I'm taken.
Written: Nov 19 '02
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Pros: Small, cute, packed with features.
Cons: Can't find anything yet.
The Bottom Line: This camera is perfect for those who want that little extra from a camera without going completely overboard.
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| pompy's Full Review: Pentax Optio 430RS Digital Camera |
After three years of faithful service from my Kodak DC210 (http://www.epinions.com/content_18740907652) I decided that it was definitely time for a new digital camera. Preferably something smaller, less embarrassing, lots more features and a proper battery.
I found it quite quickly, however after a little shopping around I got a much better deal than expected. The first place had one for $1500 (AUD) but I ended up paying $1100 (AUD), which included a 128Mb card, soft case, strap, USB cable, ACDSee and USB driver software, 3D image viewer, lithium ion battery, charger and even a Kodak sample paper pack. The memory card and paper pack were a bonus from the retailer, but everything else included was standard.
The battery had to be charged before initial use which was the only drawback. (You know how it is with these things, you want to use them as soon as you can!) It took about two hours for the red light to turn green and then I was ready to go.
I found the use to be fairly intuitive, although a read of the manual was definitely in order. The camera has several modes; ordinary picture mode, night mode, manual exposure mode, movie, 3D mode and filter mode.
I haven't had a great play with all these modes yet. For instance, the filter mode doesn't seem too useful as I would prefer to use an imaging program to change the image to sepia, red, pink, violet, blue, green or yellow. That way I still have the original file as it was intended. However there is a 'slim' filter which might come in handy if you are taking photos of reluctant subjects! The filter elongates the image to a degree you specify, either horizontally or vertically.
The movie mode isn't spectacular, but it does provide a fair little AVI (no sound). Resolution for the movie is reasonable (320x240) and the maximum length is 30 seconds. An average 30 second movie is 3Mb in size. I wouldn't rely on it to capture little Jimmy's first steps, but it's fun for other projects. I have a nice one of my daughter frolicking on the seashore.
Night mode lengthens the shutter speed and turns up the brightness a little. 3D mode is this bizarre feature whereby you take two pictures of the same scene (slightly rotating your body from one point to another, following the guides) and then you print it out and view it with the special viewer. I haven't tried this yet, but I was impressed by the sample 3D picture in the manual.
To be honest I only really use the standard mode. It's more than enough to take a decent picture.
Oh, the pictures! With 4.3 megapixels of imagey goodness it shouldn't be surprising to me that they turn out great. I get the same quality now with raw pictures as I did with heavy-Photoshop-corrected photos using my older camera. All I do now with my photos is maybe crop them a little and they're ready to go. The default resolution is 2240x1680, with other choices being 2304x1712, 1600x1200, 1024x768 or 640x480. There are also three levels of compression, *** (best), ** (better) and * (good) the default being ** (better). A standard picture at the default settings is about 1.3Mb in size.
The colours are true to life, vibrant, with realistic flesh tones. I have had no problems with the focus, once I figured out how it worked. (Depress the shutter button halfway, check what the warning lights are doing, and take note of where the green brackets are located.)
There is a 3x optical zoom, and 3x digital zoom. You can turn the digital zoom off, but it is also easy to see when it kicks in, as there is a little bar in the display. Plus, there is no lens noise. There is a macro function (good for distances of 10-50cm), infinity-landscape, manual focus and auto focus move mode. This means if the auto focus isn't in the right place, you can shift it around until it is.
There are even more features than this, such as interval shooting (for time-lapse work), continuous shooting (infinitely, to the limits of the Compact flash card), a self-timer, white balance adjustment, adjusting brightness, exposure, contrast... crop, rotate or trim pictures... it's a control-freak's dream!
Connecting and uploading to the computer was easy as can be. I plugged the USB cable into the camera and computer, and iPhoto immediately popped up and imported the photos with one button. It was very quick, especially considering the size of the pictures. However, I think this was mainly due to the computer and not the camera.
Next, I am going to try out printing some images. In fact that's why I was on Epinions in the first place, to look for a new printer. I have no doubt that the images will be as good as the printer and not the camera, because I don't know if I could take a better picture than I can with the Pentax Optio 430RS.
I fully recommend this great little camera.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 600 (?)
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Flexible Enough for Enthusiasts
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Epinions.com ID:
pompy
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Location: Canberra, Australia
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
I'm a gardener, and mother of a 4 year old.
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