Ask anyone who's heard of it and they'll tell you the problem with digital photography is the cost. Digital cameras with reasonable image quality don't come cheaply and even simple models cost as much as a swanky SLR. Thankfully, this is a trend that looks set to change, if the PhotoSmart 318 from HP is anything to go by.

At £179 there's only one word that could be used to describe the 318 and that's cheap. HP would probably prefer the term low-cost but it really doesn't have anything to worry about. The camera has a chunky, well-built feel that suggests quite the opposite of cost-cutting.

The list of features is impressive too. A built-in flash with red-eye reduction isn't unusual at this price but a colour TFT viewfinder is. HP hasn't skimped on the image resolution either and the 318's maximum setting of 1800 x 1200 is higher than that of some of the £600 cameras reviewed in Issue 92's [Computeractive] group test. There's also 8Mb of built-in memory plus a slot for a CompactFlash memory if you want to store more than seven snaps at the highest quality setting.

The 318 is one of the easiest-to-use digital cameras we've seen, thanks largely to a simple control system. A sliding switch turns the camera on and three buttons on the top set the picture quality, 2x digital zoom and flash modes.

Press the small dial above the TFT and you can view your images; rotating the dial steps through them. Press the dial again and you can cycle through various picture options such as deleting one, viewing them all as thumbnails and even marking ones for printing directly if you have an HP printer with a memory card slot.

Image quality of the 318 is good but not quite on a par with that of more costly cameras. Images are a touch blocky at the highest setting and colours aren't terribly vibrant, but these are minor complaints that probably won't be noticed by most users.

This is a top-notch performer and anyone wanting to dip a digit in the world of digital photography can do so using it - without risking their credit rating.

Contact
HP: 08705 474747 www.hp.co.uk ALSO CONSIDER

Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom
A 10x zoom lens is the icing on the cake of this great all-rounder.
£600 ****
Computeractive, Issue 92.