HP 912 User manual

HP 912 Digital Camera
User’s Guide
HP Imaging Technology

HP 912 Digital Camera User’s Guide 2 Legal Notices
Legal Notices
 Copyright 2000 Hewlett-Packard Company. ALL RIGHT RE ERVED.
The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.
Hewlett-Packard Company shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for
consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this
material. No part of this document may be photocopied, reproduced, or translated to
another language without the prior written consent of Hewlett-Packard Company.
HP, the HP logo, Jet end, the Jet end logo, Photo mart, and the Photo mart logo are
property of Hewlett-Packard Company.
PENTAX is a trademark of Asahi Optical Co., Ltd.
The Digita camera operating system is  copyright 2000 FlashPoint Technology, Inc.
ALL RIGHT RE ERVED.
Digita and the Digita logo are trademarks of FlashPoint Technology, Inc.
anDisk and CompactFlash are trademarks of anDisk Corporation.
Adobe and Acrobat are registered trademarks of Adobe ystems Incorporated.
Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Apple, Macintosh, and Mac are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U. .
and other countries.

HP 912 Digital Camera User’s Guide Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 5
Product Overview ...................................................................................................................................................... 5
What’s in this Guide ..................................................................................................................................................6
How to Use this Guide ..............................................................................................................................................7
Related Information ..................................................................................................................................................7
Chapter 2: Preparing to Take Pictures .............................................................................................................................. 8
Accessing the Capture Mode and Powering on the Camera ............................................................... 8
etting the Exposure Mode ..................................................................................................................................9
Using the tatus LCD .............................................................................................................................................12
Using the Auto Exposure Lock (AE-L) Button ............................................................................................ 16
Using the ub-Dial ..................................................................................................................................................17
Using Flash ..................................................................................................................................................................18
Using the Image LCD ............................................................................................................................................ 19
Chapter 3: Taking Pictures ....................................................................................................................................................23
Taking imple Point-and- hoot Pictures ....................................................................................................23
Taking More Advanced Pictures ..................................................................................................................... 24
Using the Zoom Ring ........................................................................................................................................... 29
Using the Diopter Control ................................................................................................................................. 29
Understanding the Viewfinder LCD .............................................................................................................. 30
Understanding the LEDs on the Camera .....................................................................................................32
Using Instant Review ..............................................................................................................................................33
Recording ound .....................................................................................................................................................34
Chapter 4: Viewing and Reviewing Images ..................................................................................................................35
Using Playback Mode ...........................................................................................................................................35
Using Review Mode ................................................................................................................................................38
Chapter 5: haring Images ..................................................................................................................................................46
Transferring Images to Your Computer ......................................................................................................46
Using a Digital Print Order Format (DPOF) File .......................................................................................52
Jet ending Images to a Printer ....................................................................................................................... 54
Transmitting Images Between Two Cameras ............................................................................................ 56
Connecting the Camera to Your Television .............................................................................................. 58

HP 912 Digital Camera User’s Guide 4 Table of Contents
Chapter 6: Menu and oft Key Reference ...................................................................................................................60
Capture Mode Menus and oft Keys ...........................................................................................................60
Playback Mode Menu and oft Keys ........................................................................................................... 82
Review Mode Menus and oft Keys ...............................................................................................................87
Chapter 7: Troubleshooting .................................................................................................................................................97
Troubleshooting Common Problems ...........................................................................................................97
Contacting HP Customer Care ...................................................................................................................... 102
Appendix A: Using the Preferences Menu ..................................................................................................................103
Accessing the Preferences Menu ...................................................................................................................103
etting the Display .............................................................................................................................................. 104
Controlling Camera ounds .......................................................................................................................... 106
Formatting the Memory Card .........................................................................................................................107
electing the PC Connect Mode ....................................................................................................................107
etting the Date and Time ............................................................................................................................... 108
etting the Image Counter ..............................................................................................................................109
Naming Your Camera ......................................................................................................................................... 110
electing a Language ...........................................................................................................................................111
Resetting Camera ettings ................................................................................................................................. 111
Appendix B: Camera and Accessories Information ................................................................................................ 112
Camera pecifications .........................................................................................................................................112
Battery Life ................................................................................................................................................................ 115
HP Accessories for Powering the Camera ..................................................................................................116
torage Capacities of Memory Cards ..........................................................................................................119
Appendix C: Product Warranties .................................................................................................................................... 120
Limited Product Warranty ................................................................................................................................ 120
Hewlett-Packard Year 2000 Warranty .......................................................................................................122
Appendix D: Product afety and Regulatory Information ................................................................................ 123
afety Information ............................................................................................................................................... 123
Regulatory Notices ...............................................................................................................................................124
Glossary ......................................................................................................................................................................................125
Index ..............................................................................................................................................................................................136

