Pentax Optio M30 Review

Here you can see the fully automatic "Green" picture mode. The camera selects all of the exposure settings, you just simply point-n-shoot, perfect for beginners.

Auto Picture mode is also fully automatic, however now the user has access to various menu options, like resolution, quality, ISO, etc.

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.

When the shutter is half-pressed and the autofocus locks, the active AF point bracket will shrink and turn green.

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.

Press the 4-way controller "MODE" button to change the exposure mode. Choices are: Auto Picture, Program, Night scene, Landscape, Flower, Portrait, Surf & Snow, Sport, Kids, Pet, Digital SR ("Blur Reduction"), Food, Frame Composite.

Record Menu options:

Recorded Pixels - 7M, 5M, 4M, 3M, 2M, 1024, 640
Quality Level - Best (***), Better (**) or Good (*)
White Balance - Auto, Daylight, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent or Manual
Focusing Area - Choose Multi, Spot, or Tracking AF modes
Sensitivity - Auto, or User select ISO 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200
EV Compensation - ±2.0 in 1/3EV steps
Movie - Adjust movie mode settings (shown below)
Digital Zoom - On/Off
Instant Review - 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 secs. and Off
Memory - Saves shooting function settings when camera is turned off
Sharpness - Hard, Normal or Soft
Saturation - Hard, Normal or Soft
Contrast - Hard, Normal or Soft

The Optio M30 lets you get up close and personal with its Macro and Super Macro focus modes. Macro covers Macro - 4.0 in (0.1m) at wide angle to 3.3 ft (1.0m) at telephoto, while Super Macro gets you as close as 1.9in (0.05m) at wide angle to 1.31 ft (0.4m) at telephoto.

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.

You can record 640x480 or 320x320 motion video at 15 or 30 fps with audio. Movie clips are stored as QuickTime MOV format video files. While the optical zoom may Not be used during recording, you can preset the desired focal length. The M30 also features Shake Reduction in movie mode, which helps you record more steady handheld video clips. The length of these movies is limited only by available memory.

Movie options found under the Rec. Menu.

Record Pixels - 640x480 or 320x320
Quality Level - Best (***), Better (**) or Good (*)
Frame Rate - 15fps - 30fps
Color Mode - Full Color, B&W, Sepia
Movie SR - On or Off