HP PhotoSmart 315HP's "entry-level+" model offers 2.1 megapixels and ease of use at a bargain price.<<Camera Modes & Menus :(Previous) | (Next): Video, Power, Software>> Page 10:Image Storage & InterfaceReview First Posted: 03/14/2001 |
Image Storage and InterfaceThe 315 records images to a Type I CompactFlash card. An 8MB card is packaged with the camera, with higher-capacity upgrades available separately. The CompactFlash card inserts into the card slot with the electrodes going in first, and the front of the card facing the front of the camera. The card will not go into the camera the wrong way. A blue button next to the slot releases the card when you're ready to retrieve it.
Never remove the CompactFlash card while the camera is performing any function, to avoid damaging the media. The LCD monitor reports when the camera is accessing the card, but Hewlett-Packard recommends waiting until the camera is powered off to remove it. The 315's status display panel reports the number of available images that the card has room for, next to a small CompactFlash icon. If the icon is blinking, the card is either full or has some type of problem and needs to be checked.
Entire CompactFlash cards cannot be write-protected, but the 315 allows you to protect captured images through the Playback menu. The Lock menu option lets you write-protect individual images, or all images on the card, which protects them from being accidentally erased (except from card formatting).
The 315 features JetSend infrared technology, which allows you to "beam" images to another JetSend device, such as a printer, via the camera's infrared port. The camera can only send photos via the JetSend infrared port, and you can only send one photo at a time. To beam a photo, you simply scroll to the photo you'd like to send, line up the camera's infrared port no further than six inches (15cm) from the JetSend device, and then press the shutter button. The camera's LCD will report that it's looking for the device, then show a status bar of the image transfer once the process begins.
Three JPEG compression levels and two image sizes are available on the 315. Super Fine and Fine quality settings record images at the 1,600 x 1,200-pixel resolution, with two different compression ratios (see chart). The Basic quality setting records 640 x 480-pixel images. Below are the approximate still image capacities and compression ratios for an 8MB CompactFlash card:
|
Resolution/Quality |
|
|
|
|
| High Resolution 1600x1200 | Images | 10 | 20 |
|
| Approx. Compression |
7:1 | 14:1 |
|
|
| Standard Resolution 640x480 | Images |
|
|
|
| Approx. Compression |
|
|
|
|
A USB cable and two software CDs accompany the PhotoSmart 315, for quick connection to a PC or Mac. Unlike some cameras, the 315 requires that you install its software application to download images from the camera, rather than letting the camera "mount" on the computer's desktop like another disk drive. The software set that accompanies the 315 is slightly more extensive than that shipped with the PhotoSmart 215, and is very easy to use. As we were experiencing severe PC problems at the time we reviewed the 315, we weren't able to download images, however we assume that the software works similarly to that of the 215, which automatically launches the HP photo application when the camera is connected to the computer's USB port. Our Windows problems also prevented us from measuring the transfer speed on the PC, but on a Mac, we measured a download speed of 98 KBytes/second. This is only a quarter as fast as high-end USB cameras we've tested, but it's still fast enough to completely empty an 8MB memory card in a little more than a minute.
Reader Comments! --> Visit our discussion forum for the HP PhotoSmart 315!
Follow Imaging Resource: