HP C618 Digital Camera By J.P.
bar shot:
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Ever
notice how reviews of digital cameras never mention how the image gets from the camera to
the computer? Every digital camera comes with software. Most have a cable that
attaches the camera to the computer. (Sony has a digital camera that uses
disks.) With my new C618 by Hewlett Packard, the transfer is quick and easy. Once
you have the software installed, attach the camera to the A or B port of the
computer. Turn the camera on, move the top dial to "PC" and run the
software. It unloads the camera onto your computer, and gives you the option to delete the
pictures from the camera. The C618 is identical to a Pentax model, except the C618 comes with an infa-red remote button. To use this button, you must be forward of the camera, though you do not have to be directly in front of the lens. The camera also has a ten-second timer. The specifications of the C618 are impressive: 1.92 million effective pixels 2.11 million pixel sensor 34 mm - 108 mm zoom lens A pixel is a colored dot. (It is from the phrase, "picture element.") The more little dots that make a picure, the sharper an image you can make. Basically, you have enough pixels in a picture from a C618 to make a decent 8 x 10 color photo. And more than enough to fill up the screen on your computer monitor. The zoom lens is equal to making an image slightly larger than 3 times the actual view. This is an optical range. Digitally you can enlarge the image even more. If you do this, you lose quality. Price? Checking the internet, I can find pricesamong $357 to almost $600. The median average being close to $400. The price actually lowered between the time I purchased the camera to the time I wrote this review. Does it make good pictures? Yes! Checking the many reviews on the internet, I am not alone in this opinion. All photos in this review, that were made by the C618, are done in medium resolution. The camera has settings for high, medium and low resolution. High resolution is used if the image is to be made into a photograph. Low resolution is used if you want more pictures.With a 16Meg card, you can get 39 pictures in medium resolution. Compact flash memory cards with more storage - up to 128 megs - are available. But how good is good? Sure, even a single-use camera can make a good photo under ideal conditions. I thought I would try it under difficult conditions. So, I drop into this dimly lit bar that happens to have karaoke that night. (Don't try this at home. Entering dimly lit bars with a camera that has a built-in flash, has been known to cause problems. Especially in places with the word "Hideaway" in the name.) Just me, a tripod, the C618 and about 720 pounds of my friends. I try for a shot of myself at the microphone. Camera is 13 feet away. Lighting is mostly the flash and a few dim lights. No stage, no stage lamps. Results are what you might expect from 400 speed film, a standard flash and a wider lens than what I used. The result I show slightly enlarged and croped to show off the details. The photo was done with the remote button. (It has a three-second delay.) The little C618 has features. You can view the picture through the viewfinder or watch the screen on the back of the camera. It allows time and date stamping of your images. It can record sound and does motion pictures for about 30 seconds. Tamron, known for making camera lenses has three lenses for the C618. (They require a $25 adapter, to fit onto the camera.) You do not want to choose a digital camera based on the software that comes with it. The software includes a photo editor, photo viewer and the transfer program. Aside from getting the photos out of the camera, the transfer program also makes it easier to email the pictures. The viewer allows you to see all the images in a folder. Much easier to use than even the browser on your computer. The editor is nice and has more features than I expected. It even allows you to edit layers on an image. Downside. It uses four AA batteries. The flash is powerful and can drain batteries if you do many flash shots. Keep spare batteries handy. Once the batteries are used up (according to the camera's display). I found the batteries can still make a bright light in my flashlight. Overall a good product. I cannot find a less expensive camera that has a remote button. |
