K-30 Hands-on Review on Pentax Singapore Facebook ...

aleonx3 · 05-30-2012, 07:01 AM

Originally posted by creampuff

Looking forward to holding the K-30 tonight.

I held one in my hand last week during the PhotoExpo show, they have the pre-production version (I think), it is almost identical to the k-5 (may be lighter). The grip seems a little skinnier - the styling and color looks real good, the finish is just like new cars. I am glad that Pentax get over the "sagging shoulder" style that other cameras still carry even in their latest models. The blue and white ones look great; I probably would not go for the black one now at least not for this model.

frank · 05-30-2012, 08:36 PM

Originally posted by audiobomber

That's nice, but I'll only be interested if there's a quick and easy method for changing from hand strap to neck strap and back. Any idea on that?

Sorry I don't really know. Won't be able to see the grip until it's available on the market I guess...

frank · 05-31-2012, 07:37 AM - **1 Like**

Just posted some comparison photos between K-30 and a K-5 on our facebook:

The outlook of their sensors definitely look a bit different:

Pentaxor · 05-31-2012, 10:53 AM

I think the body complement the colors really well.

my personal choices would be: the silver/black, blue/black, red/black. the gray/black and pure black looks good as well due to the form.

philbaum · 05-31-2012, 11:08 AM

Originally posted by frank

Just posted some comparison photos between K-30 and a K-5 on our facebook:

Frank, thanks for the pictures.

Looking at the bodies from the front, it makes it clear that eliminating the upper shoulder LCD, cleared away enough space to move the exposure mode knob from the right side of the camera to the left, above the focus assist light.

I think it was a good decision. If one does evening long exposures, its fairly cheap to buy a smart shutter cable, like Yong Nuo for about $19, which will allow one to keep track of exposure times and do even more, like interval shooting.

Does anyone know if there is an access port for shutter cables, sure hope so

pete-tarmigan · 05-31-2012, 11:17 AM

Originally posted by Tony Growden

FPS does not matter to me, but just being able to hold the damn thing with my large hands is. With a grip on a camera it fits in my hand perfectly. Both KR and K5 too small without. Can only hold using 2 fingers which does not make for very easy grip and shoot.

Making the bodies smaller and smaller is a pain in the butt for large sized people.

Hear! Hear! Although I can get 3 fingers on the grip, I find it difficult to firmly grasp the K-5 (with one hand) without the battery grip when the camera has any lens larger than the 18-55mm mounted, even when shooting in horizontal mode. You'd be surprised to learn that the pinky finger and its neighbour provide the real gripping power in the human hand. The index and middle finger provide the fine motor skills. With the battery grip the whole rig feels much more securely in my grip to my big hands. End discrimination against big-handed people!

Seriously, though, making the camera very small allows you build an advanced camera with a battery grip that is almost the same size as the other manufacturers' advanced body without the grip.

eddie1960 · 05-31-2012, 11:32 AM

Originally posted by pete-tarmigan

Hear! Hear! Although I can get 3 fingers on the grip, even when shooting in horizontal mode I find it difficult to firmly grasp the K-5 (with one hand) without the battery grip when the camera has any lens larger than the 18-55mm mounted. With the battery grip the whole rig feels much more securely in my grip to my big hands. End discrimination against big-handed people!

Seriously, though, making the camera very small allows you build an advanced camera with a battery grip that is almost the same size as the other manufacturers' advanced body without the grip.

LOL, look at the market Pentax is ending the discrimination against small handed people, canikon and sony serve the large handed almost exclusivly in the slr realm

**monochrome** · 05-31-2012, 12:27 PM

Originally posted by philbaum

Looking at the bodies from the front, it makes it clear that eliminating the upper shoulder LCD, cleared away enough space to move the exposure mode knob from the right side of the camera to the left, above the focus assist light.

Compare the button positioning to the K-01 "chimney" and other button positions. There is some analogous externals; I've read many call this a dSLR with K-01 internals and K-5 additions. Maybe there's something to that.

frank · 05-31-2012, 04:08 PM

Originally posted by philbaum

Frank, thanks for the pictures.

Looking at the bodies from the front, it makes it clear that eliminating the upper shoulder LCD, cleared away enough space to move the exposure mode knob from the right side of the camera to the left, above the focus assist light.

I think it was a good decision. If one does evening long exposures, its fairly cheap to buy a smart shutter cable, like Yong Nuo for about $19, which will allow one to keep track of exposure times and do even more, like interval shooting.

Does anyone know if there is an access port for shutter cables, sure hope so

Yes, it has a port for cable release:

audiobomber · 05-31-2012, 06:08 PM

WHY DO THEY CHANGE THE LAYOUT OF THE 4-WAY CONTROLLER? That makes me crazy. You have Shutter at the top, ISO on the right etc, FOR SO MANY YEARS, now all the positions are changed. WTF????????????

