Pentax Optio E30

Front
Pentax says the E30 is made of plastic polymer, and we imagine that is one way Pentax kept costs down. On most cameras, there are at least a couple of metal components – the wrist strap lug, for instance. The E30 seems to be plastic, except for some trim on the lens assembly. The left side of the front is a wide, flat grip, with a curved ridge where the user's fingers will rest. The lens mount is a large, thick cylinder. When the E30 is on, a smaller, narrower and lighter cylinder telescopes out, bringing the lens into position. The flash is small, slot-shaped and to the left of the lens, near the top edge of the camera. A small round window on the upper right is an autofocus assist light and probably a self-timer indicator. Three small holes between the lens mount and the grip indicate the microphone.

Back
The 2.4-inch, 110,000-pixel LCD takes up much of the back of the Optio E30, but, with relatively few controls, the back doesn't feel crowded. A rocker switch at upper right controls the zoom in shooting mode and magnification in playback. The playback button is lower, and near the right edge of the LCD. The 4-way controller is a collection of five buttons. Four of them are arc-shaped and surround the circular OK button. When they aren't being used for navigation, the top button activates the self-timer and burst mode, the right button controls focus mode, the bottom one activates the mode control, and the left one sets the flash mode. Along the bottom edge are the Menu and Easy buttons. The green Easy button puts the E30 in its most automated, simple shooting mode.

There's a ridge along the right edge of the back, which functions as a thumb rest, sort of.

Left Side
The Pentax E30's USB/AV jack is low on the left side and has no door or cover – it's just always open, ready to fill up with dirt, moisture and crud. Three holes higher up on the side form the speaker grill.

Right Side
The wrist strap lug is molded of the same plastic as the E30's body. It sits flush against the body of the camera and looks sturdy enough, though we expect it will be a chore to thread a strap through it. The right side also has a small rubber tab at the bottom, apparently to allow the external power cord access to the battery contacts.

Top
A shiny plate on the top of the E30 reads "Optio E30." The power button is sunken into the plate. It's a small button, and it appears to be designed so that the E30 won't accidentally power up inside a bag or pocket. We find rotating switches better on that score, and the E30's button a little tough to operate even on purpose. The shutter release button is on top of the grip. It's large and has a smooth, positive action.

Bottom
The tripod bushing is centered under the lens, which is good – it can make aiming the camera on a tripod easier. Unfortunately, it's plastic and may not hold up well against metal tripod studs. The E30 has a port for standard printer docks as well. The battery and SD card compartment door is plastic and slides closed with a snap. Unfortunately, there is no provision to hold the two AA batteries in place while changing the memory card, so there's a likelihood that the batteries will fall out or get in the way in that process.