Not a bad entry-level digital camera

We've owned this digital camera for about six months now, and it's been a good entry-level unit for us nonprofessional photographers.

The 612's price was attractive because the retailer had specially bundled it at the time with purchase of an HP Photosmart 1115 color printer. The camera & printer are well-suited for each other.

Its features (image preview, zoom lens, timer, flash settings, resolution choices) are easy to learn and use.

Our one major complaint with the 612 camera is that it really goes through the 4 AA NiCad batteries it requires, especially if you use the LED screen to frame shots (TIP: Frame shots in the viewfinder window instead and save the AA batteries after they become too weak to use in the 612 -- they'll still have enough juice to power other appliances like CD players). A rechargeable Lithium battery pack unit would be nice for this camera.

======================

UPDATE (5/9/06)
Well it's almost 4 years later and we still use this little camera pretty heavily. We've tried other cheapie digital cameras in the interim, but the Photosmart 612 has performed the most reliably.

Rechargeable NiMH batteries are still recommended to be used with it, though -- and the higher the milliamp-hour rating, the better (1600+).