Keepin up wit the times (Pentax Optio 30)

Member Name: jsrennie

Product:	Pentax Optio 30
Date:	17/02/05 (215 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy to use, great for beginners, top quality photos

Disadvantages: -

I was never going to take the decisoin lightly of what digital camera to buy, so I had to make sure that I got a camera that was tres inexpensive but also covered not just all of the basics but also more of the technical stuff.

To help me choose my camera I bought which digital camera magazine, which is very handy in helping you choose which digital camera you purchase....see what they have done there very clever! I looked in my relevant price range (upto £150) and came accross the pentax optio 30. A camera that was the star (magazines favourite) of the price range and seemed to compare extremely favourably with other cameras in the same price range.

The camera was priced at £140, however the other good reason for buying this magazine is that it is a specialist in the field of digital photography so therefore has many adverts allowing you to shop around in the comfort of your arm chair!

I managed to purchase the camera with a 64mb memory card for £118, a bargain from pixmania.com. However I failed to realise that this was a french site and therfore had to pay an extra £7 to recieve an instruction booklet in english, as my french GCSE didnt extend to camera terminology. At a total price of £125 this still worked out as very cheap especially with the memory card which can cost upto £20 on thier own.

The camera is small however it is also quite bulky so does not easily fit into a pocket which would be very useful for practical purposes, it is however small in size to other digital cameras in the similar rage.

The 3.2 megapixels offer the users quality that is as good as using a regular camera, you can pay a lot more for cameras that have upto 5 megapixels however i would say that the extra quality pales in comparison to all the extra money you pay. When printing off my photos in the recomended size of 7' x 5', I was impressed with the quality, definately worth the price of the camera. And at only £6.99 for 50 at Jessops represents amazing quality.

With using this and many other digital cameras you get to view your pictures on its 1.6' LCD monitor as soon as you take them therfore you can keep all of your good pictures and delete all of those that dont come out so good, therfore you capture your holiday or event with great photos which definatly add to your memories of the occasion. You dont want to remember your romantic trip abroad with pictures that didnt turn out due to your incompetence with the flash!

This leads to another great feature of the camera, which makes it the perfect camera for those new to digital photography or even technology! That is that it has a very simple to use menu screen unlike others that can be very confusing, and it also offers simple tutorials letting you know how to use your flash effectively or letting you know which mode will capture your subject in the correct light. I found the tutorail very helpful and it again definately helped me produce great photos (in my humble opinion) of my trip to France in the summer, looking at them brings back great memories of a holiday I could never afford again!

The camera has a 16mb internal memory, which only holds around 30 high quality photos. The 64mb memory card which easily slots into the bottom of the camera is therfore a godsend as it allows you to hold upto 150 high quality photos meaning you dont have to constantly download your photos to your computer to take more. Therefore allowing you to take your camera with you on long trips and take many pictures. You can also buy other memory cards and easily interchange between the two, alternatively you can buy memory cards with more memory which hold more pictures. Prices vary widely so i would suggest to shop around to get the best deals. PC world is a good cheap shop, but there are countless others.

Connecting the camera to a computer is easy via a USB port, and the software helps you through the set up and printing photos on normal or photo paper is easy. However i find this way of making photos very expensive, so therfore I dont use this much and therfore have not explored all of the features. It does seem to have many features though so will keep people occupied for hours on end if they are so inclined!

Battery life is notoriously bad on digital cameras, and this camera is no exception using normal batteries will only enable you to take around 10 photos before they run out of juice, one option is to use rechargable batteries which although an expensive option to begin with repay you in the long run as you dont have to fork out every time your batteries run out.

Specifications:
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3x Optical zoom with 'sliding lens system'
3.2M pixel camera
9 position mode dial
10 PICT modes
1.6" TFT LCD Screen
Metal body
PictBridge compatible

In conclusion I would say that this camera is great for people like me who are just starting out in the world of digital photography, but als o for anybody who wants an affordable digital camera as it is defiantley the way forward for photos, I believe camera film will go the way of video tapes and become obselete in the near future. This camera offers great help and also great quality photos.

Summary: