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Ergonomics
The first thing that you’ll notice when you put the camera ‘On’ is some vibrations and a slight noise. Don’t be alarmed, for that is the Dust Removal feature doing its work! (If you set the feature ‘Off’, then this won’t happen). The camera grip is excellent and you may even consider shooting with just one hand – something that we do not advocate!
Performance
The Pentax K30 is feature-filled. We decided to take advantage of certain features which would ease our workflow and provide better results –after all, when special features are provided, why not take their advantage? We adjusted the following settings in the Shooting Menu before performing the tests: Lens Distortion Correction and Lateral Chromatic Aberration Correction: ‘On’ Custom Image: ‘Landscape’. Highlight and Shadow Corrections: ‘Auto’. High ISO Noise Reduction: ‘Medium’. Slow shutter speed NR: ‘Off’. Shake Reduction: ‘On’ (except when tripod mounted) AF/AE-L button was assigned to autofocus the camera using ‘Enable AF2’. This disengages the shutter release button from focussing. We also upgraded the firmware from the Company’s website (Normally this would not be done but in this case we just happened to notice that a firmware upgrade was available).
Autofocus: Autofocus was fast in good light, but in low light it was somewhat slower due to the absence of an inbuilt AF motor in the lens. Also, autofocus was noisy.
Metering: All three metering modes – Multi-segmented, Centre-weighted and Spot – performed to our satisfaction. Unfortunately, there is no dedicated button to quickly change the metering method.
Noise Control: The native image size from the K30 is 16.4 x 10.8 inches at 300 ppi. At 16.7% screen size, noise was not visible all the way up to ISO 12,800. At 25% screen size, again, no noise was visible all the way through, but the very high ISOs did show slight softening, which may be due to noise reduction. At 50% screen size, slight noise was visible after ISO 3200, but we had to look for it. At 100% screen size, noise was visible after ISO 1600, but I would consider the overall noise control as excellent, in spite of the slight softening of images at very high ISOs.
Sharpness/Corner Darkening: The overall sharpness, using the supplied 18-55mm kit lens, was good. Wide
open, as expected, corners were not as sharp as the center. Darkening of corners at a wide open aperture was
very prominent throughout the aperture range; the left side of the images showed greater darkening. Barrel and
moustache distortion was observed at all focal lengths except at 55mm. We were not able to ascertain lens flare
and chromatic aberrations due to the inclement weather during the testing days. The in-body sensor-shift type
image stabilisation obviously helped at low shutter speeds, but we have no means of saying by how many stops.
LCD/VF: The LCD is fixed. Images on the LCD were crisp and with good colour. The viewfinder shows almost 100% field of view but images were slightly soft towards the edges.
AWB: White Balance performance was good (though we could not check the WB in sunlight due to the rainy season). Colours were bright and punchy. The Presets and AWB for Cloudy, Flash and Incandescent (except for preset Incandescent) was perfect. The preset for Incandescent light gave a slight cyan cast, but again, as I often mention, it is incorrect to check for accuracy of White Balance in a room with bulbs of varying wattages. Note that the K30 has an option for colour correction (subtle or strong) with incandescent lighting.
Video quality was at par with the best we have seen. Unfortunately, there is no continuous autofocus, and when the AF/AE-L button (which was assigned to AF) is pressed, the camera picks up the motor noise. Also, you cannot capture still images during video operation.
Value for Money
The Pentax K30 is available at an MRP of Rs.55,695 along with the 18-55mm f/3.5- 5.6 kit lens (Water Resistant). At this price and performance, we consider the K30 good value for money.
VERDICT
The Pentax K30 is a very good camera for mid-level photographers and also as a backup camera for advanced users. Its weather and dust sealing body, excellent noise control, and good options for customisation, along with a reasonable price tag, should make it a favourable choice for budding photographers.
Rohinton Mehta
