Consumer Cameras Good for Business

Is a $349 digital camera a power tool for business? It depends on your business.

Professional photographers, photojournalists and marketers producing detailed catalog-quality printed materials might need the new-age “prosumer” cameras that deliver professional features – albeit at price tags topping $1,000 or more.

But for high-quality shots suitable for photo reproduction, Web site posting or even more simple printed documents, a powerful consumer camera like the HP Photosmart R707 can take the shot.

While manufacturers aren't designing digital cameras with business use in mind, consumer applications – point-and-shoot simplicity, lighting control, simple image downloading – are well-suited to meet most business needs, said Jan Woelfle, HP's product marketing manager for digital cameras.

"In reality, there are a lot of similarities between consumers and small business customers," said Woelfle, whose R707 includes 5.1-megapixel resolution, lighting and red-eye control, longer battery life and larger storage capacity. The cost: $349.

“Real Life” technologies is HP’s strategy of combining easy-to-use functions with high-quality features to make today's "consumer" cameras ideal for small business. The Adapting Lighting feature helps smooth out the contrasts and make an amateur’s pictures more refined and polished. HP’s Instant Share feature allows images to be shared with others once connected and downloaded using the optional docking station. The station itself serves as a pedestal for the camera, charging two batteries at once.

With the R707 and many of the latest digital cameras, image transfer is simple. When used with the Microsoft XP operating system, many cameras are automatically recognized as a "storage device," or an additional hard drive that makes for easy image access and transfer.

Other obvious benefits exist: A professional or “prosumer” camera requires a more steep learning curve, and the larger size means it can't be stuffed in a purse or briefcase. Slightly larger (and only slightly heavier) than a man’s wallet, the R707 delivers one-handed point-and-shoot simplicity.

As for a learning curve, the R707 truly was “out of the box” simple. Once the battery was charged, the ChiefHomeOfficer was about the take the camera around the office and home to shoot pictures using the 3x optical and 8x digital zoom (for a combined 24x total zoom). The 32MB internal storage memory holds multiple images; with an optional 512 MB SD card, more than 300 pix at five mega pixels can popped. With all, images were sharp, and transfer was simple with the optional Photosmart R-series dock ($79).

When combined with a photo printer like the HP PSC 2510, users can beam printing jobs wirelessly via 802.11b wireless connection to view images, print proof sheets of thumbnail-sized pictures for review, or output photo-quality shots up to full-sheet size. What’s really cool: mark which proofs you want, feed the sheet back into the 2510, and it will output the specified shots. Images can scale to 4800x1200 dpi, and can print borderless pix for the family or presentation board.

Between the camera and a high-end (though at $399, priced for small biz) multi-function printer, any small business can have a photo department – that any small business owner can run.

Jeff Zbar, the ChiefHomeOfficer.com, is a speaker, writer and expert on alternative officing. He is the author of Teleworking & Telecommuting: Strategies for Remote Workers and Their Managers (Made E-Z Products, 2002); Safe@Home: Seven Keys to Home Office Security (FirstPublish 2001) and Your Profitable Home Business (on CD-ROM from Made E-Z Products). Visit his Web site to subscribe to Home Office Success Stories, his free electronic magazine on home business and teleworking.