Sandy Hancock · 05-31-2012, 08:24 PM

Originally posted by audiobomber

WHY DO THEY CHANGE THE LAYOUT OF THE 4-WAY CONTROLLER? That makes me crazy. You have Shutter at the top, ISO on the right etc, FOR SO MANY YEARS, now all the positions are changed. WTF????????????

It is the same as the K-01. Maybe they think it works better.
The K-5 doesn't have ISO controls there at all.

madbrain · 05-31-2012, 09:33 PM

Originally posted by audiobomber

WHY DO THEY CHANGE THE LAYOUT OF THE 4-WAY CONTROLLER? That makes me crazy. You have Shutter at the top, ISO on the right etc, FOR SO MANY YEARS, now all the positions are changed. WTF????????????

My former K200D didn't even have direct ISO control (except in Sv mode through the dial), so that is still an improvement.
Also, the 4-way controller on the K200D didn't have anything printed on the buttons themselves.

doozer · 05-31-2012, 11:49 PM

@Frank: Can you already say something about the Shutter Sound, especially compared to the K-r? From the videos I saw on the net it is definitely a lot louder than the K-5. In the dpreview boards during the Q&A the Pentax rep said it is somewhere between K-5 and K-r, but I'm not so sure whether it might actually be exactly the same as the K-r (which would be a real bummer for me).

cfraz · 06-01-2012, 06:15 AM

Originally posted by madbrain

My former K200D didn't even have direct ISO control (except in Sv mode through the dial), so that is still an improvement.
Also, the 4-way controller on the K200D didn't have anything printed on the buttons themselves.

That's odd. My K200D has ISO adjust on the 4-way controller - I hit the Fn button then the right arrow on 4-way to access.

Welfl · 06-01-2012, 07:47 AM

Originally posted by doozer

@Frank: Can you already say something about the Shutter Sound, especially compared to the K-r? From the videos I saw on the net it is definitely a lot louder than the K-5.

Have you seen the following very short video? I don't know if it is a fair way to judge the K-30's shutter sound or not since there is no lens on the camera (the subject of the video is actually "continuous shooting," not shutter sound). But you might take the lens off of your own camera and click the shutter several times in order to do as much of a comparison as possible.

05-31-2012, 11:17 AM	#81
pete-tarmigan Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Conception Bay South, New-fun-land Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,272	Originally posted by Tony Growden FPS does not matter to me, but just being able to hold the damn thing with my large hands is. With a grip on a camera it fits in my hand perfectly. Both KR and K5 too small without. Can only hold using 2 fingers which does not make for very easy grip and shoot. Making the bodies smaller and smaller is a pain in the butt for large sized people. Hear! Hear! Although I can get 3 fingers on the grip, I find it difficult to firmly grasp the K-5 (with one hand) without the battery grip when the camera has any lens larger than the 18-55mm mounted, even when shooting in horizontal mode. You'd be surprised to learn that the pinky finger and its neighbour provide the real gripping power in the human hand. The index and middle finger provide the fine motor skills. With the battery grip the whole rig feels much more securely in my grip to my big hands. End discrimination against big-handed people! Seriously, though, making the camera very small allows you build an advanced camera with a battery grip that is almost the same size as the other manufacturers' advanced body without the grip. Last edited by pete-tarmigan; 06-01-2012 at 07:22 AM. Reason: error

06-01-2012, 07:47 AM	#90
Welfl Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Nebraska Posts: 281	Originally posted by doozer @Frank: Can you already say something about the Shutter Sound, especially compared to the K-r? From the videos I saw on the net it is definitely a lot louder than the K-5. Have you seen the following very short video? I don't know if it is a fair way to judge the K-30's shutter sound or not since there is no lens on the camera (the subject of the video is actually "continuous shooting," not shutter sound). But you might take the lens off of your own camera and click the shutter several times in order to do as much of a comparison as possible. Vimeo

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05-30-2012, 07:01 AM	#76
aleonx3 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Brampton, Ontario Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,996	Originally posted by creampuff Looking forward to holding the K-30 tonight. I held one in my hand last week during the PhotoExpo show, they have the pre-production version (I think), it is almost identical to the k-5 (may be lighter). The grip seems a little skinnier - the styling and color looks real good, the finish is just like new cars. I am glad that Pentax get over the "sagging shoulder" style that other cameras still carry even in their latest models. The blue and white ones look great; I probably would not go for the black one now at least not for this model.

05-30-2012, 08:36 PM	#77
frank Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Singapore Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,202 Original Poster	Originally posted by audiobomber That's nice, but I'll only be interested if there's a quick and easy method for changing from hand strap to neck strap and back. Any idea on that? Sorry I don't really know. Won't be able to see the grip until it's available on the market I guess...

