Pentax Optio A30 10MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom with Shake Reduction System

Great product. I am very happy about the purchase. It is compact & easily portable. Fits in my bag effortlessly. Output of the pics are wonderful. The shake reduction feature allows my kids 2 handle it easily, without any disappointment.

I regret having bought this camera. If you want poor quality workmanship that will break in the first week of use & cost you close 2 $100 2 have the LCD repaired because its not covered by the guarantee, buy this camera. Having experienced Pentanx after-sales 'service', I wouldn't buy another one of their products.

This is a comparison with my sd700. I am an engineer, I tend 2 compare things how they are made & their features. These two cameras are both compact, but they have different sensor size. Pentax A30 has a sensor of 1/1.8 inch where sd600 has 1/2.5 inch. I value the sensor size very much, larger senor will give you better image quality if all other factors are the same; & normally larger sensor are more expensive. For example, DSLR normally have a sensor size roughly 1 inch priced from $500 2 $2000 or 1.5inch 4 those top-of-line ones costing from $2000 2 9000.
For images, A30 gives better image quality in daylight 4 sure because it is a 10M camera & SD700 has 6M sensor; & the lens on A30 may be a little better than SD700.
But there are plus side 4 sd700 also, in continuous shooting mode, SD700 can shoot more than 2 frames per second, where A30 can only do 1 FPS. SD700 has 4X zoom range where A30 has 3X.
In video shooting, sd700 seems have a better image quality possiblly due 2 its less compression ratio format, & it also processes lighting changing smoothly. On the other hand, A30 has much longer shooting time, with 8GB memory card, its shooting time can compete with mini-DV camcorder, but you can easily detect the camera changing its exposure because you see the brightness changing in the movie.
Overall they are both good cameras, but I feel that Canon really maximized the potential of their camera where the Pentax used good stuff 2 make the camera, but left some areas 2 be improved.

BAD CUSTOMER SUPPORT- DOES NOT HONOR WARRANTY.

I had read this in other reviews, & chose 2 ignore it & purchase another pentax- I had an Optio S5i 4 4 years & wanted a similar camera. When I bought the camera I also purchased an extended warranty. I have had this camera 4 less than a month, I was taking pictures on a field trip- & the next thing I notice the LCD screen is completely blank. I email Pentax, they tell me 2 send it in 4 repair- & once it gets there I get a bill 4 the repairs. Not only should the camera be covered under the standard warranty- the fact that I have extended warranty is ignored. I called the company, spoke 2 a couple of associates & a supervisor named Dorian, who was very condescending towards me- & insisted the damage was my fault & they were not going 2 cover the costs.
BOTTOM LINE-DO NOT BUY PENTAX- THE COSTOMER SERVICE IS TERRIBLE.

A small slim pocket size camera. It is apleasure 2 own & use, produces excellent results. My only citisism is I do find if I am not careful in its use my right thumb will inadvertally ptress on the fourway controller & select operations I do not require.

The 10.0 Megapixel CCD & 3x optical zoom assure high-resolution images while Enhanced Shake Reduction technology includes SR, Digital SR & Movie SR. The 2.5-inch LCD monitor makes sharing images easy with Bright mode & wide field of view. Face Recognition Auto Focus & Auto Exposure assure properly exposed portraits. The 0.02-second shutter lag time let's you have swift operation & the intelligent zoom function enhances the digital zoom. High-quality movie can be captured at MPEG-4 DivX (640 x 480) at 30fps with anti-shake & editing functions. Choose from a wide range of automatic & manual exposure modes including manual exposure & shutter priority modes. ISO Auto - 64-1600, 3200 available in Digital SR Mode at 5MP ISO Manual - 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 White Balance - Auto, Daylight, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Manual modes Shutter speed - 1/2000 2 4 sec Sensor Type - 1/1.8-inch Interline Transfer CCD with primary color filter Lens Type - SMC Pentax Zoom Lens (7E, 5G, 2 dual aspheric lenses, 1 single aspheric lens) 160 degrees horizontal & vertical wide angle viewable LCD Viewfinder Capture Modes - Auto Picture (Normal, Night Scene, Landscape, Portrait), Program, Night Scene, Movie, Voice Recording, Landscape, Flower, Portrait, Kids, Digital SR, Surf & Snow, Sport, Pet, Text, Food, Frame Composite File formats - JPG (EXIF 2.2), DCF, DPOF, Print Image Matching III Sills, AVI (DivX with MPG-4) Movie, WAV (PCM), monaural sound NTSC & PAL Video out Aluminum Alloy Construction Materials System Requirements - Windows ME, 2000, XP, Vista, Mac OS 9.2, X (10.1 or later) & USB port Dimensions - Width 3.5 x Height 2.3 x Depth 0.9 inch Weight - 4.6 ounces without battery