HP Photosmart 715

Opinion: I like this camera very well and with a 128mb Compact Flash card (add On purchase) I can take all the photos I need at very good quality setting.

Opinion: Very good picture quality with direct print with a photojet printer and even better when enhancing with PSP. The batteries last much longer than in my HP C215.
The 3x optical zoom is great.

Opinion: I've been using this camera for a week now, and there is little to know/say about it.
For 299 € (MediaMarkt) you get the same lens that the Canon G1/G2, the Sony S75/85, the Casio QV4000 or the Epson 3100 -a 34-102 (eq) zoom with a 2.0-2.5 aperture.
When there is good light the pictures come out incredibly nice.
Not only those at max. resolution, but the little ones as well, and you can take a hundred of them with the 16Mb card included.
This is a very simple camera. 100 iso only, autobalance, autofocus and no video. Aperture is set automatically acording to light conditions so depth of field is not a choice but only a result.
Macro works well in its 20-60 cms range and the 4 flash modes are more than enough. The batteries are AA and a set of alkaline last for over 4 16Mb-cards.
At a similar price, it's hard to find a 3MP camera with a 3X zoom with such a bright aperture. I have taken some pictures with a Nikon 775 (2MPixel but more expensive) and the pictures came better with the HP. The Sony P2 (2MP, 3xzoom)is around 360 € but I could not test it so I went for the 3MP.

Coming from a Nikon SLR, I chose better lens instead of picture control and so far I don't regret it.

Some low resolution (640x480) pictures are available at
http://es.photos.yahoo.com/hofjejo

Opinion: I recently purchased this camera (lower priced than I can find searching the Internet) and it is a good starter camera. It is relatively easy to use but I find with the flash off the pictures can be blurry at times. I would have liked to be able to do more with it, but the pictures turn out good. The specs state that it has a threaded lens but since the lens zooms out once the power is on, being able to add lenses is not an option. I like the power saver feature on the back screen and also opn the camera itself. People moving results in a blurry picture wether indoors (with the flash) or outdoors.