I sell Bead Kits on auction sites. At first ’’scanning’’ the kits was the only option I had, and being that beads generally aren’t flat, this was difficult. I used to spend all morning scanning the kits....repositioning the beads that ’’moved’’ and searching for the ones that had ’’simply rolled away’’. It was beginning to become more trouble than it was worth.
Then Christmas 2001 my hubby surprised me with a digital camera! It was a ’’basic’’ and ’’simple’’ model, but that’s all I needed. It was a Hewlett Packard Phototsmart 318. In the package, software was included and a cable used for downloading photos from the camera to the computer.
The software was a snap to install. I just placed the CD in my CD ROM Drive and followed the SIMPLE instructions. There was also a little booklet with clear drawings on How-To hook it all up.
The camera takes four AA batteries, which my hubby included in my Christmas Stocking. After adding the batteries, I was taking pictures of EVERYTHING!
My son got me a Memory Card (ScanDisk 32 MB), which can be added to the camera. This allows you take a LOT MORE photos before you have to download them. The number of pictures varies on what ’’quality’’ you want the photos to be. The higher the quality the more pixels. With the memory card installed, I can take 487 pictures at the One-star level. If I click on the top star button, it becomes a two-star level and I can take 69 pictures. If I click again, I can make the pictures maximum quality (three stars) and take 34 pictures. I usually set it on the *** (three stars)setting, because the quality of a photo is important to me.
This works very well for the pictures I take for my auctions. What I have is a very ’’basic’’ model, but it does have a few nice features. First there is the button to decide what quality of photo (which I described above). Next to it is a button that allows you to ’’zoom’’ in, however it is only a 2X zoom. Push that same button again and it allows you to set a timer.
The next button is for the flash. There are two kinds of flash. There is the regular flash, and there is also the Red-eye flash. That button has a flash with a ’’strobe effect’’ that prevents red eye in the photos with people.
On the back of the camera, there is a screen which allows you to view what you are going to photograph and also what you have photographed. You can push a button and preview all the photos you have taken before downloading them.
After taking photos, you just use the cable provided to hook your camera to your PC. Downloading takes only a couple minutes. You get to see the pictures while they are downloading.
After downloading, you use the software that HP provided to remove photos and edit the ones you decide to keep. I don’t use the software’s option for emailing pictures. It seems to take too long. I use my ’’attachments’’ option with my email service. The editing part a of the software lets you enhance the photos. Lighten, brighten, make smaller, make bigger, crop, change tint, change color balance, blur, and sharpen.
There are a couple other options that I do not use very often, but they’re fun to play with. The first says that it ’’removes noise from the image’’. What is does is blur the background. It’s kind of a cool feature if the background is detracting from your picture. The next option is ’’emboss’’. It makes the photo look like it was really embossed.
As far as my auctions go, this tool has really helped. Many of my focal beads look so much better in a digital photograph than they ever did on the scanner. Subsequently, my sales increased.
I have taken the camera with me on trips and have been pleased with it. It is light weight and is an easy-to-carry camera. I can stick in my purse, hang it on my wrist, or slip it in my coat pocket. On my last outing I simply slipped it’s handle over my saddle horn.
If you’re looking for a great digital camera....look no further. Try the HP Photosmart 318. I think you, too, will be pleased. I have had this camera for a year now and have not become bored with it....there are features I haven’t even tried yet!