ISO Image Quality
The HP Photosmart R607 offers an ISO range of 100-400 in three
manual steps (100, 200, 400). You can also leave the ISO set to
"Auto", allowing the camera to set the most appropriate choice
depending on the scene and other camera settings.
ISO is similar to film speed. The higher the ISO rating, the more
light sensitive the camera's image sensor becomes. Similar to film,
which exhibits increased grain at faster film speeds, digital cameras
also exhibit grain, which is often referred to as "noise." Higher
ISO settings allow the camera to use faster shutter speeds, important
when trying to capture motion, especially in less than ideal light.
Since each increase in ISO also adds an increase in "noise," you
will need to find a balance between shutter and ISO sensitivity
- thinking ahead as to how the image will be used. If large prints
will be required, then you may want to stay away from higher ISO
settings due to this increased noise.
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| ISO 100 | ISO 200 |
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As you can see from these test shots, the R607 takes
pictures with very little noise or "grain" when shooting at
an ISO settings of 100. At ISO 200, more noise is evident, but
still fairly low. Noise levels increase quite a bit at ISO 400.
Noise often shows up in solid colors as well as in shadow areas of
a scene.
Whenever possible, it is smarter to increase natural lighting before
increasing the ISO setting (for increased light sensitivity of the
camera.) Setting a higher ISO does allow the camera to use higher
shutter speeds, which can be beneficial when trying to reduce blur
in action shots (basketball, gymnastics, hockey, etc.). The trade-off
is some loss of image quality due to the increased ISO setting.
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| ISO 400 |
In-Camera Image Sharpening
The Photosmart R607 features three levels of in-camera sharpening. Normal, (-)Less, and (+) More. In order to show you the
image quality differences, I took three pictures of this home, each with a different sharpening level. The small squares below
represent a 100% crop from each of the three photos.
White Balance
Overall, the images from the Photosmart R607 are very pleasing with vivid colors and low noise (at ISO 100 or 200). When shooting in bright
sunlight, the R607 would sometimes exhibit a purple tint - an example of which can be seen in the photo above (look at the white area
of snow on the left side of the roof, next to the left window.)
Joby Gorillapod Focus
