Canon IXUS 240 HS
Canon PowerShot SX240 HS
Nikon D800
Samsung DV300F
Olympus OM-D E-M5
Nikon Coolpix P510
Canon PowerShot SX260 HS
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30
Nikon Coolpix S9300
Back to Work…
I have now returned from a hectic 2 week trip to the island of Tenerife, the Vendée region of France, seaside port of La Rochelle and the Northern town of Lille. And I thought this was supposed to be a holiday! From tomorrow, PhotographyBLOG will be back up to full speed, once I’ve read all my email / spam. For anyone who’s interested, this photo of the sun setting over a Tenerife mountain was taken with the new HP R818 camera (in the shops soon).
Canon IXUS 240 HS Review
Canon PowerShot SX240 HS Review
Nikon D800 Review
Samsung DV300F Review
Olympus OM-D E-M5 Review
Nikon Coolpix P510
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30
Canon PowerShot SX260 HS
Fujifilm X-Pro1
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V
#1 GARY POGODA
Glad to hear you had a fun-packed holiday. Now tell us more about the camera.
4:39 pm - Monday, July 11, 2005
#2 Mark Goldstein
HP gave everyone an R818 to use for the duration of the trip - consequently there were hundreds of journalists rushing around Tenerife all using the same camera!
It's slightly more compact than previous HP models like the R717, but packs a bigger zoom lens (at the expense of an optical viewfinder). I found it very easy to use, quick and responsive and wih good image quality. It definitely builds on the success of HPs earlier models. I'll hopefully have a full review in the next few weeks...
4:46 pm - Monday, July 11, 2005
#3 GARY POGODA
As I may have previously mentioned, I am looking to purchase a point-and-shoot digital camera (for my wife). High on my list are the Nikon Coolpix 7900 and the HP Photosmart R717. Topping my list is the HP Photosmart R817, assuming that it gets similarly excellent reviews as its predecessors, the R707 and R717.
While you were on vacation, I had occasion to visit another website (sorry) which had a "first impression" review of the R817 (http://www.digit.no/wip4/detail.epl?id=58182). I believe that this website, Digit, is a Norwegian website, but the review by Kai Thon was fortunately in English. I also believe that the author was attending the same HP Lab University event in Tenerife as you.
The R817 received good marks in this first impression review. The biggest negative was the higher image noise, attributed to the fact that the R817 uses a smaller CCD than its predecessors (1/2.5" for the R817 compared to 1/1.8" for the R707/717), and to the fact that the lens was fairly slow at the telephoto end, resulting in the use of a higher Auto ISO value, and thus more noise. Another negative was the slippery grip of the R817, attributed to the fact that HP has eliminated the rubberized back of the R717.
It will be interesting to see how the R817/818 fairs in your review.
6:06 pm - Monday, July 11, 2005
#4 Mark Goldstein
Yes, Kai was at the event - Digit is also a member of DIWA, so I would definitely trust what Kai has to say
9:04 am - Tuesday, July 12, 2005
#5 GARY POGODA
Unlike Kai Thon's R817 preview, DCResource's review found little noise, except at long exposures (i.e., the kind that would require a tripod). Also, while it was difficult to tell from the mild red-eye images provided in the review, it appears that the R817's in-camera red-eye removal feature merely replaces red-eye pixels with black ones. I had hoped that it would do a more intelligent replacement (i.e., with colors matching the rest of the eye).
BTW, when you do your test of the in-camera red-eye removal feature, I am hoping you will test an image that has a significant red-eye problem. If you cannot produce such an image with the R817, which would be plus in and of itself, maybe you could upload a prominent red-eye image from a different camera into the R817, and test it that way. If you lack such an image, I could email you one from my wife's Casio QV-R51. She has plenty to spare.
I have duplicated your links to the R817 preview and review here for convenience.
http://www.digit.no/wip4/detail.epl?id=58182
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/hp/photosmart_r817-review/index.shtml
6:01 pm - Sunday, August 14, 2005