[pinholecam]

Great shots. Superb illustrations.

Thank you for sharing.

I like your prime selection. Well done.

Beautiful photos, everything about them is pleasing to my eye.

Very nice write up.

A most excellent review showing what can be done by an expert photographer, great lenses, and a very good, relatively inexpensive camera body. I am super impressed!!!

An excellent review and series of images. Reinforces my choice of the K-30.

Regards

Excellent review, and thanks for sharing your experience of the k-30 which I am sure many owners enjoy. BTW, the photos are very nicely done.

Great review! Great pictures!

you have a knack for these reviews - thorough, personable, and well thought out. thanks! Nice photos too!

Thanks for the likes and encouragement guys.
I just hope the review is useful to someone out there who is considering a DSLR.
Hopefully one less person going over to the NEX-T camera

Hmm....this review made me realize that I utterly wasted the time I had when in Taiwan on business recently. Wow, those are some nice photos, kudos!

Thanks, perhaps on your next trip there then.
Weather there sure is temperamental (and thats from a guy who's from the tropics)

[memo90061]

Wow very nice read and very nice images. I really would like to try the Pentax K-30, and the only thing stopping me is video. :/

[IchabodCrane]

Wow very nice read and very nice images. I really would like to try the Pentax K-30, and the only thing stopping me is video. :/

What is it about the K-30 video that's turning you off?

[memo90061]

I do like that you're able to choose manual settings, but I'm not happy with the video quality settings I've seen. I downloaded the sample videos from dpreview, and I didn't like them. Are there any other sample videos from the K-30 online? I would like to see the original files.

[nutkasse]

nic pics !!! i have a question, r any of those pics photoshopped?? not to insult, they r really good

[RedMist]

Nice review and photos, many thanks for posting.

[pinholecam]

Nice review and photos, many thanks for posting.

Thanks.

nic pics !!! i have a question, r any of those pics photoshopped?? not to insult, they r really good

It a 'real world review', more of what the camera is capable of letting the photographer execute what he/she has in mind.
So they are post processed. (I did mention that I lifted shadows/highlights or took 3 exposures in the review)
Nothing over the top though as its all trying to get close to what I saw.

[paulh]

Very well done review - thanks for posting!

[Sinister]

Thanks for the review! Great shots, the K30 is a good tool in your hands

[pinholecam]

Focus Peaking



K30; M85/2; shot with the aid of LV focusing peaking


The K30 is perhaps at time of writing the only DSLR that has focus peaking from its OEM firmware.
Given Pentax's K-mount backward compatibility (thats over 30yrs of nice legacy lenses), its a nice feature when used with legacy manual focus (MF) lenses.

In use, I found it to be very handy, allowing me to find the area of peaked contrast fast.

Personally, I'm still a bit of an old shooter, so I prefer using a good focusing screen on the optical viewfinder (100% coverage on the K30 btw).
But I do think that I will use the peaking feature more in the future as I have not invested in a dedicated focusing screen on my K30.

Do note that as this is a DSLR, the shutter/mirror mechanism in live view (LV) needs to come down and up again upon shutter release, so there is a split second lag for this to happen.
So for moving subjects, its not ideal, for other stuff, its great.

[pinholecam]

16MP and image quality


Prints ranging from 4R, A4, A3


The K30 has a 16mp sensor, which I have found to be enough for most practical intents.
What I've found very good with Pentax's implementation of the 16mp sensor is that it has very fine grain and low in chroma noise without sacrificing detail.
This allows an image to be pushed in post process and/or printed with only luminescence noise to take care of or showing up as more acceptable grains w/o the more unacceptable chroma noise grains.


Those interested can always pop by DPreview or ImagingResource to make use of their comparison samples to check out the 100% crops.
DPR - Pentax K-30 Review: Digital Photography Review
IR - Imaging Resource "Comparometer" ™ Digital Camera Image Comparison Page

[pinholecam]

AF and DSLR response



I had spied the couple preparing for this shot when I was walking towards my children.
The camera was on MF and was 'OFF' since I had taken some landscapes and was calling it a day at that location.
Quickly switched the focus switch to 'AF-S' and turned on the camera and adjusted the aperture while still walking towards the couple.
Lifted the camera and grabbed the shot just as they jumped for their posed shot.
Perhaps I could have done the same with another camera, but the DSLR handling and response just felt reassuring.


Generally, my experience with K30 AF and response in most situations is that its pretty good.
With proper knowledge of where/when to focus, most low light or moving shots should not be a problem.
Of course its AF is not that of the highest end of DSLRs catered for action photography.
For the general user context, there nothing much to fuss over.
With the good array of buttons andtwo scroll wheels plus Quick Menu, handling was also very good in most cases.



Lower light street shots



Some general action with AF-C (auto focus continuous)



Backlit situations

[memo90061]

Nice pictures. I decided to give the Pentax K-5 II another try. It's supposed to arrive on Tuesday.

[Apple]

wow, that is terrific, love your photos too

thanks for your insight

[jeffw]

Well done , you are very talented ! I need to practice more .