First off, it sounds like you are off to a very good start, and have figured out a bunch of stuff on your own. You've also received some excellent advice from the other posters.
Here's my two cents:
Originally posted by UserAccessDenied I just received my K-30 from a member here!
I'm reading all sorts of threads regarding to "Only shoot RAW!", and "AUTO Mode will DOOM YOU!"...
I've got the K30 myself. Under most conditions, I've found that it produces really good JPGs right out of the camera. I've tried hard with multiple converters to produce "better" results, and often, I prefer the result I get from making a minor adjustment to the JPG over what I get from laborious adjustments on the various converters.
But when you have a 'problem' photo, there's only so much you can do with the JPG. If you shoot only JPG, you will probably end up with a certain percentage of shots that cannot be 'saved'. If you shoot RAW only, then you have maximum flexibility. Years after the fact, you can pull up one of your old photos and develop it in a whole different way to get a different result. But it can be a pain to have to fire up a RAW converter if you just want a quick JPG version of your image. In a pinch, you might be able to use the low res JPG that's embedded in your DNG file ( some browsers like FastStone allow you to look at and save this JPG ).
As you've discovered, RAW+ is a good compromise. You have a ready made JPG available that in many circumstances will be perfectly acceptable, and you have the RAW file available if you need to fix something, or if you just want to play around and see if you can get better results than the camera did. The down side is that it does fill up your memory cards and hard drives.
There may be occasions where you know in advance that you only want JPGs, or you only want RAW, and you can reduce your storage requirements by switching modes. Or maybe someday you'll get proficient at RAW conversion and decide to not bother with JPGs at all.
Most of the time, you will probably want to shoot RAW or RAW+ because you never know when that once in a lifetime opportunity is going to come up. If you didn't save the RAW file, and you decide that you wish you had, there's no going back.
Originally posted by UserAccessDenied so I'm guessing there is no reason to have the RAW/fx button to do anything for formatting since I'm already there?
Like you, I make my file format selection before I shoot, so I have my RAW/fx button configured for Optical DOF preview. Since I do a lot of closeup/macro shooting, this should be something I use a lot, but I find that reaching around to find the RAW/fx
button is awkward. Half the time I end up popping up the flash. I used to use DOF preview a lot more when I used a K200D, where DOF preview is a third position on the on/off switch.
Originally posted by UserAccessDenied Also, what's a good mode to shoot if not in AUTO?
I've been shooting in TAv, just trying to get a feel for things with green button set to Pline...
I use TAv a lot - it's very handy for the kind of shooting I do most of the time. Manual is useful for learning what each setting will do for you. When I shot film I used manual mode exclusively, so I never really got the hang of P mode. I use Av mode from time to time, but once I have to start messing with Exposure compensation, I figure if I have to second guess the meter reading, I may as well just shoot manual. I'm weird that way.
AUTO mode can be handy - let's say you're absorbed in a certain shooting situation and you have your camera configured for it. Suddenly you need to shoot something else - NOW - and you don't have time to dive into the menus. It's easy to get flustered as you juggle lenses and hit buttons and flip switches to try to get your camera back to your "normal" configuration. Just switch to AUTO and get _a_ shot. Then take a deep breath, and if the opportunity is still there, take the shot again by setting up your camera "properly". Another option is to set up your preferred "normal" configuration as one of the USER modes. That way, if you need to get back to "normal" quickly, you just flip to the appropriate USER mode and you're good to go.
Let's say you've got a tricky shooting condition and you can't seem to get your exposure right ( snow scene, night scene, whatever ). Try one of the scene modes and if the camera gives you the results you want, LOOK at the settings the camera chose and compare them to what you were using. Figure out why the camera settings worked and your settings didn't. Then riff on the camera settings. Now you know how to handle those shooting conditions and you won't have to use that scene mode ever again.
AUTO modes don't have to be a crutch.