Rating: 
Summary: Needs an optical viewfinder
Review: Good camera---but--- there is no way to follow the subject and coupled with the delay the subject may be out of the frame by the time the shot is made. I would not buy again forn this reason.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing Performance
Review: Great specs, but poor implementation.The digital zoom is terribly slow, and you won't want to use it anyway due to the poor quality pictures it produces. The 4 AA batteries make the camera fairly heavy, but it still feels cheaply made and bulky. The viewfinder is a bit too small for my taste. I bought one and immediately returned it after a couple of hours of testing it out. It just wasn't the camera for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Part 2; three months later
Review: Having owned this camera for three months, I can say it is still great. But there have been some small bugs. To me the most annoying problem is that the camera would frequently not recognize the memory card at startup. This forces you to restart the camera and lose a moving or action picture. HP has come up with fix for this software problem. Visit the HP web site and download firmware 1.05. Follow the directions to install on camera and this fix is in.
Rating:
Summary: great features for less price
Review: I bought this camera for it's 8X optical zoom. This one produces good quality pictures and the video capturing is okay. Probably you need to avoid zooming while capturing video clips. It's definitely not for people who are looking for point and shoot camera. It takes a while to get used to shutter speed. The digital zoom is an added feature but not exciting. The camera comes with 16mb SD card , it should be upgraded to either 128mb or 256mb cards. This one eats batteries hence rechargeble batteries are must. The additional accesories needed are AC adapter and S-Video cable. Other than price of the camera you need to spend about 100-150 USD to get it complete. Still it's worth the expenses compared to other branded camera's with simillar features.
Rating: 
Summary: New at digital but not 35mm photography! Lots of info!
Review: I have been using 35mm cameras for 35 years taking pictures of the family, flowers, animals and landscapes so I think I know something about photo taking. I am a digital virgin though!
I shopped around before I purchased the HP-850. I was looking for a 35mm like camera with shutter (time exposures) and F-stop control, lots of zoom, macro ability, flash options (red eye & fill flash), good focusing abilities (low light and spot/averaging options), an easy to use inexpensive battery type and a reasonable price. All were there in the HP-850.
I recently used the camera on a trip to Hawaii where I tried all of it's options except the different white light options.
By purchasing a 110 Power Adapter cord from e-bay I was able to play with the many camera options and controls on my couch to learn the camera. I was also able to view the results and not use any battery power while doing all this.
I found the manual to be just fine. Naturally you have to be versed in 35mm camera use and wording to understand options and how to use them but that wouild be true with any camera.
The NIMH rechargable batteries lasted a long time (100+) photos. I used the power adapter each night to edit the days pictures so I really only used battery power to take photos. I did do some "on the spot" editing.
What I liked, and I liked a lot:
The powerfull zoom and the viewfinder indication (red box) when you transitioned into digital zoom.
The ability of the camera to take indoor pictures without a flash - it's amazing. Night time exposures were a lot of fun. With the amazing cameras natural bility to use natural light 1 - 3 seconds was plenty of shutter delay in all cases.
The flash red eye reduction and fill flash worked great but do take a few seconds to set up. I'm getting faster!
When Editing - the 4x enlarging option allows you to check focus detail over the whole picture. Also the second thought "are you sure" option before erasing a photo is great. The view finder does not work until you get your face about 2 inches from the camera. This saves battery power.
The shutter can easily be partially depressed for focusing. You do noy easily set off the shutter.
I found the view screen great as a view finder when taking delayed shutter and time exposure photos.
The camera is light and fits my hand very nicely. The controls are easy to access and work. You do not need a tooth pick or pen. Once you learn the options and programs they make sense and are easy to use (I have not figured out the 4 white light options yet well enought to comment on them.
Shop around for a bag. Don't forget to make room for extra batteries and an extra memory disk.
I purchased a battery charger and two sets of NIMH rechargable batteries. I have not regretted it a minute.
What I did not like:
The camera takes some getting used to but then it may be me getting used to digital photography.
The view finder goes black and there is about a 1 - 1/2 (noticable) second delay before the camera takes the pictuer. This makes taking pictures of moving objects (ex = waved breaking or hitting a rock, standing wildlife - they seem to move constantly, people walking or swinging a golf club)a real challenge since you are never really sure what you are going to get and you have to anticipate. Of course you can always review and erase/try again. It also makes long distance shots using a lot of zoom very hard without a camera support of some kind.
My wife, who has problems with a point and shoot, had problems with the focus in low light (set at central area of view finder). She does not understand the need to aim the camera onto the focal point of the photo and 1/2 press the shutter button to set focus. She is smart so it would probably help if I spent some time a explained it to her.
The 16mb disk that comes with the camera is basically worthless as are the four batteries they provide.
When asking others (waiters, bus boys) to use the camera the view finder going black, the shutter delay (1 second about) and 1/2 shutter button focus really throws them. I usually had them take 3 pictures then edited for the best. It helped to tell them what to expect first off and of course thier patience and ability to listen/learn are factors.
