Pentax Optio M30: Light and Lively

This svelte digital camera produces sharp snapshots—without taking a big bite from your wallet

by Arik Hesseldahl

Editor's Rating:

The Good: Light, small, and easy to use

The Bad: Useless frame-composite mode; low-light shots could be better

The Bottom Line: A fine beginner's camera, or a small and inexpensive secondary camera for experienced users

Reader Reviews

I like the trend that digital cameras are following these days: smaller, thinner, and far less obtrusive in their physical design. I'm beginning to come to the conclusion that a digital camera should be pretty close in size to a folded-up wireless phone.

And this one is. It's the Pentax Optio M30, and when I set it right next to my Motorola (MOT) Krzr phone, it's about the same thickness and only slightly wider. The Optio M30 doesn't feel unreasonably bulky in my pocket, and in fact, fits nicely into the same belt case I use to carry my phone. And it's really light, weighing less than 5 ounces.

Easy on the Eyes

It's also a pretty good camera, built to the standard of quality one would expect from Pentax. Its diminutive size doesn't make it feel fragile. Nor does it take delicate pictures, but instead, can max out at a relatively beefy 7.1 megapixels. And it takes a fair picture, too, though don't expect a lot in the way of features. This camera sells for about $199 (though you can find it priced lower than that), so some of the more sophisticated features that you might find in say, the Nikon CoolPix S9, which is about the same physical size, but $200 more expensive, are missing.

I had pretty good results with the Digital Shake Reduction feature, which adjusts the camera's light sensitivity to match the brightness of the subject and boosts the shutter speed when light conditions are dark. The result? Fewer blurry images and better results when the flash kicks in, though I think its performance in low-light situations could be better. Additionally, the results of a shaky hand are minimized. It's a less-sophisticated approach than say, the Panasonic Lumix I reviewed recently, but then that camera costs nearly $500 (see BusinessWeek.com, 4/2/07, "The Lumix DMC-LX2: Wide Screen Wonder").

One feature I could do without: Frame Composite mode. Imagine taking a picture with a digitally inserted cartoon-like border around the subject. The three default frames are a mushy heart, some flowers, and a generic cartoon character saying "Wow." Cute, right? No. Then why bother?

Ready for Your Close-up

I did like the "flower" macro-shooting mode, and actually used it to take pictures of some flowers around the office. I have always admired the kind of extreme close-up shots you often see of flowers and other natural features outdoors. Anecdotally, I've always been frustrated trying to take my own, but I was happy with the results afforded here.

Startup was quick. From powerup to ready-to-shoot, the wait was a little less than three seconds. And battery life is pretty good, too. Pentax says you can get about 230 shots on a single battery charge. I didn't take quite that many, but didn't see any drop on the battery indicator from the shots I did take.

Overall, I would say this is a great camera for beginners, or a good secondary casual snapshot camera for a more advanced user who typically uses a bigger device. This is the camera you would be fine taking along on a bike ride because it's light and, with its relatively low price, easy to replace.

Hesseldahl is a writer with BusinessWeek.com in New York