Within the confines of its small
black shell, the Pentax Optio A30 shelters
a 10 megapixel CCD equipped with an SR (Shake
Reduction) image Stabilizer that is similar to the
system used in Pentax's digital SLRs.
Two controls are enclosed by
a rectangular chrome area on the top right side:
The round power switch — which
is ringed by a glowing green LED when the camera is On —
is positioned below the surrounding surface to prevent the
camera from being accidentally powered on.
The two-stage shutter releasewhich
meters and focuses on the subject when held at the halfway
point, and captures the image only when fully depressed.
The top left of the camera also
supports one button, the Shake Reduction Preview
button, which shows the effect of the stabilizer on the image.
While the stabilizer normally acts at the precise moment the
image is captured, the button can also be used to stabilize
the image while framing the shot.
All other external controls for
the Optio A30 are located on the back of the camera, on the
right of the 2.5-inch, 232,000 pixel
LCD monitor.
The zoom control
is uppermost, and as is usually the case, not only does it
serve to adjust the optical zoom's position, it also has functions
when the camera is in playback. The wide
angle side, /,
displays an index view of the images in memory,
presenting first 9 images per screen, then a calendar view
when pressed again, while the telephoto side /
can be used to zoom into an image up to 8X.
The next button down, ,
activates the camera in the Playback mode
when the camera is turned off and it is held down while the
power switch is pressed simultaneously, preventing the lens
from extending. After, pressing the
button once or lightly pressing the shutter release moves
the camera to the capture mode and extends the lens.
A tiny LED, immediately above the
Playback button lights orange when the camera
is accessing the memory.
The Four-Way Controller
is below, composed of 4 buttons arranged in a circle with
the OK button at the centre. The OK button
serves to confirm selections made in the camera's menus and
to change the amount of information superimposed on the monitor.
The four directional buttons serve to navigate the menus
and review images when the camera is in playback mode. They
also support functions when the camera is set to one of the
capture modes, each of these functions and
its possible settings appearing superimposed on the monitor:
The Up direction controls the Drive
Mode:
Single: one photo is captured each time the
shutter release is pressed.
Self-Timer: 10 seconds.
Self-Timer: 2 seconds.
Continuous: allows the camera to capture
images continuously while the shutter release is pressed
until it runs out of memory or power, at a frame rate
that varies according to the shutter speed, and the
currently selected image size quality settings.
Remote Control with a 3-second delay requires
the optional infrared (E or F).
0-second Remote Control captures the image
immediately when the Remote control button is pressed.
Requires the optional infrared (E or F).
The Left direction controls the Flash
modes: Auto, Forced Off, Forced On, Auto with Red-eye
Reduction, Forced On with Red-eye Reduction or Soft Flash
(reduces the intensity of the flash; used when shooting
with flash at close range).
The Right direction controls the Focus
mode:
Standard Auto Focus Mode: the default
setting, allows the camera to focus on a subject between
35 cm (16 inches) and infinity.
Macro Mode: lets the camera focus on a subject
that is between 12 and 40 cm (4.7 to 16 inches). A
small portion of the zoom range can be used.
Super Macro Mode: only available when
the zoom is at the wide angle end, allows the
camera to focus on a subject that is 6 to 15 cm (2.3
to 5.9 inches) from the front of the lens.
Pan Focus Mode: a hyper focal mode, it makes
it possible to capture a subject in focus even when
focusing is difficult. At the wide angle end of the
zoom, the depth of field extends from 2.3 m (7.5 ft)
to infinity, while at the telephoto end, the depth
of field is from 9.3 m (30.5 ft) to infinity.
Infinity Mode: locks the focus at infinity.
Manual Focus Mode: makes it possible to focus
using the Four-way controller. A distance scale is
displayed on the left of the monitor, and when the
OK button is pressed, the centre
of the frame is magnified 2X to assist in focusing.
MODE
The Down direction controls the Mode
Palette, from which the shooting mode is selected.
Fifteen icons representing the capture modes
are superimposed on the monitor:
Auto Pict allows
the camera to perform Automatic Scene Recognition
and select the most appropriate scene mode for the
composition.
Program has
three options:
Program: lets the camera
select the shutter speed and aperture but allows
the user to control all other capture settings.
Shutter Priority: provides
control over the shutter speed with a range
of 1/2000 second down to 4 seconds, while the
camera selects the appropriate aperture. The
exposure compensation symbol shows an incorrect
setting.
Manual Mode: provides control
over the shutter speed range — identical
to the range available in the Shutter Priority
mode — and the two apertures: f2.8 or
f8 at the wide angle end, and f5.4 or f15.4
at the telephoto end.
Night Scene Mode
offers a maximum exposure time of 4 seconds.
Movie mode allows
capturing video clips with sound at either one
of two frame sizes:
640 x 480 pixels at 30 frames per second.
320 x 240 pixels at 30 frames per second.
Three levels of compression are offered for both
frame sizes.
