HP Photosmart R837 Review
Review Date: April 2nd 2007
Author: Gavin Stoker
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Image Quality
All of the sample images in this review were captured using the 7.2MP 3112
x 2328 pixel image size option, producing a
file that is around 3.5Mb in size.
Noise
The HP Photosmart R837 only has 3 ISO
settings. Here are some 100% crops
which show the noise levels for each ISO setting. There is
little noise at ISO 100, some noise at 200, and
high levels at the fastest speed of ISO 400.
Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have
been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand
image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the
camera images at the default setting are soft and benefit
from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop,
or you change the in-camera sharpening level if you don't
like the default results.
Chromatic Aberrations
The HP Photosmart R837 dealt fairly
well with chromatic aberrations during the review. Pixel
fringing is readily visible if you're actually looking for
it, but easily
overlooked if you're not. Here are
some 100% crops which show the typical chromatic aberrations
that you can expect:
Macro
The HP Photosmart R837 allows
you to focus on a subject that is 10cms away from the camera
with the supplied lens. The first image shows how close you
can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card).
The second image is a 100% crop.
Flash
The flash settings on the HP Photosmart R837 are Auto
(default), Flash on, Flash off. These shots
of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.
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Auto
Flash - Telephoto (118mm) |
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And here are some portrait shots.
As you can see, the Flash On
option caused a significant amount of red-eye. Applying the
red-eye reduction fix just turned half the pupil black!
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Flash
On (100% Crop) |
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Flash
- Red-Eye Reduction (100% Crop) |
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Night Shot
The HP Photosmart R837 maximum
shutter speed is 10 seconds,
which is fairly good news if you're interested in night photography.
The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 1/60th
second, aperture of f/3.6 at ISO 100. I've included a 100%
crop of
the image to show what the quality is like.
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Night
Shot (100% Crop) |
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Overall Image Quality
Fans of Brit photographer Martin Parr and his day-glow studies of the human condition
(myself included) will be pleased by the warm, well-saturated
colours that the R837 delivers as a default – indeed they're
the first thing that hit you when reviewing shots on a desktop.
If you prefer your shots pale and interesting then perhaps
this isn't the camera for you. Night shots without flash inevitably
reveal noise – and a top light sensitivity setting of ISO
400 isn't going to win any prizes – but at
least at this maximum setting such artifacts aren't going
to prove any real problem either. Camera shake is perhaps
inevitable, though I can see the R837's target audience –
families basically – relying on the traditional flash in
the main. Images also benefit from unsharp mask
in Photoshop – and there's obvious loss of highlight detail
under bright sunshine – but then not any more so than most
compacts in this sub-£200 price range. Pixel fringing is
readily visible if you're actually looking for it, but easily
overlooked if you're not. As for HP's in-camera editing: the
'pet eye fix' was a variable tool turning my flash-bleached
cat's eyes a cartoon-ish black instead of natural green,
while the camera failed to detect human red eye when it was
readily visible. That said, the ability to zero in on and
zap any spots or facial moles on the fly will appeal to any
teenager. So think fun more than anything. So, to sum up, image
quality is no better or worse than the competition at this
level – in fact
it's exactly what you'd expect, so in that sense there's
no disappointment or nasty surprises.
 PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the HP Photosmart R837 have
been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.
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