HP Photosmart 120

This is the "HP Photosmart 120". It is a simple, point-and-shoot digital camera released in the early 2000s as part of Hewlett Packard's line of Photosmart digital cameras. The 120 was released in 2002 and sports a jaw dropping 1 Megapixel resolution!

 

Specs:

-1 MP CMOS Censor

-1 inch backlit LCD screen

-Compact Flash compatible

-4 MB internal memory can hold up to 10 pictures (in "best" mode)

-Requires 4 AA batteries

 

While the camera itself is very simple to use, the image quality is not great even for a 1 MP camera. Colours appear dull and picture are overly grainy. The image quality seems to vary depending on the amount of light available. Outdoors, in bright and sunny conditions seem to yeild the sharpest pictures. While pictures taken indoors tend to look dark and pixilated (perhaps this is the result of some sort of automatic exposure feature in which the camera adjusts for indoor conditions? - i.e. - higher ISO and/or shutter speed to compensate for lower light). The built-in flash isn't much help either as it had a tendency to make pictures washed out.

 

I think this was one of the first digital cameras I ever saw in stores. There was a camera store near me called Blacks, and one time there was a salesman giving a demonstration, boasting about all the advantages of digital photography. The camera cost around $400 (at the time you could buy an entry-level 35mm SLR for the same amount) and I was not impressed with the picture quality. It was not until digital cameras got into the 5-6 MP range that I finally bought one.

 

View the manual for the HP Photosmart 120:

images10.newegg.com/UploadFilesForNewegg/itemintelligence...

 

Done