Chapter 1: Introduction 5 Product Overview
Chapter 1: Introduction
Welcome to the HP 912 Digital Camera User’s Guide. This guide will help you take high-quality
pictures quickly and easily with your HP 912 digital camera.
Product Overview
The HP 912 is an LR-type digital camera that offers control and creativity during the picture-taking
process. It provides these key features:
HP Imaging Technology
3x optical /2x digital zoom
Three image type settings − One hot, Continuous, and Timelapse
Ten exposure modes − Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Action, Night, Program,
hutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and Manual
Manual focus mode and two auto focus mode settings − Normal and Macro
Four timer mode settings − Off, 10- econd Timer, Remote, and 3- econd Remote
Built-in, pop-up flash with four flash mode settings − Auto, Auto with Red-Eye Reduction,
Forced On, and Forced On with Red-Eye Reduction
Note: For more detailed information about the
camera’s features, see “Camera pecifications”
on page 112.
A hot shoe for attaching an external flash
Your HP 912 camera comes equipped with four operating modes (see Table 1). To set the mode, turn
the camera mode dial on the back of the camera to the mode you want to use.
Note: Capture, Playback, and Review modes
have menus and related soft keys you can use
to change your camera’s settings and to edit
and organize images. (PC Connect mode does
not have menus or soft keys.)
Table 1: Camera Modes
Mode Use this Mode to...
Capture
CaptureCapture
Capture Take pictures (or “capture images”).
Playback
Playback Playback
Playback View the captured images in a variety of ways. You can
view images full screen, play back timelapse and grouped
image sequences, and create slideshows of images.
Review
ReviewReview
Review ort and edit the captured images in a variety of ways. For
example, you can group, categorize, delete, and search for
captured images.
PC Connect
PC ConnectPC Connect
PC Connect Transfer images from the camera to a computer.

Chapter 1: Introduction 6 What’s in this Guide
What’s in this Guide
This User’s Guide provides all the “how to” and reference information you need to use your
camera successfully.
Part of Manual What is Covered
“Chapter 2: Preparing to Take Pictures” How to adjust settings in the status LCD, image LCD, and Capture mode
menus to prepare your camera to take pictures.
“Chapter 3: Taking Pictures” How to take simple point-and-shoot pictures, as well as more advanced
pictures. Also how to use the zoom, Instant Review, and the sound
recording features.
“Chapter 4: Viewing and Reviewing
Images”
How to view images full screen, play back timelapse and grouped image
sequences, and create slideshows of images in Playback mode. Also how
to edit, organize, delete, and search for images in Review mode.
“Chapter 5: haring Images” How to share images by transferring them to your computer, Jet ending
them to a printer, transmitting them to other cameras and printers, and
viewing them on a television.
“Chapter 6: Menu and oft Key Reference” What each of your camera’s menus and related soft keys do.
“Chapter 7: Troubleshooting” How to fix common problems when using the camera, and how to contact
HP Customer Care for help, if needed.
“Appendix A: Using the Preferences Menu” How to use the Preferences menu to change a variety of your camera’s
general settings.
“Appendix B: Camera and Accessories
Information”
pecifications for the camera, as well as information about some of the
accessories that the camera supports.
“Appendix C: Product Warranties” Limited product warranty and the HP Year 2000 warranty for the camera.
“Appendix D: Product afety and
Regulatory Information”
afety information and regulatory notices regarding the camera and
some of its accessories.
“Glossary” Definitions of the terms related to your camera that are used throughout
this guide and in the camera’s Quick Start Guide.
“Index” Where to find particular topics about your camera throughout this guide.

Chapter 1: Introduction 7 How to Use this Guide
How to Use this Guide
You can use this guide online, or you can print it out. The main advantage of using it online is that
you can use its built-in searching and linking capabilities on your computer to quickly find the
information you need. Of course, an advantage of having a print-out is that you can take it anywhere
you want to use your camera. You may also prefer to read information about your camera from a
printed version, rather than on a computer screen.
Note: If you choose to print this guide, be aware
that printing it in color may take a long time.
Therefore, you may want to print this guide in
black and white, instead.
This online guide is provided in Adobe® Acrobat® version 4.0 (.pdf) format. To learn how to use
Acrobat’s searching and linking features, see the online Help for the Acrobat software.
To print this guide, select Print
PrintPrint
Print from Acrobat’s File menu. In the Print dialog box, either click the OK
OKOK
OK
button to print the entire guide, or specify the Print Range
Print RangePrint Range
Print Range of pages you want and then click OK
OKOK
OK.
Related Information
For a complete listing and description of your camera’s features, including diagrams showing the
locations of all the buttons, dials, displays, and so on, see the printed HP 912 Digital Camera Quick
Start Guide that was included in your camera’s box. Along with helping you use your camera for the
first time to capture and view images, the Quick Start Guide also explains how to transfer images from
the camera to your computer.
Note: It is assumed that you have already used
the HP 912 Digital Camera Quick Start Guide to
install the batteries and the memory card in
your camera.
To learn how to use the software that came with your camera, see the software’s online Help. All the
documentation for the software is provided in the form of online Help within the software itself.
Finally, you can get project ideas, troubleshooting assistance, and up-to-date information about
your camera and the HP Photo Imaging oftware from the HP website at: www.hp.com/photosmart
www.hp.com/photosmartwww.hp.com/photosmart
www.hp.com/photosmart.
Updates for your camera’s firmware are also posted to this website from time-to-time. You can
install these updates on your camera so that you can always have the most current functionality
running on it.