Rating:
Summary: hp photsmart 850 camera
Review: I have had the camera for three weeks now and it takes excellant pictures. i had some developed online and they look real nice. the zoom is great, you can really get up close. The camera is very easy to operate. I would reecomend getting another memory card though since the camera only comes with a 16mp card.
Rating:
Summary: Not ready for Prime time
Review: I have owned a lot of HP products and loved them including several HP digital cameras. THis one has a lot of great features however, the trouble is that they don't all come together in a usable product. If you need a point and shoot camrea this is not your product. Great zoom but by the time you want to take the picture the subject is gone. It came out of the labs too early.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth the money!
Review: I just received HP photosmart 850 digital camera. I love it!
It is well worth the money. This is my third digital. I was looking for at least 4 megapixel, with a good zoom. This camera was very easy to learn how to use. A few minutes out of the box, and I was taking beautiful pictures. I had originally purchased a Minolta Dimage 7I, sent it back because it was too hard to use. I would recommend this camera to everyone wanting to take better digital pictures. This camera's pictures are just as beautiful as a 35mm, and that is what I wanted.
I do recommend to purchase a extra secure digital memory card.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: I love this camera! It was easy to use (even our waiter took great pictures of us), and the quality of the pictures is amazing. This camera has all of the features of a great 35mm camera - I can modify the ISO and exposure if I want more control than a typical point-and-click. It's hard to imagine a higher-quality digital camera at this price point. You will want to invest in rechargable batteries - we took some pictures using the screen, and the batteries quickly drained.
Rating:
Summary: Want to buy a good 35mm?
Review: I LOVE this camera. I was hesitant to give up my 35mm, but I am so tired of buying and developing film, I felt like it was time to take the plunge. Not knowing anything about digital cameras, and being overwhelmed by all the choices, I spent several hours researching digital cameras. You can learn so much about any product... by simply reading the customer reviews. A couple of things I learned from other customers: get a camera with a lot of OPTICAL zoom. Buy as much MEMORY as you can afford. Get the optional dock. Buy a travel plug. Zoom: OPTICAL and DIGITAL zoom is not the same thing. Get as much OPTICAL zoom as you can afford. 3x Optical (seems that most of the retail digital cameras offer only 3x optical) is not very much; this one has 8x Optical plus 7x digital zoom (my 35mm has a 140mm zoom, and this is MUCH better). What that means is you can zoom in REALLY, REALLY far away. I was at an outdoor cookout yesterday, and took a couple hundred pics. I took one pic of a mountain a few miles away. Then I zoomed in as far as it would go and snapped another shot. I was amazed to find that I could make out shrubs and boulders on the mountain! WOW! Couldn't see those with the naked eyes. It is extremely easy to operate. Within minutes of getting it, I was taking pics. Taking digital pics takes a little getting used to compared to 35mm, but I've gotten the hang of it. I've taken over 1,000 pics in the 45 days that I've owned the camera. When you take a pic, there is a slight pause (about 1 1/2 seconds) before it snaps the pic. If the subject moves right after you push the button, then the pic could be blurry. I'm not too crazy about that, but I guess this is the way all digital cameras operate. But after taking the pic, you can immediately review it and if you don't like it you can simply delete it and try again. I've taken pics using the macro setting, action setting, w/flash, w/o flash, w/the 10 second timer, as well as a couple other settings. The great thing about a digital camera is, you can experiment, and if you don't like the shot, just delete it and take another. A really cool feature of this camera is that it will record up to 30 seconds of audio onto a picture. This is really cool. We used this on a friend who met someone online and wanted to send a pic to her. She was impressed. And you can record up to 60 seconds of video w/audio. Neat! When I purchased the camera it came with a discount on a memory upgrade. The camera comes standard with a 16mb card (not much), so I ordered a Viking 256mb SD memory card at a very good price... The camera's owner's manual says that you can only use up to 128mb of memory, however I have not had a problem using the 256mb card. It stores a ton of pics, depending on the size and pic quality. I usually set the camera on the 4MP medium quality setting, or the 1MP best quality setting, and the card holds 232 pics on either setting. On the 4MP best setting it holds 116 pics; on the 1MP good setting it holds 953 pics. Try using all the different settings and see what you like best. I ordered the optional dock. Highly recommend. Makes downloading pics very easy, plus it comes with 4 rechargable batteries and it charges them when you put the camera in the dock. The rechargable batteries last a long time. I've taken several hundred pics on one charge, and I always use the LCD screen to shoot the pics. Plus, I'm zooming in and out, reviewing shots, and deleting them, and the batteries still last a long time. I also purchased an AC adapter, so when I go out of town I can recharge the batteries if I need to. Also, because of the depth of the camera, you need to get a large carry case. I found one at Best Buy that was large enough for the camera and all the accessories. On the downside, the LCD screen is pretty worthless outside. It is almost impossible to see the image in sunlight. Also, you need a steady hand when taking macro shots because of the delay. It just takes practice. But overall, I am glad I got this camera. Several of my friends are buying this after seeing mine, and a couple of friends are going to upgrade their digital camera after comparing theirs to this. If you are shopping for a digital camera, you don't need to look any further! Or I'll make you a great deal on my 35mm.
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