PhotographyBLOG Review: HP Photosmart 945

When it was first announced at the end of 2003, the HP Photosmart 945 was at the cutting edge of digital camera design, with a 5 megapixel sensor, Adaptive Lighting Technology that balanced the contrast between darkness and light, an 8x optical zoom equivalent to 37-300mm on a 35mm camera, and a competitive price tag. Nearly one year on, in a rapidly changing market with 5, 6 and 7 megapixel cameras now common-place, how well does the HP Photosmart 945 stand up to the competition? Read my review to find out if this camera still deserves your attention.

Website: HP Photosmart 945 Review

Check the Latest Prices for the HP Photosmart 945

Published: Thursday, October 28, 2004

Reader Comments

1. Yes, the 945 brought some new innovations to the digital scene, but time marches on and now we have the Panasonic DMC series with its Optical Image Stabilizer system and Leica lenses. The low-end FZ3 is an extremely attractive entry-level package with only 3.1 megapixels, a 12X f/2.8 lens, and MegaBurst firing at 3 shots per second, in a package that WILL fit in one's pocket. All this and more for $100 (MSRP)less than the HP945. The only down side I've found is the use of a proprietary 7.2v battery (vs. standard AA size) and that it's packaged with a niggardly 8mb SD memory card that can hold only 11 pictures! One's first stop is the shop to buy some 256 or 512mb cards.
   With features and pricing like this for the DMC series, I believe the 945 is on its way out.
   For those who want even more features, the FZ3's cousins, FZ10, 15 or 20, are all larger and with more goodies. Check them out.....
   
   Disclaimer - I neither am employed by Panasonic nor own any stock in the corporation
   With competition like this,

   hank jeffries at 02:35am on Tuesday, November 16, 2004

2. I owned this camera for 4 months and it was poor. The camera is soooooo sslllooooowwwww! It locks out too often and you cannot review instantly it has to re-process. Also I found the build quaility below average. A painfully slow camera, that when compared to the Panasonic FZ20 that I now have does not even come close. I would not recommend anyone to waste their money on this well below average camera.

   nick at 10:03pm on Sunday, February 06, 2005

3. I`ve owned the HP945 camera now for nearly a year. I paid £249 for it at Jessops. I class myself as a serious amatuer, having used a Canon A1 for the last 20 years and a Minolta SRT101 before that.I`ve read alot of reviews, some good some bad about this camera.To me Its horses for courses...of course its slow its not a ‘Paparatzi tool’..its not an SLR...it doesn`t slip into the pocket easily...the flash is limited...it has noise at iso 400 etc. etc....But look on the bright-side..It`s a camera you can buy cheaply..close up work is exellent..depth of field is spot on...it out’zoooms’ most other cameras..you dont have to buy any other expensive lenses..you can be happy with this model with its true 5.3mp should you wish to crop the image...and night-time work is amazing...I could go on...For me there are two main reasons why i purchased the ‘HP 945’.. the first is, we needed a camera that would cope and give good resolution on very small items and large objects for internet advertising..ie(Ebay)..film cameras are no good for this job..to expensive to run and pics not readily available.The main purpose for having the ‘945’is that it is top of the ‘B’range, it lets you carry on taking excellent pictures whilst the ‘A TEAM’,Canon, Nikon etc. get it right...they are nearly there especially Canon ...i will continue to use the ‘945’ for the rest of 2005..then i think it will be time to retire it in favour of something a bit faster...best of luck,

   Les at 05:09am on Friday, February 18, 2005