Pentax Optio 430rs Review

The LCD screens that you see in this review had to be photographed as there is no video out- port that we normally use to capture the displays with.  LCD monitors on any camera were never designed with enough resolution to be photographed. So we hope you understand why these screen captures are not up to standard.

This is the screen display when in the Auto record mode with the shutter release half-pressed. The green AF target marks toward the center indicates the location of focus (one of 49 possible) and a good autofocus lock, they are red if the AF fails. The shutter speed and aperture are displayed as well as date and time of capture. Across the top the info displayed is the flash mode, self timer active, macro mode and the camera icon denotes Auto Record mode. The "269" in the top right represents the number of pictures remaining.The battery level icon which must be watched closely as this camera is quite hard on the battery when the LCD is used.

Pressing the DISPLAY button toggles the realtime histogram display which also shows the image size, quality level, white balance, metering mode and ISO speed.

When in the Manual record mode the shutter speed and aperture are displayed constantly as is the exposure value which acts as your meter to indicate over- or under-exposure. You change the shutter speed and/or aperture value to obtain a correct exposure.

Press the Focus mode button 3 times to enter the Manual Focus mode. The focus is adjusted by the up / down controls on the 4 way switch. A sliding scale is displayed on the LCD with distance measurement and the display is enlarged (center of frame digitally zoomed into) to help decipher accurate focus. You can visually "see" the focus change which is a considerable improvement over the previous model (the Optio 430-non RS.)

You can record up to 30 seconds per clip of 320 x 240 motion video at 15 frames per second. There is no microphone so the movies are silent.

The animation displays the different functions of the "3D" and Filter modes accessed through the mode dial on top of the camera.

Packed in the box with the camera comes a stereo (3D) viewer. The images, after some practice, are printed and viewed with the stereo viewer. To take the images, the 3D mode is set on the Mode dial and in the Menu option APPLIED PHOTO MODE choose the Parallel mode. The left image is captured first on the left side of the frame using the LCD as the viewfinder. The LCD will prompt you to now take the right image from a slightly different perspective (a guide is given in the instruction book) and presto - 3D image. The 3D's can be shot in the Parallel or Cross mode (over- under). The side- by -side (parallel) option is shown above in the animation. OK, not a real attention grabber but it is unusual, I must admit.

When the Filter mode is selected the choices are: Slim Filter (which elongates the subject vertically or horizontally), or one of eight color filter modes. They are: yellow, green, blue, violet, pink, red, sepia or Black & White.

In Auto or Manual record mode there are three pages each of menu options in each
of the following menu headings:  Record Mode options, settings that can be "Memorized" between power off / power on and general Setup options.

The World Time Function allows the setting of your home city and a second "World Time" city setting. When this function is selected it will attach and later play back The World Time to any photos shot.