Top Contender In Its Class

So, what does almost everyone REALLY want to do when they get their new camera??? Ignore the manual and start taking pictures, right?! Well, Pentax wisely separated the camera's features into essentially two areas - basic and advanced modes. The camera starts up in basic mode with automatic presets and a basic(aka Beginners) menu. And since the top of the camera only has an on/off button and shutter release button, it is VERY easy to simply turn on the camera and take a snapshot. And of course, once you've got the initial picture taking urge out of your system and feel a little more comfortable with the camera, you can delve into the advanced menu which contains more options than virtually any other model in this class of digital cameras - i.e. manual focus, manual ISO setting, histograms, saturation, etc. But, another of the great things about this model is that with its superb quality Pentax lens and smarter-than-average automatic/preset modes, you may never need to use any of the many advanced options. However, it's nice to know they are there and offer all of the more professional options currently only found on more expensive cameras if you ever need/want them.

Now, without getting too technical, what most people want to know first and foremost is how good of pictures does it take, especially compared to similar competitors. Well, without getting too technical, there is color accuracy, sharpness, noise level, and detail to consider. Generally, you may find that most digital cameras do well in only 3 of those 4 qualities. However, in evaluating this model it actually does above average to excellent in ALL of them. Indeed (and admittedly this may be a matter of personal preference) but unless you need to print out very large sized photos and so need the extra pixels, many may find the Optio 30 produces more pleasing photos than some of the 4-5 megapixel cameras. In other words, pixels aren't everything and in this case, Pentax does an outstanding job of getting the basics right!!!

Along with picture quality in choosing a camera is, of course, useability. The Optio 30 does quite well in this regard also. In response to customer preference, it uses AA batteries so you don't have to worry about recharging some proprietary battery and not being able to still take pictures in the meantime. Just pop in another set of AA's. You can use standard alkalines or rechargeables. However, something that is contrary to what a lot of people think is that with digital cameras, you will generally get 2-4 times as many photos from NiMH rechargeables as from alakalines. For example, with this model specifically, using the flash 50% of the time, you get 420 photos with the NiMH's compared to only 140 with single-use alkalines. So, I would recommend you get 4 NiMH's so you can have 2 in the camera while charging the other 2. In addition to the convenience of using AA batteries, the Optio 30 also uses SD memory cards, which at this time seems to be the fastest growing type with the fastest falling prices. It includes the fairly standard 3 time optical zoom - with the difference here being the aforementioned Pentax lens which is widely heralded as one of (if not THE) best lens in any 3MP digital camera today. And lastly, that leads into one other capability - Macro mode. You can kind of think of this as the opposite of zoom mode in that you use macro mode to take pictures of something VERY close up instead of far away with zoom mode. The Optio 30 has a macro mode which can focus down to an astounding 2 centimeters. This is far and away better than anything else in its class. Want to get a super close-up of not just a flower but even one single petal on the flower then this is your camera! Or how about a highly detailed close-up of your child's fingerprints to go along with a current photo for safety purposes??? Once you start thinking about it, it's superior macro mode may become more useful than you might originally imagine.

Overall, I am very impressed with this camera and everything it offers for the price and relative to other models in its class. It has a couple of very minor cons which I included in the "Cons" section above but certainly nothing which would (or did) dissuade me from buying the Pentax Optio 30 over any of its direct competitors.