Pentax Optio A30 Digital Camera

Recently I purchased the Optio A30 Digital after a long consideration. My model is the sleek black version and this amazing little camera oozes style and quality. Firstly the build quality is top notch a solid metal body with an appearance that will get people asking you where did you get camera? Its super small approx the size of a standard pack of playing cards, and trust me this baby takes amazing photos at high resolution without the large amounts of noise that bug other tops brands. It so annoying to buy a 8 - 10MP camera only to discover you have to lower the ISO to 100 or 200 otherwise your pic is destroyed by noise. Ok Pentax hasn't completely cured noise - but this amazing little camera excels in this field producing amazing prints with low levels of noise at ISO400 and even ISO800 and above. The cameras has a really good SR Shake Reduction facility that works!! (one of the best I have ever had) in both digital still and movie mode, tracking AF with face priority, it accepts the new SDHC card format so SD cards of 4GB and upwards are no problem it has the possibility to take well over a thousand photos in 10MP top quality on a single card, the only minus point if there is one, would be the battery supplied 710 mAh does run out of power quite quick, therefore a few addition batteries would be recommended. This problem can be easily rectified the DLi18 battery is widely available on ebay ridiculously cheap and also available throughout the high street shops in a higher power capacity of 1200 and 1500 mAh. Reassuringly this is the same battery renamed and used by other leading brands so availability will never be a issue. The price of this A30 again is unbelievable and you wonder how Pentax do it for such an amazing price. I used to immediately look first at new models from Sony Canon Casio and Panasonic believe me, Pentax are a again a serious rival to these, if you buy one of these superb little Optio A30 you won't regret it. Pentax will certainly will be high on my consideration list for future camera upgrades.

I bought myself a Canon EOS 450D which left my wife feeling left out.
She wanted a camera that was simple to use, so I started looking around. I came accross the Pentax Optio A30 and checked the reviews against other compacts in its price range. This little wonder seemed to fit the bill not only for my wife but I could see myself getting a lot of use out of it.
After having it for 3 days and having put it through its paces I can recommend this as the best in its range. Check out the review here. http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-cameras/review/2007/06/19/Pentax-Optio-A30/p1

great, chepear than the UK and 2G memory card included........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Allright i m starting with the 10MP that i loved in such a small digital camera that made me bought it for about 340 euros very nice price second reason, but when camera arrived at home and started using it i realised that the pictures wasnt so fine for a 10MP camera with a lot of noise , the speed of focus poor to catch my son and start time not bad at 10MP resolution, design exterior and buttons functionality superb untill this moment everything was fine to me for such a cheap 10MP digital camera so i decided to buy the original leather case for about 110 Euros total 450 Euros so i can protect my new camera i m very experienced in photography (amature not a professional)so i m carefull with this things but ... next day morning when came from office and wanted to take some pictures of my 12 months son taking the camera from its case placed in my desk i realised that LCD panel was black and no colours came from the camera so the panel was broken in the left down corner to the opposite corner the company's plastic cover that was protecting the camera's LCD was very thin so for some reason LCD had broken without camera to fall down or crash and the most strange thing the camera had not any scraches or signs from a crash only me was using this camera and nobody else and the problem where in the corner where the protection is stronger i think in every plastic that protects an LCD panel so i asked and send the camera to the Pentax official service and they simply said that LCD was broken by me and theres no warranty for such cases and they asked me 130 Euros to replace it total 580 Euros if i was choosing the official way for their mistake and not mine but i preffered finally not to repair it to the official service but i bought an original LCD panel with 50 Euros from some e-Bay seller and tried to change LCD by myself but the two cables with the connector that was connecting the panel was so bad quality that when i oppened the cover and tried to disconnect the connector that connects the LCD with the camera the cables where broken without to touch them so i went to a friends service and tried to solder the cables 10 Euros , the camera is ok now but the button to delete all pictures doesnt work anymore but at list i can take pictures.What a waste of money.With 580 Euros i could buy the best SLR in the market.Next day i bought the NIKON D80 SLR with speed of the light when taking pictures and the finest pictures i ve ever seen from an experienced amature and it was the best buy i have made in my whole life i cant live anymore without this camera no more small cameras and design for me Thanks.

I am a keen amateur /semi-professional photographer and I bought this for my 9 year old grand-daughter to initiate her into photography. My requirements were that it had to be simple to use but must produce excellent results without too much fuss and bother. The Optio A30 does that and more, it has ample battery power and memory capacity while the steady-shot on top of the auto-focus reduces the chance of poor images. 10.1 megapixels and a Zeiss lens ensure great picture quality and good photos even with child behind the 2.5 inch LCD screen.

Did a lot of research into small cameras, this or the Panasonic range continualy came out as best value for money. I gave it to my son who does a lot of walking with his dog and he found it fantastic. As a camera he felt the photos were excellent, he could video and I don't know how, but he used it to play MP3 files.

This was an up-date for an earlier Pentax Optio. Excellent results and very easy to use. The menu is simple to follow and the auto feature gives excellent results. Would reccommend this to anyone. Far superior to many cameras at a higher price. First class value for money.