I went from the A10 8 MP camera to this one. It actually measures slightly wider but thinner but it seems as small or smaller. I love the large screen, easy to view my photos and movies. I even use it to keep photos of my new grandson to show off. The movie mode is excellent in every way; easy to take and excellent quality. The little flash is adequate for portrait shots, but anything more than 10 or so feet is a little dark, but not too bad up to 20 feet. I love the shake reduction system, especially since I photograph my pets and grandbaby a lot and never get a bad picture. The camera is light weight; I carry it in my purse all the time. Because the MP is so high (10), I can crop quite a bit when I need to and still have perfect 8x10 prints. So far I love it.

After my 1.5 yr old HP M415 bit the dust, I was in the market for a new camera. I finally decided on the Pentax A30 and I love this camera. I've had it for 5 days and we've been playing with it and taken over 300 pictures. The color is great, resolution is really nice. I've taken landscape and "sport" shots. The sport function allowed the camera to focus on a tree taking the picture out the side car window at 55 mph. I've taken macro and supermacro shots of the pets, flowers, sidewalk, brick... I tried out the 'text' feature with a recipe in a magazine in the Dr's office... all in all, I could spend a whole lot of time playing and taking pictures. This is a really great camera for the $$ Oh, and the 'anti-shake' function is really nice for my shakey hands.

I was impressed by the Optio A30's color accuracy, ease of use, extensive manual options, and small size. The pictures are free of the aggressive noise reduction I've seen in many compact 10MP cameras. However, the Optio A30 has some downsides, some of which I have not yet seen mentioned in reviews, but are evident in the sample pictures I have taken myself and in pictures in posted reviews.

The battery life leaves much to be desired. Reducing the LCD brightness to its lowest level seems have given me a couple dozen more shots, but I have yet to get more than 200 per charge. The quality of the optics also left me a little disappointed. While the Optio A30 has a wonderful shake reduction feature, this camera suffers from problems with the compact optics which plague many other compact cameras. At the wide end there is significant vignetting (dark areas in the corners). Also at the wide end, pictures are very blurry near the outer 15% of the photo (much more severe than I can remember seeing in other compact cameras). This is particularly noticable in landscape photos. The blurriness does not occur at full telephoto. I've seen these defects in both my own photos as well as those in reviews, so be aware that your camera will likely have these problems. How much it will bother you is anyone's guess.

The Optio A30 is a decent choice for anyone looking for a compact 10MP camera. The camera has some great features, but some unfortunate setbacks keep me from recommending this camera to anyone who is serious about photography.

I am not able to set date on pictures taken. In Nikon, Olympus I was able to do this. After a a year or two when you have 1000 pics on a hard disk, DVD or CD, you will not be able to tell which picture was taken when.
This is a real BIG fault in this camera.
Pls correct me if I am wrong. Waiting for reply.

This is my 4th Pentax digital camera and the first bad one. What's worse is that, I sent it to Pentax for repair and a month later got back the same bad camera, but without my battery. They were real nice about offering to send me my battery, but that doesn't help me since the camera isn't worth using. Where ever these is the slightest natural light coming through a window, the camera picks up a purple glare, that is in the photograph, even is I use a flash. It's also in the movies. It's like purple stripes through the photo. When I sent it in for repair I sent print outs of the pictures so they could see how bad it was. I had to call and beg to get my camera back, they promised it would only take 15 days. But they received it a week before they even logged the camera in (ups tracking information shows when it was signed for on the dock). Then they pulled it from a place in line, two weeks later, and finally started to work on it. They sent it to me 2nd day, but without the battery. I used the battery from my A10, only to find that the purple glare is still there. It's not as bad as it was, but still awful. Not just a little... a lot. I spent $100 on a new SDHC card for the camera, which no other camera this size uses, not to mention I purchased it when it first came out and paid more than Pentax sells the camera for. I owned the z550, which I gave to a friends daughter after only a few months because I purchased the z750, then less than a year later I purchased the A10, which I've since given to my daughter. All those were wonderful, hence my willingness to purchase the new A30. Guess I should have waited until they got the bugs worked out.

When I first purchased and received this camera I was delighted. It's small and light weight so I can carry it in my purse all the time. The big bright screen is wonderful to show off photos of my new grandson without having to carry photographs and the camera took great photos. The 10MP photos allows me to crop a lot and still have a beautiful 8x10 printed photo. The stabilizer works wonderfully. I can take photos of this little 6 month old and never get a bad shot. I gave my A10 to my daughter, because I was so pleased with this new little camera, that now uses the new high capacity SDHC memory cards.

Then, after about a week the camera starting getting these bright purple streaks through the pictures, from the glare of light. Even with a flash the photos were so bad you couldn't even make out what you were shooting. This is my 4th Pentax digital camera and the first bad one. What's worse is that, I sent it to Pentax for repair and a month later got back the same bad camera, but without my battery. They were real nice about offering to send me my battery, but that doesn't help me since the camera isn't worth using.

Where ever there is the slightest natural light coming through a window, the camera picks up a purple glare, that is in the photograph. It's also in the movies. When I sent it in for repair I sent print outs of the pictures so they could see how bad it was. I had to call and beg to get my camera back, they promised it would only take 15 days. But they received it a week before they even logged the camera in for repair, then put it in a line (ups tracking information shows when it was signed for on the dock). When I called two weeks later they pulled it from a place in line, and finally started to work on it.

They sent it to me 2nd day, but without the battery. I used the battery from my A10, only to find that the purple glare is still there. It's not as bad as it was, but still awful. Not just a little... a lot. Previously I owned the z550, the z750 and the A10, All those were wonderful, hence my willingness to purchase the new A30 and comfort in giving away the A10 right away.

Now they want me to return the camera to repair so that they can try to repair it again. It's already been nearly 3 months since I purchased this camera, 3 months less warranty on a lemon of a camera. I asked to have a new camera sent to me and I'd return this one, but they wouldn't do that; so I called corporate offices.

What a difference in attitude! They said they'd send me out a new camera 2nd day and issue a call tag so I can return this entire camera kit. They were so nice. So, if you have a problem and repair can't or won't take care of it for you, so right to the top... it's worth the trouble.

BTW, Amazon was great. When I couldn't get ahold of Pentax and it had been slightly over the 30 day return date, Amazon still was willing to take the camera back and give me a refund. But I couldn't find another camera that was this small and light that uses the new SDHC cards. So thanks Amazon, for the wonderful service!

Bought this camera with the movie in mind. I knew it would take very good pictures and 10 megapixel come in handy when you have to crop, zoom etc.

Best part for me was the fact that it records movie in the DivX format. I can record a 90 minute movie on the 2GB SD card (about 15 bucks!!) then, quickly and easily trasferred the movie to my laptop. Burned a DVD on my lap top, and I was blown away by the quality of the movie that this camera takes.

DivX format play in lot of DVD players. However, if you have an older DVD player, it might not work.

Obviously it does not have all the bells and whistles of the video camera, but boy it takes great movies, with sound and all.

Bottom line, I am retiring my video camera.

This is my 3rd Pentax in 3 1/2 years. I had a 5MP once that my cousin loved and bought from me after 3 months use. Then I had a Option 750Z. I bought the Pentax Optio A30 after my Pentax Option 750Z was stolen while traveling. The 750Z was a fantastic camera at 7MP. If they had updated this camera i would have bought it but instead I opted for the A30 which is 3x optical zoom instead of the 750Z's 5x. The LCD on the A30 is gorgeous. However, I had gotten very used to using the smaller, swivel LCD in the 750Z and really miss having the ability to take shots from almost any angle with the swivel LCD.

The retro grip on the 750Z also provided a bit of security when holding the camera, whereas the A30 always feels like it's going to slip out of your hand due to the brushed metal finish.

The functions and changing shooting modes in the A30 also feels a bit clumsier than the 750z.

Some of the functions like being able to copy images to the SD card right within the camera are very nice features of the A30. This allows me to make a copy of a picture, apply a sepia affect to the copy but still retain the original.

The A30 also does not have TIFF quality shooting like the 750Z did.

One gripe, probably something to do with me, is that I have NEVER been able to get great night shots with any of my Pentax cameras. The shots are always shaky and blurred, even in the A30 with its shake reduction.

I can't remember how much I paid for the 750z but overall, the A30 is a nice, compact, camera that has a few flaws but is very handy and shoots decent quality pictures. I would, however, pay $100 more to get an updated 10MP version of the 750Z.

Going on a day trip, sunday drive, vacation - just around the block - HEY got your camera? YOU CAN ALWAYS be ready with this little Pentax! I don't leave home without it! Loads of features BUT sometimes depending on lighting conditions has a hard time focusing.... Im sure many small compact camera do. BUT 10MP max res and all the other goodies make up for it - ANOTHER DISAPPOINTING NOTE- DIVIX format for video is not supported on MAC - I get video playback with NO SOUND. Terrible when video is kids or vacation! If camera was waterproof it would be even better! Build quality is very good! Not too small to hold. Black shell feels solid and professional.

The camera takes great pictures. Lots of mode choices and they work. The shake reduction works very good. Pictures are in excellent focus.

I read all the other reviews after i had already ordered the camera, so i was unsure of what i had committed to. To my pleasant surprise it has been one of the best cameras that i have owned. I started early with Pentax cameras as i used to work in Singapore where they were much cheaper. Pentax makes an excellent lens and a sturdy camera. I would strongly recommend this camera to others especially ones that are looking for excellent images in a small pocket cameras.

