HP Photosmart M407

Pros on the HP Photosmart M407Considerable good photos.Low costConsBattery drainage even with rechargeable batteriesHad to repair after a couple of months- totally stopped functioningRecently the shutter is not working

I have owned the HP Photosmart M407 camera for nearly a year and a half, and I rarely use it. It's battery life being the main off- put. This camera may only be a very basic beginners camera but its lack of features begins to get annoying after owning it for a while. The image quality is poor, it encounters problems with focusing and the detail and the colours in the images are very poor unless the lighting is absolutely perfect. I rely more on my mobile phone camera these days (which is only half the resolution of this) but at least it gives me some control over the images and the battery lasts days not minutes.

I have owned and used 5 different digital cameras over the past few years and the HP Photosmart M407 was the worst I've ever come across. The picture quality was so far off when compared to a Nikon 5700, Canon SD400 and Olympus D-545. They outdoor pictures were decent, but were less sharp, lower contrast, and ever slightly blurred when compared with the other cameras.

Indoor shots looked like there was a white haze over the image. Focus was very poor for any indoor pictures in low lighting.

Batter life was very poor. A fresh set of AA alkalines lasted 10 shots with flash before giving the low battery warning and shuttind down the camera. I also put in a fresh set of NiMH 1900 AA batteries and it only lasted 17 pictures before giving me the low battery warning.

This isn't just with the one HP M407 I had, I bought two of them as gifts for my children and both exhibited the same characteristics. I took both cameras back and returned them two days later and bought the Olympus D-545. It was so much more usable and higher image quality for just a few dollars more.

My advice is to shop elsewhere and don't waste your time with the HP M407.