HP Photosmart 850

The Photosmart 850 is the newest addition to HP's digital camera line-up, and sits at the top of the company's range.

The 850 is a 4megapixel model, its most notable feature being an 8x optical zoom lens with equivalent focal length range of 37-300mm. The lens boasts a very fast maximum aperture of f3.1 at full zoom, helping to avoid camera shake.

Storage is in the form of a 32MB Secure Digital card and power comes from four AA batteries. For an extra £50 inc VAT you get a docking station and rechargeables, with in-dock charging.

As well as the 2in TFT monitor, there's a viewfinder with eye-start that pops into life when you bring your eye to the camera.

The menu system offers centre-weighted, spot and average metering modes, plus aperture and shutter priority exposure settings, but no fully manual exposure or focus control.

Quality-wise, the 850 does well, although the common problem of purple fringing along high-contrast edges very much made its presence felt in our tests.

In low light there was more image noise than we'd like, although ISO sensitivity can be manually forced down to 100 if you're good at holding the camera steady.

Macro capability is moderate, and allowed us to get down to about 10cm; not as good as lenses from the likes of Nikon or Sony, but an 8x zoom has to make compromises somewhere.

If quality is what you're after, Nikon, Sony and Canon offer better options in the price range. But forgo the non-essential docking station and the Photosmart 850 gives you what no other camera can: an 8x optical zoom and 4megapixels for under £400.

SPECS

• 2,272 x 1,712 max resolution
• 8x max optical zoom
• 7x max digital zoom
• 37-300mm focal length (35mm equiv)
• f2.8-f3.1 max lens aperture
• Normal focus range 50cm-infinity
• Macro focus range 10cm
• 70cm
• Flash modes: auto, off, red-eye, slow sync
• 2in LCD screen

DETAILS

Price: £399 (£340 ex VAT); £449 with docking station

Contact: HP 08705 474 747
www.hp.co.uk