The length of the movie
is determined by the available memory space. The
optical zoom is locked at the first frame, and the
digital zoom can only be used if Shake Reduction
is turned off. Focus is established at the first
frame, but white balance and exposure are adjusted
as required.
Voice Recording Mode
allows using the camera as a digital voice
recorder. The camera automatically retracts the
lens, and the length of the recording depends on
the available memory space.
Landscape automatically
maximizes the depth of field by using a small aperture.
Flower mode
allows capturing close-ups and emphasizes colours.
Portrait
mode offers two options:
Portrait Mode: allow the
camera to recognize a face
in the frame and focus on it.
Kids Mode: operates like
the Portrait mode, but also allows the camera
to boost the sensitivity so as to capture fast
moving children.
Surf & Snow
automatically compensates the exposure so that bright
elements in the scene, such as snow or water, do
not cause the rest of the image to be underexposed.
Digital SR
Mode sets the sensitivity to 1600 ISO,
but can increase it up to 3200 ISO so as to obtain
a shutter speed that is fast enough to avoid camera
shake. Image size is limited to a maximum of 5M.
Sport Mode
uses the fastest possible shutter speed
to freeze movement.
Pet mode allows
the camera to be set so that it takes into account
the coat colour of the pet. Six settings offer choices
that range from light to dark colours for cats or
dogs.
Text Mode serves
to capture text, turning coloured text into black
and white, or reverse the colour.
Food Mode increases
colour saturation.
Frame Composite
Mode serves to add a frame to an image as
it is captured. Seven decorative frames are available,
already in the camera's memory, and can be changed
for others. This mode limits the image size to
3M (see the Characteristics section
of the review for more information on the image
sizes offered on the camera).
With the Optio A30 set to the Playback mode,
the down direction also presents a Mode Palette,
which is a set of options related to the playback mode
(see the Characteristics section of the review
for more details).
Two buttons, below the four-way controller, complete the
external controls of the camera:
MENU, on the left, displays a menu which
is always the same, irrespective of the current camera mode.
(Its contents are detailed in the Characteristics
and Interface and Software sections of
the review).
The Green Button
, on the lower right, serves to recall the Auto
Pict mode, irrespective of the current camera mode.
In addition, it can be reconfigured in the menu to act as
an On/Off switch for the Shake Reduction
system, or, if desired, provide an additional layer of options
for the four-way controller. When set to offer additional
controls to each direction of the four way controller, the
button superimposes the additional functions on the monitor
(see image at left) which can then be selected
using the four-way controller.
As mentioned earlier, the OK
button, at the centre of the four-way controller, also serves
to control the quantity of information superimposed on the monitor.
In the capture
modes, the default presentation shows the flash mode, the
memory in use (internal or a memory card), the remaining number
of images that can be captured, the charge of the battery,
the AF brackets, the date and time. And, when the shutter
release is pressed halfway, the camera displays the selected
shutter speed and aperture on the lower left side of the screen.
Pressing the OK button once adds the image
quality and size, white balance, metering, ISO settings and
a real time histogram that shows the distribution of brightness
in the image.
Pressing the button a second time
removes all superimposed information with the exception of
the AF brackets, and superimposes a composition grid. A third
press of the button removes the grid, leaving only the AF
brackets, while pressing the button a fourth time turns off
the monitor altogether — unusual since the camera has
no optical viewfinder.
In the Playback mode
the default display shows the Playback mode's icon, the memory
in use, the image or movie's file name, the battery status,
the date and time at which the image or movie was captured.
A symbol for the four-way controller shows the directions
available to flip through the images. Pressing the OK
button once adds more information about the image: the image
size and quality, the white balance, the metering used, ISO
setting, a histogram, and the shutter speed and aperture.
Pressing the button a second time removes all superimposed
information, leaving only the image.
Although the Pentax Optio A30 is quite small — the same
size as a deck of cards — the camera is comfortable to
have in hand. The external controls are few and are spaced sufficiently
far apart that they are practical to use, and become familiar
quickly. The A30 is generally quite responsive to its controls.
However, when the more advanced modes like Shutter Priority
or Manual modes are used, the reliance on the 4-way controller
to select settings can lead to errors and mistakes when selecting
settings.
Compare Prices for Pentax Optio A30 10MP Digital Camera
Ergonomics
/
,
displays an index view of the images in memory,
presenting first 9 images per screen, then a calendar view
when pressed again, while the telephoto side 
/
can be used to zoom into an image up to 8X.
,
activates the camera in the Playback mode
when the camera is turned off and it is held down while the
power switch is pressed simultaneously, preventing the lens
from extending. After, pressing the 
, on the lower right, serves to recall the Auto
Pict mode, irrespective of the current camera mode.
In addition, it can be reconfigured in the menu to act as
an On/Off switch for the Shake Reduction
system, or, if desired, provide an additional layer of options
for the four-way controller. When set to offer additional
controls to each direction of the four way controller, the
button superimposes the additional functions on the monitor
(see image at left) which can then be selected
using the four-way controller.
