2. Features And Controls

At first we thought that the R967 was going to be the R827, but with more pixels and a bigger screen. We were wrong. The first thing you'll notice if you compare the cameras is that the R967 has a stylish, contoured brushed-chrome looking front case. Below the shutter release, the case is contoured to fit the center finger of your right hand, giving the R967 a comfortable, balanced feel.

Like the R827, the lens is on the right side (looking at the front) of the camera, but it's vertically centered, thus ensuring that your left index finger won't appear in your photos. When you power up the camera, the lens extends approximately 1 1/8" in two sections from the front of the camera. The lens extension causes the startup time to be approximately two seconds, but once you're powered up, the continuous focus ensures a very short shutter lag - specified at 0.15 seconds.

HP R967 Front View

The buttons on the R967 are exactly the same as on the R827. On the top of the camera, there's a button for Flash (Auto/On/Off), Macro, Photosmart Express menu, and a button to toggle between capture and playback modes. The shutter release is mounted toward the front of the camera and behind it is a flush-mounted button for starting/stopping video. The power switch was relocated, compared to the R827, to be inline with the rest of the top mounted buttons - a location we felt was better than on the R827.

The macro menu contained a pleasant surprise. In addition to the modes found on the R827, the R967 includes a manual focus mode. If you select manual focus, you focus using the up and down arrows on the four position switch. An indicator on the right side of the screen shows your relative focal distance ranging from macro to infinity.

To aid you with focusing, the screen presents a zoomed image in a box centered on the screen. However, we found that the zoom level on this "focus box" actually made the manual focusing more difficult, rather than easier. Fortunately, the zoom box disappears after a few seconds. Still, for those times that the built-in five zone focusing or the spot focusing doesn't fit your needs, the manual focus is a welcome addition.

The back of the R967 is also very similar to the R827. Like the R827, it features a thumb operated zoom control, and four directional switches surrounding the Menu/OK button. The R967 replaces the dedicated delete button found on the R827 by integrating the delete function into the down arrow button. The striking difference between the two cameras is the bright, brushed metal bezel surrounding the R967's LCD that gives it a premium look and feel.

HP Photosmart R967 Rear View