by Jim Bray

Hewlett Packard's aggressive assault on the digital imaging market continues with the PhotoSmart C200, an easy to use digital camera that offers good quality in a small package.

Operating a resolutions of up to "one megapixel" (which, in English, means a resolution of 1152 x 872), the camera features a 2X zoom and an easy-to-figure out software interface to dump your photos onto your PC hard drive.

The only real problem with this camera (and you may accuse me of being nitpicky), is the location of the LCD monitor screen on the back: it's right where my nose hits when looking through the viewfinder - which results in little smudge marks on the screen.

Jimmy Durante would probably poke right out the front of the camera...

Anyway, the camera is child's play to use - you just point and click to take photos and, using the 1.8 inch LCD monitor, you can immediately take a look at what you've shot and, if you don't like what you see, delete it to free up memory.

Speaking of memory, the C200 comes with a removable, reusable 8 Meg "CompactFlash" card that, depending upon the resolution at which you're shooting, can hold up to 80 shots. Naturally, the higher resolution you use the fewer shots (I did some high res shooting with it and it only allowed 17 shots, which was plenty for the application in which I was using it).

Using the LCD to change settings is also very easy. It's menu-driven and in plain language.

An autoflash feature activates itself when the little droid inside the camera figures you need extra illumination - or even some fill light, and it does a good job of not inflicting "red eye" on your subjects. You also get autofocus and there's even a macro mode for those times you want to zoom in on someone's nose hairs.

The camera comes with everything you need, including batteries. Unfortunately, however, it doesn't use rechargeables and there's no AC adapter included. This latter point is a shame, because the process of downloading the shots into your computer (which is accomplished via the included camera-to-serial port cable) will run down the batteries quicker'n you can say "Jack Robinson"

. You also get a long NTSC video cable so you can play back your photos on your TV, which is a nice touch (assuming you have the optional AC adapter or shares in Eveready).

The software lets you index your photos and create photo layouts, if such is your desire. It's intuitive and very easy to use.

In all, the PhotoSmart C200 is a fine performer, as long as you have a cute, button nose and a pile of batteries.

Manufacturer's Specifications:

• Resolution: 1 megapixel (1152 x 872 pixels), 24 bit color
• Exposure: ISO 100
• Memory Cards: 8 MB
• Lens system: F2.8, 5.6, 11; autofocus
• Features: Color 1.8-in LCD, real-image viewfinder, normal focus 2 ft to infinity, macro focus 9.5 in to 2 ft
• Interface: Serial to PC, NTSC/PAL to TV/video
• Power Supply: 4 AA alkaline batteries or AC adapter (optional)
• Dimensions :(W x D x H) 5 x 3.1 x 2.1 in (128 x 80 x 55 mm) Weight 0.7 lb (without batteries)
• Minimum System Requirements: Windows 95 or later, NT 4.0

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