Digital Camera Review

First Impressions Review

Jan 11, 2007 - By Patrick Singleton
The Pentax Optio E30 is a 7.1-megapixel compact camera with a 3x zoom and an entry-level price: Pentax set the minimum advertised price at $149.95. We looked at a preproduction unit at the Consumer Electronics Show and ran through its features noting the areas where Pentax economized and what it offers the snapshooter on a budget.
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Auto Mode
Pentax Optio cameras typically have a full auto mode that's activated with a big green button. The E30 has it. In the simple mode, the E30 takes over exposure, white balance, focus and every other parameter.

The E30 also offers a Program mode, which selects exposure, but allows the user to set other parameters.

Movie Mode
The E30 has a movie mode with resolutions of 640 x 480 and 320 x 240. Pentax specs list frame rates of 28 fps for 640 and 30 fps for 320. Because the E30 only has one microphone and speaker, it's a good bet that the sound is monaural. The length of movies is limited only by memory and battery capacity. We couldn't review image quality, but noted that the zoom feature became jerky in movie mode. It appeared that the E30 does not alter focus while a clip is being shot, so those near-far pans that grace so many movies can't be shot with it.

Drive / Burst Mode
The E30 has a burst mode, but Pentax doesn't list a frame rate or number of shots for it. We couldn't test frame rate in the sterile but chaotic confines of the Las Vegas Convention Center, but we got bursts of 3 images at a time at the largest image size and best quality. We don't know if that was limited by the supplied SD card, the shutter speed achievable in the dim conditions under which we shot or by other factors.

Playback Mode
The Optio E30 can show up to 9 thumbnail images at a time and can zoom in to 8x magnification, which is good enough to judge image sharpness. The E30 lacks a histogram, but in Playback, it shows shooting information including f-stop and shutter speed, two parameters we couldn't get to display during shooting. It also shows ISO, quality, white balance, file number, date and time.

The E30 can crop or downsize images in Playback, as well as access PictBridge printers.

The Playback mode also features a slide show function with a choice of transitions and intervals. The E30 shows all the images in memory – the user can't select just a group for display.

Custom Image Presets
The Optio E30 offers a range of preset modes. Most simply set the camera for specific types of shooting, but others go beyond. There is a text help system, but it's vague and does not include example images. 

Custom Image Presets
 
Program
The general setting for most shooting. Selects exposure, but allows user to set ISO and white balance.
Night Scene
Shoots long exposures for dark subjects that can't be lit by the flash.
Movie
Shoots movies.
Frame Composite
Superimposes cheesy frames around images as they are shot. The LCD shows a live preview of the effect.
Landscape
Shoots distant scenes.
Flower
Shoots close-ups with saturated color.
Portrait
For making portraits.
Surf and Snow
For shooting with very bright backgrounds.
Sport
Increases shutter speed to stop action.
Pet
Allows user to select optimization for black, white or mid-tone pet, and set dog or cat icon.
Fireworks
Fixes exposure at 4 seconds, for capturing fireworks
Sunset
Enhances warm tones of sunsets

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