The Pentax Optio 430RS is a refinement of the Optio
430. The general appearance of the Optio 430 is retained with the
Optio 430RS, but some fairly important improvements have been made internally.
Clad in stainless steel, the Optio 430RS sports an acrylic crescent, on
one side of its lens barrel, which changes colour as the camera is moved
in the light.
The
Pentax Optio 430RS remains one of the most compact 4 megapixel cameras,
measuring a mere 92 x 59 x 32 mm (3.6 x 2.3 x 1.3 inches) and weighing
235 g (8.3 oz) fully loaded, and ready to shoot.
The Mode Dial of the Optio 430RS, next to the power switch, is different
from the Optio 430. The Multiple Exposure, and the Playback positions
are replaced by new modes: 3D and Digital Filter.
Auto:
full automatic shooting mode.
Movie:
to record movie clips, each a maximum duration of 30 seconds, without
sound.
Night
Scene: for shooting dark scenes.
3D
Mode: to record stereoscopic images.
Manual
Mode: aperture and shutter speed can be set.
Digital
Filter Mode: to add colour filters including red, blue
and green, or effects such as horizontal and vertical stretching.
The
Optio 430RS has an optical viewfinder with a diopter correction. Next
to it are 3 buttons — each having functions that vary according
to whether the camera is in Recording mode or Playback mode.
Flash
Modes:provides for Forced flash, Red-eye reduction,
Flash off, and Slow Synch.
In
Playback, the button can be used for single image delete.
The
second and third buttons have 3 functions in the Recording mode, and 1
in Playback. In the recording mode, each function is accessed one after
the other:
Self
Timer (10 second delay); Remote Control (optional); and Continuous
Shooting mode, which is reasonably fast at the smallest image size
but slow at the largest image size.
In
Playback, the button serves to select DPOF (Digital Print Order
Format) settings. The number of prints to be made of each, or all
photos can be selected; and whether or not the prints will be stamped
with the date and time.
This
button selects the focus mode.
Macro
mode: allows the Optio 430RS to focus from 14 to 50
cm (5.4 to 19.5 inches) and locks the zoom to the wide angle
position.
Landscape mode: sets the focus to infinity.
Manual
focus mode: during Manual focus the camera magnifies
the central part of the image while displaying a distance scale
on the left of the screen. Focus is adjusted using the up and
down arrows of the 4-direction controller.
AF
point selection: allows the focus point to be moved
anywhere in the frame shown on the LCD screen.
In
Playback, the button is used to protect images against accidental
erasure.
Two more buttons and the 4-direction control are aligned on the right
of the 1.6 inch LCD screen: Menu and Display. While the Menu
button's function is obvious, the Display button is a
bit more complex.
The
Display button can be used to overlay information on the screen or not,
and the type of information displayed varies along with the mode in use:
recording or playback. In the recording modes, the first level of information
supplies basic information:
Flash
mode
Focus
mode
Number
of photos remaining
Recording
mode
Time
and Date
Battery
state
Focus
Point
The
second level of information adds:
Live
histogram
Resolution
Quality
level
White
Balance
AE
metering
ISO
speed
Aperture
Shutter
speed
In
playback (photo at left), the Display button provides the same information
about a photo displayed on the screen.
The
4-direction control has an OK/Play button at the centre.
Playback
can be called up at any time simply by pressing the OK/Play
button, and canceled by touching the shutter release.
