The Pentax Optio T30
is the newest addition to the T-series of Pentax cameras.
It retains most of the characteristics of its predecessors
— a 3X optical zoom and a 3-inch touch screen —
but boosts image resolution to 7.1 megapixel with a new CCD.
The top of the T30 supports
3 of the 5 external controls of the camera. On the left is
the power switch which has an LED at the
centre that lights up green when the camera is On. On the
right is the two-stage shutter release with around
it the zoom control.
When the shutter release is pressed for more than one second
while the camera is turned off, a clock is displayed on the
monitor for 4 seconds.
As it is common on many compact
cameras, the zoom control serves to review images as an index
sheet when pressed to the wide angle
side, first displaying 9 thumbnails per screen, then presenting
the thumbnails in a calendar view, or serves to zoom into an
image under review when pulled towards the telephoto side ,
allowing a magnification of up to 8X.
The Optio T30 is equipped with
a 3-inch (7.6 cm) touch screen composed
of 230,000 pixels. The touch screen serves as the primary
user interface, which is why there are so few external controls
on the camera.
A stylus is supplied with the camera, intended as
a more precise means to control the interface than fingertips,
but the camera can be operated with the latter just as well.
The other two external controls
of the Optio T30 are positioned at the top and bottom of the
black area on the right of the monitor.
The upper button starts the
Playback mode when the camera is in capture
mode, and vice versa.
The lower button displays
the menu of the T30 (the options of the menu are detailed
in the Characteristics section of the review)
or serves to return to the top level menu.
When the camera is set to a capture mode, touching the surface
of the monitor causes it to display the Capture Toolbar
instantly, making it possible to select the capture mode,
or some basic functions, without having to enter the complete
menu:
Capture Mode: is selected using the icon on the
top left of the Capture Toolbar, which causes the camera
to display one of two screens which contain icons for the
16 shooting modes of the Optio T30. Two arrows, right
and left, are displayed at the bottom of these screens making
it possible to go back and forth, and a mode is selected
by touching its icon, which if enabled, also displays a
short description of the mode's use:
Auto Pict allows the
camera to select automatically the best shooting mode
from Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene.
Program mode lets the
camera select both aperture and shutter speed, but leaves
all other settings up to the user.
Night Scene mode makes
it possible to capture exposures that are up to 4-seconds
long.
Movie mode offers two
frame sizes, either 640 x 480 pixels or 320 x 240 pixels,
with frame rates of either 30 or 15 frames per second
and at any one of three levels of compression, and the
length of the recording is only limited by the available
memory space. The optical zoom is locked at the position
it was set to at the first frame, but the digital zoom
is available. Exposure, focus and white balance are adjusted
continuously as the recording progresses.
Landscape mode maximizes
depth of field by giving preference to a small aperture.
Flower mode serves
to shoot close-ups and softens the sharpness slightly.
Portrait mode adjusts
the white balance so as to provide a natural look.
Digital SR mode boosts
sensitivity to 3200 ISO so as to allow for a faster shutter
speed and thereby prevent camera shake from causing a
blurred photo.
Surf & Snow mode
automatically applies exposure compensation, correcting
for the influence of reflective and bright environments.
Sport mode gives preference
to a fast shutter speed so as to freeze movement.
Pet mode allows selecting
the colour of the pet's coat (dog or cat) from a second
screen so that the camera takes it into account and adjusts
the exposure accordingly. A choice of light, medium or
dark for both dogs and cats is offered, but the selection
of either dog or cat impacts only the icon shown on the
monitor, not the image.
Kids Mode
sets the auto focus to continuous and allows the camera
to boost the sensitivity so as to capture fast moving
children.
Frame Composite allows
adding a frame to the image, selecting it from seven that
are built-in the camera, but which can be changed. The
mode forces the image resolution to 3 megapixel. (See
the Characteristics section of the review for more
details on the resolutions available.)
Food mode increases
colour saturation slightly.
Text Mode serves
to capture text and increases contrast and sharpness slightly.
Images can be recorded as black and white, or colour,
or as a negative.
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.
Flash serves to select the flash modes:
Auto
Forced Off
Forced On
Auto with Red-eye Reduction
Forced On with Red-eye Reduction
Soft, which reduces the intensity
of the flash when shooting with flash at close range.
Drive Mode:
Single: one photo is captured each time the
shutter release is pressed.
Self-timer: can be set to provide a 2-second
or 10-second delay.
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.
Bracketing: allows bracketing the
exposure over ±2 EV in 1/3 EV increments, or
bracketing the white balance, or the sharpness, or the
saturation, or the contrast.
Remote Control: allows the camera to respond
to the optional F or E remote
controls. If desired, a 3-second delay is available.
AF mode:
Standard: allows the camera to focus from 40
cm (16 in.) to infinity.
Macro: allows the camera to focus from 15 cm
(6 in.) and 50 cm (20.8 in.) when the zoom is at the
wide angle, and locks the zoom at the position while
active. A digital zoom is available.
Pan Focus: uses the hyper focal of the lens
— the setting with the greatest depth of field
— depending on zoom position.
Infinity: Sets the focus to infinity.
Manual Focus: allows adjusting the focus using
the right and left arrows that are displayed at the
bottom of the monitor. The centre of the image appears
magnified on the monitor to assist in focusing.
Display Mode:
Standard: is the default setting, and superimposes
on the image the capture mode, the flash mode, the memory
in use (internal or SD), the remaining number of shots
that can be captured, the charge of the battery, the
AF brackets and the date and time. When the shutter
release is pressed halfway, the selected aperture and
shutter speed are displayed on the lower left of the
monitor.
Standard + histogram: replaces the date and
time by the image size and quality, white balance and
ISO settings, and adds a real-time histogram that shows
the distribution of brightness and contrast in the frame.
No Info Display: removes all information with
the exception of the AF brackets, and the shutter speed
and aperture when the shutter release is pressed halfway.
LCD Off: turns off the monitor.
When the Optio T30 is set to the Playback mode, touching
the screen displays the Playback Toolbar:
Playback Palette: is the Playback menu (see
the Characteristics section of the review for more
details).
Image Enlargement: serves to zoom into a image
up to 8X using the + and – buttons that appear at
the bottom of the screen.
Image Rotation: rotates the image under review.
My Drawing: for drawing pictures on an
image, adding stamps, creating a stamp from part of an image,
and erasing part of an image.
Frame Composite: serves to add a frame
to an image. (This option is similar to the option available
in the capture modes).
Display: decides the level of information superimposed
on the image in Playback:
Standard: shows the Playback mode icon, the
sound recording symbol if the image has an associated
sound clip, the total number of images recorded on the
memory card or in the internal memory, the memory in
use, the image file name and the state of the battery.
Standard + histogram: adds the image size and
quality setting, the white balance and sensitivity used
to record the image and a histogram.
No Info Display: removes all superimposed information
from the image
Image Deletion: serves to delete the image under
review.
The smallest T-series camera to date, the Optio T30 remains
easy to manipulate thanks to its large touch-screen. However,
albeit that an interface which is entirely based on a touch-screen
is interesting, it is not particularly quick in use: in many
cases changing a setting requires tapping the screen a number
of times to reach the desired option, and then backing out,
a time-consuming process.
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Ergonomics
side, first displaying 9 thumbnails per screen, then presenting
the thumbnails in a calendar view, or serves to zoom into an
image under review when pulled towards the telephoto side 
,
allowing a magnification of up to 8X.
