Pentax Optio A30 Review

Here you can see the fully automatic "Auto Picture" mode. The camera selects all of the exposure settings, you just simply point-n-shoot. Minimal information is displayed, only exposure mode, memory source, number of remaining images, battery indicator, and the time and date.

When the shutter is half-pressed and the autofocus locks, the active AF point bracket will shrink and turn green. Shutter speed and aperture values are also displayed. The "waving hand" symbol indicates that the Shake Reduction feature is set to Auto.

Program AE mode, is also an automatic exposure mode, but it still allows you to select from many menu or function options like ISO, White Balance, etc.

Pressing the OK button toggles the amount of overlay information displayed on the LCD. Here you can see extended exposure information with the live histogram.

Shutter priority mode lets you select the desired shutter speed and the camera automatically selects the proper aperture value. Faster shutter speeds will "freeze" fast- moving subjects, slower speeds will let you pan with a fast-moving object and blur the background, or hold the camera steady and give moving objects that "motion blur" look. To changes the shutter speed value, press the down/MODE button.

In Manual mode you select both the shutter speed and the aperture values.

Press the 4-way controller down "MODE" to change the exposure mode. Choices are: Auto Picture, Program AE, Night Scene, Movie, Voice Recording, Landscape, Flower, Portrait, Surf & Snow, Digital SR, Sport, Pet, Text, Food, and Frame Composite.

If you stay on a particular option for about 3 seconds, a brief explanation will appear. This is a nice option to help beginners figure out which mode will best suit there current shooting situation.

When you select the Program option, this shortcut menu pops up and allows you to select from Program, Shutter Priority, and Manual modes.

Record Menu options:

Recorded Pixels - 10M, 7M, 5M, 3M, 2M, 1024, 640
Quality Level - Best (***), Better (**) or Good (*)
White Balance - Auto, Daylight, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent or Manual
AF Setting - Choose focusing area, focus limiter, and turn the AF-assist lamp On or Off
AE Metering - Multi segment, Center-weighted or Spot
Sensitivity - Auto (choose from 5 Auto settings), 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
EV Compensation - ±2.0 in 1/3EV steps
Movie - Adjust movie mode settings (shown below)
Shake Reduction - On/Off
Digital Zoom - On/Off
Instant Review - 0.5, 1, 2, 3, or 5 secs. and Off
Memory - Saves shooting function settings when camera is turned off
Green Button - Define function of the GREEN button
Sharpness - Hard, Normal or Soft
Saturation - Hard, Normal or Soft
Contrast - Hard, Normal or Soft

The Memory option allows you to set the parameters you want remembered from power off to power on.

The Optio A30 lets you get up close and personal with its Macro and Super Macro focus modes. Macro covers 4.7 inches (0.12 m) to 1.31 ft (0.4m), while Super Macro covers 2.4 inches (0.06m) to 5.8 inches (0.15m)

To focus manually -- Press the Focus mode button and select "MF". Then press the OK button and adjust the focus distance by using the Up and Down positions of the 4-way controller. While you are actively changing the focus, the center portion of the LCD display is magnified and a distance scale is shown on the left.

Movie mode lets you record DivX® (MPEG-4 compliant) motion video in 640x480 or 320x240 resolution with audio. There are also three quality choices to choose from. The length of movies is limited only by available memory. Because it does capture sound, the optical zoom may not be used while recording. However, you can preset the focal length before you begin to work around this. It also features a digital anti-shake system to reduce the occurrence of camera shake in your movies.

Movie options found under the Rec. Menu.

Record Pixels - 640x480 or 320x240
Quality Level - Best (***), Better (**) or Good (*)
Movie SR - On or Off