Chapter 2: Preparing to Take Pictures 8 Accessing the Capture Mode and Powering on the Camera
Chapter 2: Preparing to Take Pictures
Overview
You can use your camera’s default settings to take pictures in a point-and-shoot fashion, or
you can use more advanced features that you set via the camera’s status LCD and image LCD. This
chapter explains how to prepare your camera to take pictures by adjusting various settings on it.
This chapter covers the following topics:
“Accessing the Capture Mode and Powering on the Camera” on page 8
“ etting the Exposure Mode” on page 9
“Using the tatus LCD” on page 12
“Using the tatus LCD Buttons” on page 13
“Understanding the Exposure Bar Graph” on page 16
“Using the Auto Exposure Lock (AE-L) Button” on page 16
“Using the ub-Dial” on page 17
“Using Flash” on page 18
“Using the Image LCD” on page 19
“Understanding the Text Message Area” on page 19
“Viewing the Camera tatus” on page 21
“Using the Overlay oft Key” on page 20
“ etting Auto/Manual Focus” on page 20
“Using the Capture Mode Menus” on page 22
“Using the 4-Way Controller” on page 22
Figure 1: etting the Camera to Capture Mode Accessing the Capture Mode and Powering on the Camera
To prepare your camera to take pictures, you must first set your camera to Capture mode and power
on the camera:
1Turn the camera mode dial to (see Figure 1).
2Power on the camera by sliding the ON/OFF power switch on the top of the camera to the
right and releasing it. The status LCD on the top of the camera turns on and displays the status
of the camera.

Chapter 2: Preparing to Take Pictures 9 Setting the Exposure Mode
Setting the Exposure Mode
Figure 2: Exposure Mode Dial Turn the exposure mode dial on the top of the camera (see Figure 2) to set the exposure mode for the
camera. There are ten exposure modes:
Auto
Portrait
Landscape
Close-up
Action
Night
Program
hutter Priority
Aperture Priority
Manual
For the first six exposure modes listed above (Auto through Night), the camera automatically selects
the appropriate settings for the specified scene. In addition to selecting the optimal aperture and
shutter speed, the camera will change the settings in the Photo Assist menu. ( ee “Photo Assist
Menu” on page 63.)
Note: An external flash is only supported with
the Manual exposure mode setting. The next three exposure modes (Program, hutter Priority, and Aperture Priority) allow you to set
certain settings, but the camera automatically selects the shutter speed and/or aperture value.
Finally, the Manual exposure mode gives you complete control over all the settings on your camera.
Note: Most of the camera settings described for
each exposure mode are set in the Photo Assist
menu of Capture mode. For more information
about these menus, see “Photo Assist Menu”
starting on page 63.
The following subsections explain each of the ten exposure modes.
Auto
This is an “auto everything” mode where all settings are at their defaults and cannot be changed. The
following are forced to specific settings and are grayed-out in the Photo Assist menu:
Note: In the Auto exposure mode, the image
type is set to One hot, and the timer mode is
set to Off. However, you can change the image
type and timer mode. ( ee “ etting the Image
Type” on page 13 and “ etting the Timer Mode”
on page 14.) Also, the auto focus area is forced
to the Wide setting in Auto exposure mode. ( ee
“ etting the Auto Focus Area” on page 14.)
Auto Focus Range − Normal
White Balance − Auto
AE (Auto Exposure) Metering − Average
Focus Lock − Lock
I O peed − Auto
EV Bracket − Off
Exposure compensation − Off

Chapter 2: Preparing to Take Pictures 10 Setting the Exposure Mode
Portrait
In this exposure mode, the camera automatically optimizes settings for portrait photography. In
addition to biasing toward larger aperture openings, the following are forced to specific settings and
are grayed-out in the Photo Assist menu:
Auto Focus Range − Normal
White Balance − Auto
AE (Auto Exposure) Metering − Average
Focus Lock − Lock
I O peed − Auto
EV Bracket − Off
Exposure compensation − Off
Landscape
In this exposure mode, the camera automatically optimizes settings for taking pictures of distant
subjects, such as landscape scenes. In addition to biasing toward smaller aperture sizes, the
following are forced to specific settings and are grayed-out in the Photo Assist menu:
Auto Focus Range − Normal
White Balance − Auto
AE (Auto Exposure) Metering − Average
Focus Lock − Lock
I O peed − Auto, with bias toward slower I O speeds
EV Bracket − Off
Exposure compensation − Off
Close-up
In this exposure mode, the camera automatically optimizes settings for taking pictures of subjects
close up. In addition to biasing toward smaller aperture sizes, the following are forced to specific
settings and are grayed-out in the Photo Assist menu:
Auto Focus Range − Macro
White Balance − Auto
AE (Auto Exposure) Metering − Average
Focus Lock − Lock
I O peed − Auto
EV Bracket − Off
Exposure compensation − Off