HP is better known for printers than it is for digital cameras but it has discovered a new talent that must be sending a shiver down the spine of more traditional camera makers such as Canon, Olympus and Nikon.

HP released a range of low- to mid-priced digital cameras last year and proved that it could make good quality products at a reasonable price. Now it has targeted the higher-end of the market and produced a camera that is easy-to-use and comes with all the bells and whistles that the enthusiast requires.

The c850 is a 4.1-megapixel camera with a quality Fuji Optical 8x optical zoom lens and a host of smart software built-in that gives the user a choice between fully automatic operation and complete manual control. If you want to adjust the lighting by opening or reducing the aperture a few stops you can do it with the press of a button and instantly view the results.

The larger than average LCD display works well in most light conditions so you rarely have to use the viewfinder. The optical zoom is one of the best on the market for both macro and long distance work and if you really want to push things you can revert to digital zoom and increase the magnification to 56x. However, because digital zoom uses software to create virtual magnification by adding pixels, it usually results in blurry pictures.

A 16MB SD memory card is included as standard and gives you plenty of room for a healthy collection of high-resolution pictures before you have to download or print them. Even before you do that, the on-board software allows you to prepare your pictures for printing, emailing or posting to a Website while still in the camera, which saves a lot of time.

Ergonomically, the c850 has been well designed with a contoured non-slip grip and well-positioned shutter button.
Overall it's a nice package that comes with a lot of features, produces great results and remains easy-to-use.