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HP Photosmart M417 Review

Review Summary
Reader Score: 6.18 (out of 10)
The HP Photosmart M417 offers very good value for money as one of the cheapest 5 megapixel digital cameras currently available - it has an easy to use menu system and built in help which you may find useful. However, I found the camera to be frustratingly slow at times, and rarely wanted to take the camera with me in case I missed the shot. The camera is also very poor at focusing indoors or in low light, this meant that I was pretty much unable to use the camera indoors.
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Other Reviews For This Model

Review Site Review Score Date Link
PC Magazine 7.00 05-27-05 Read Full Review
The 5.2-megapixel HP Photosmart M417 ($199.99 direct) offers more or less what you would expect from an inexpensive camera: 3X optical zoom (6 mm to 18 mm, or a 35-mm equivalent of 36 mm to 108 mm, with a wide-aperture setting range of f/2.9 to f/4.9), a 1.8-inch LCD, various scene modes, and flash settings. Essentially, it gives people what they want, but not too much more.

Review Site Review Score Date Link
Trusted Reviews 6.00 06-07-05 Read Full Review
As a beginners camera, the M417 has much to commend. It's cheap, well made, has a good if rather basic specification, and sports several technical innovations that will help the novice user to take better pictures. The Adaptive Lighting technology still needs a little work, but it can produce very good pictures in circumstances that would defeat a normal camera. Shame about the image quality though.

Review Site Review Score Date Link
Digital Camera Review 3.00 07-21-05 Read Full Review
When I got my hands on the HP Photosmart M417, I was anxious to try out some of HP's "technologies" that they've included on this camera. The camera features Adaptive Lighting technology from HP. The Adaptive Lighting feature, when enabled, captures two versions of an image, one exposed for the highlighted areas and one exposed to bring out details in the shadows. The camera then "merges" the two images together to achieve high detail in lowlights and keep the highlights from being overexposed. The other trick included on this camera is an in-camera red eye fix. Despite these features, the camera, while easy to use, was average when it came down to image quality.

Review Site Review Score Date Link
CNET Reviews ----- 06-07-05 Read Full Review
If you have only two Benjamins to spend and still crave a 5-megapixel camera, this HP compact fills the bill. However, don't expect any frills. This camera is delivered sans memory card, rechargeable batteries, or charger, and its feature set mainly covers the basics. But the real killer is mediocre image quality, with soft images that break down when enlarged much beyond 4x6 inches. Still, the price is right, and the camera is easy to operate. It may satisfy casual snapshooters who value simplicity over versatility.

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