05-31-2012, 07:37 AM - 1 Like	#78
frank Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Singapore Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,202 Original Poster	Just posted some comparison photos between K-30 and a K-5 on our facebook: The outlook of their sensors definitely look a bit different:

05-31-2012, 10:53 AM	#79
Pentaxor Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,513	I think the body complement the colors really well. my personal choices would be: the silver/black, blue/black, red/black. the gray/black and pure black looks good as well due to the form.

05-31-2012, 11:08 AM	#80
philbaum Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Port Townsend, Washington State, USA Posts: 3,659	Originally posted by frank Just posted some comparison photos between K-30 and a K-5 on our facebook: Frank, thanks for the pictures. Looking at the bodies from the front, it makes it clear that eliminating the upper shoulder LCD, cleared away enough space to move the exposure mode knob from the right side of the camera to the left, above the focus assist light. I think it was a good decision. If one does evening long exposures, its fairly cheap to buy a smart shutter cable, like Yong Nuo for about $19, which will allow one to keep track of exposure times and do even more, like interval shooting. Does anyone know if there is an access port for shutter cables, sure hope so

05-31-2012, 11:32 AM	#82
eddie1960 Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,666	Originally posted by pete-tarmigan Hear! Hear! Although I can get 3 fingers on the grip, even when shooting in horizontal mode I find it difficult to firmly grasp the K-5 (with one hand) without the battery grip when the camera has any lens larger than the 18-55mm mounted. With the battery grip the whole rig feels much more securely in my grip to my big hands. End discrimination against big-handed people! Seriously, though, making the camera very small allows you build an advanced camera with a battery grip that is almost the same size as the other manufacturers' advanced body without the grip. LOL, look at the market Pentax is ending the discrimination against small handed people, canikon and sony serve the large handed almost exclusivly in the slr realm

05-31-2012, 12:27 PM	#83
monochrome Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Working From Home Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 26,276	Originally posted by philbaum Looking at the bodies from the front, it makes it clear that eliminating the upper shoulder LCD, cleared away enough space to move the exposure mode knob from the right side of the camera to the left, above the focus assist light. Compare the button positioning to the K-01 "chimney" and other button positions. There is some analogous externals; I've read many call this a dSLR with K-01 internals and K-5 additions. Maybe there's something to that.

05-31-2012, 04:08 PM	#84
frank Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Singapore Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,202 Original Poster	Originally posted by philbaum Frank, thanks for the pictures. Looking at the bodies from the front, it makes it clear that eliminating the upper shoulder LCD, cleared away enough space to move the exposure mode knob from the right side of the camera to the left, above the focus assist light. I think it was a good decision. If one does evening long exposures, its fairly cheap to buy a smart shutter cable, like Yong Nuo for about $19, which will allow one to keep track of exposure times and do even more, like interval shooting. Does anyone know if there is an access port for shutter cables, sure hope so Yes, it has a port for cable release:

05-31-2012, 06:08 PM	#85
audiobomber Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Sudbury, Ontario Photos: Albums Posts: 6,806	WHY DO THEY CHANGE THE LAYOUT OF THE 4-WAY CONTROLLER? That makes me crazy. You have Shutter at the top, ISO on the right etc, FOR SO MANY YEARS, now all the positions are changed. WTF????????????

05-31-2012, 08:24 PM	#86
Sandy Hancock Moderator Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Adelaide Hills, South Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,272	Originally posted by audiobomber WHY DO THEY CHANGE THE LAYOUT OF THE 4-WAY CONTROLLER? That makes me crazy. You have Shutter at the top, ISO on the right etc, FOR SO MANY YEARS, now all the positions are changed. WTF???????????? It is the same as the K-01. Maybe they think it works better. The K-5 doesn't have ISO controls there at all.

05-31-2012, 09:33 PM	#87
madbrain Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 1,341	Originally posted by audiobomber WHY DO THEY CHANGE THE LAYOUT OF THE 4-WAY CONTROLLER? That makes me crazy. You have Shutter at the top, ISO on the right etc, FOR SO MANY YEARS, now all the positions are changed. WTF???????????? My former K200D didn't even have direct ISO control (except in Sv mode through the dial), so that is still an improvement. Also, the 4-way controller on the K200D didn't have anything printed on the buttons themselves.

05-31-2012, 11:49 PM	#88
doozer Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 31	@Frank: Can you already say something about the Shutter Sound, especially compared to the K-r? From the videos I saw on the net it is definitely a lot louder than the K-5. In the dpreview boards during the Q&A the Pentax rep said it is somewhere between K-5 and K-r, but I'm not so sure whether it might actually be exactly the same as the K-r (which would be a real bummer for me).

06-01-2012, 06:15 AM	#89
cfraz Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Oregon, USA Posts: 521	Originally posted by madbrain My former K200D didn't even have direct ISO control (except in Sv mode through the dial), so that is still an improvement. Also, the 4-way controller on the K200D didn't have anything printed on the buttons themselves. That's odd. My K200D has ISO adjust on the 4-way controller - I hit the Fn button then the right arrow on 4-way to access.