for many years to come. I LOVE IT!!!!
On: 2004-12-28
I got this camera as an upgrade to a very low resolution digital camera/VHSC video camera combo. We love it, although I did lose a bunch of pictures from my sons first Christmas. After doing some research, I think that was the fault of the SD card we were using (SanDisk).
There is a slight (a second or less) lag time between the time you click and the time the pic is taken, as is true with most digital cameras in this range. Not a problem at all if you plan for it. I have small children and pets, and I missed as many shots with this camera as I did with my very fast film camera.
Its very compact, and contrary to what others have said, I got it with everything thats "in the box." Maybe because I got it from another retailer. I do wish, however, that the camera came with a bag. I had to buy that separately.
All in all, the camera is a VERY good deal for the price!
On: 2004-12-05
Here are the great features of this camera:
* Easy for point and shoot.
* Very light and small! It easily fits in your pocket.
* Great full color LCD viewscreen and easy to understand buttons.
* Wonderful shutter button and "video record" buttons (some cameras require you to twist knobs, pull levers and shift gears to go from picture taking to video recording, this camera makes it a snap!)
* Video Recording will fill up all the space you have. With a 1GB SD card, it will record nearly 90 minutes of video. The video is decent quality (the QVGA 30fps mpeg) and has allowed us to stop taking the bulky 8mm video camera along with us. With Windows Movie Maker software, we can easily mix still photos and live videos for sharing with friends on the web or burn to DVD. It is NOT digital video recorder quality (or even an 8mm) but when you are juggling the kids, keys, diaper bags, towels, and everything else, if you can eliminate a camera and still have the functionality, life is good!
Our first digital camera was an HP Photosmart 735. We purchased the M407 as a replacement. The price and features seemed to make it equal with the 735 but with some enhancements. However, that is not entirely true.
* Strange as it may seem, the 4 MB Best selection doesnt seem to produce the same crystal clear vibrant colors that the 3.2 megapixel 735 did. The flash seems to make this even worse.
* The camera does not have a speaker. It has a mic to record video and audio-over, but you cant play it back and listen to it. You must transfer it to your computer. The 735 came with a built in speaker which made it a great way to check audio quality as well as the picture. I am sad that HP didnt continue that with this camera.
* As with the 735, you still cant operate the zoom when you are recording. This is annoying, but you can work around it. Zoom before you start video recording and it will record at that zoom level (just remember that you cant change it until you stop recording).
* The video recording sound is a little soft. The 735 had an aggressive auto level control that often went overboard, but you never missed audio. The M407 gives "cleaner" audio but at the cost of low levels. I dont know what is best.
* HP eliminated the simple LCD screen that was on the top of the 735 camera that would show the number of pictures left (or minutes left for video recording) which was a nice feature but not critical.
* The view finder is very small and you will probably use the LCD screen instead to frame your shots. The screen is a bit slow (as with other HP cameras).
Overall, it is an excellent camera for the money, but dont expect to see it as an upgrade from the older 3.2M 735 model.
On: 2004-11-02
This is my first digital camera and I couldnt be happier. The price is low and it is EXTREMELY user friendly. 5 minutes after taking it out of the box I was taking pictures with ease without even reading the manual. It is also fairly simple to download and send pictures since it is an HP product. I did not even have to install the software onto my PC for it to work. The picture quality is excellent and with the 128MB card I purchased with it, it takes about 100 pictures. I highly recommend this camera to other newbies or people who just want a simple to use product.
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