I did a lot of research before deciding on this camera. Although the Pentax brand isn't quite was well regarded as Nikon or Cannon, I decided to take the plunge. I have been nothing but 100% satisfied! A few things that I REALLY like about this camera are:
1) it takes FANTASTIC pictures!
2) the menus are really really intuitive and easy to use (my mother can use it!)
3) it's compact - I can throw it in my purse or a pocket easily
4) the shake reduction feature really does work.
5) the 2GB card we bought could hold over 1000 picture. look for deals on cheap SD cards - they're out there!

We spent three weeks traveling this summer, and were in and out of old churches, sunny days, rain and thunder, wind... the whole nine yards!
If you're shooting at 10MP and you chose the shake reduction mode (it does shake reduction normally anyway, but there's a special shake reduction shooting mode too) it cuts the picture size down to 5ish MP (which isn't a big deal unless you're planning to make that shot a poster for your wall). By cutting down the MP size, the camera can retain detail in the shot. Works like a charm!
Overall, this camera was rugged, easy to use, we like the color (black), and the photo quality is really top-notch. We just had some 8x10s printed from our trip, and my parent's couldn't believe they were from a point-and-shoot digital camera!
Lastly, there's a little memory built into the camera. So, if you forget to replace the memory and grab the camera to go shoot something, you're not totally out of luck! Nice added bonus, but that's the only time you'd use it.
Only complaint is the battery life. It doesn't have a marathon battery, but it's not terrible. We were shooting all day long. Buy a second battery if you're worried - that's what we did!

BUY IT!

Going on a day trip, sunday drive, vacation - just around the block - HEY got your camera? YOU CAN ALWAYS be ready with this little Pentax! I don't leave home without it! Loads of features BUT sometimes depending on lighting conditions has a hard time focusing.... Im sure many small compact camera do. BUT 10MP max res and all the other goodies make up for it - ANOTHER DISAPPOINTING NOTE- DIVIX format for video is not supported on MAC - I get video playback with NO SOUND. Terrible when video is kids or vacation! If camera was waterproof it would be even better! Build quality is very good! Not too small to hold. Black shell feels solid and professional.

Easy to learn and use, I am delighted that you can manually set the shutter speed. Takes excellent pics, hand shake reduction really works! Yes, I see the dreaded purple streaks from certain lights, not a serious problem. The bad, I hate the video coding format Divx. When I download the Divx video to Adobe Premier Elements on my laptop, the video is upside down! With 4 Gbyte CF cards here, and larger to come, I don't need or want coding. I think more than 10 minutes of home video is stultifingly boring, so I don't need hours of capacity. I would never buy another Divx coded camera- do you hear me Pentax!

We bought this camera after doing a lot of research. The features are good, but....
The LCD screen broke about 10 days after we got it even though we bought a screen protector and kept the camera in a hard case. The seller said it had to be fixed under the Pentax warranty. Pentax said the camera was abused (it was not.) Amazon was great and said they would honor the Amazon guarantee.
I contacted Pentax many times and finally the head office agreed to repair the camera "as a one time courtesy."
We've never had this problem with an LCD screen on any other item, including other cameras.
So be careful of the screen, and be forewarned that Pentax may not honor the warranty if the camera breaks.Pentax Optio A30 10MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom with Shake Reduction System

Pentax has done it again. They have incorporated shake reduction technology and great image rendering into a well-designed 10MP compact digital. It is small, powerful, sturdy and easy to use. There are also features for the more discerning photographers out there. The video clips are crisp and also uttilize the anti-shake technology! The large view screen on the back is a joy to use. Maybe the one thing I would improve is the battery life. If you're leaving on an extended trip, maybe buy an extra one for back up. The charger is a bit cumbersome if you're trying to travel as light as the A30's body size may suggest. Overall, I am VERY pleased with this product!

A small slim pocket size camera. It is apleasure to own and 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 and select operations I do not require.

BAD CUSTOMER SUPPORT- DOES NOT HONOR WARRANTY.

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

This is a comparison with my sd700. I am an engineer, I tend to compare things how they are made and 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; and normally larger sensor are more expensive. For example, DSLR normally have a sensor size roughly 1 inch priced from $500 to $2000 or 1.5inch for those top-of-line ones costing from $2000 to 9000.
For images, A30 gives better image quality in daylight for sure because it is a 10M camera and SD700 has 6M sensor; and the lens on A30 may be a little better than SD700.
But there are plus side for 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 to its less compression ratio format, and 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 to make the camera, but left some areas to be improved.

I regret having bought this camera. If you want poor quality workmanship that will break in the first week of use and cost you close to $100 to 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.

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