Pentax K-30 Pro Reviews

If you can get past the lack of an HDMI-out and mediocre video, the K-30 is an okay DSLR, especially for someone with a collection of Pentax lenses. But to be honest, this camera is in no-man’s land. It doesn’t have all the features of an enthusiast DSLR and is too expensive for an entry-level buyer. You really can do better for $750 – especially with the many quality and cheaper compact system cameras available and intriguing DSLRs like the new 18MP Canon SL1 ($799 with kit lens).

With a feature set commensurate with its designation by Pentax as a mid-level DSLR, the K-30 is nevertheless the current entry-level model in the Pentax line. It's a short line to be sure, consisting of the K-30 and the K-5II/s. The K-5 is still available, but its price slots it between the K-30 and its newer sibling. Like it or not, the K-30 is your weapon of choice if an entry-level Pentax DSLR is on your shopping list. I'm betting you'll like it: Weather-resistant construction, DSLR image quality and ISO performance with a 6 fps continuous shooting rate and a buffer capacity for JPEG images to take advantage of this capability. Manual and automatic/scene exposure modes and a full HD video capability, a boatload of scene and automatic modes if you tired of shooting manually and more camera settings and adjustments than you can shake a stick at if you want to get really involved -- what's not to like?

If you are predominantly a stills shooter it is very hard to not recommend the Pentax K-30. It handles well, comes with an intuitive and thought-out user interface, has an excellent feature set for its price point, including weather-sealing and a fast 6 fps continuous shooting mode, and offers excellent image quality across the ISO range which can be further improved by shooting and processing Raw files. As you can see most of the bullet points in the 'Cons' list at the top of this page are related to the K-30's video mode and if you are planning to regularly use the K-30 for capturing video the story is a slightly different one. While it records smooth and detailed 1080p video footage with no dedicated movie button, no external microphone socket and no HDMI output the K-30 is not the obvious choice for any photographers who are thinking about venturing into more serious videography. Competitors such as Canon with the EOS 650D/Rebel T4i or Sony with the SLT-A65 offer more compelling products for this type of user. For anyone else the Pentax K-30 is a very easy recommendation. It's at the top of its class in terms of feature set and high ISO performance, with Raw files that offer more processing flexibility than any other camera in its class. You'll have to decide for yourself if the K-30 is good enough to make you switch from another system but for existing Pentax shooters or new DSLR users focus on stills photography the Pentax K-30 is an excellent choice and easily earns itself our sliver award.

An extremely capable all-rounder, and aggressively priced to boot

The Pentax K-30 is a great alternative to similar offerings from the likes of Nikon, Canon and Sony, proving that Pentax can continue to deliver the goods in their core business, despite recent misfires in the world of compact system cameras. If you're looking for an intuitive, fast DSLR that delivers great pictures, then the Pentax K-30 certainly fits the bill.

The Pentax K-30 shows off what a DSLR can do without blowing the budget. But that doesn’t mean this DSLR scrimps on its features. Far from it, it blows most of the competition out of the water. Not that most of its peers can survive a blast of the wet stuff. The weather-sealed body is a great feature to have, and something that would usually only be found in a pricier camera, but that doesn't detract from the K-30’s ability to produce great images too. Add a 100 per cent optical viewfinder, 6fps burst mode matched with a decent buffer and capable continuous autofocus and there’s not much missing. Of all features it’s the autofocus system that’s the only slight letdown. It’s good, but it’s not as fast, particularly in dim light, compared to some of the (slightly pricier) competition. If that one thing was improved it’s hard to see how this wouldn’t be a 10/10 star product. It’s great stuff.

The K-30 is basically the Pentax K-01 in a larger, more rugged body. (I also think it's much better looking, but that's up to you.) It has the same positives — fast performance, solid manual control, excellent image quality — but also the same negatives, like weak autofocus, unimpressive video performance, and some clumsy design decisions. I'd recommend the K-30 over the K-01 any day: it's a far more ergonomic camera, and the addition of an optical viewfinder makes it far more useful for still photography. The competition is fierce, though. For about the same $899.99 you'll spend on the K-30, you could buy a Canon Rebel T4i, with its vastly improved focusing system, articulating display, and support for Canon's wide range of lenses. You could also buy a Nikon D5100, another stellar entry-level DSLR, for even less. There's a definite appeal to the ruggedization, and there's nothing about the K-30 that would make me tell you to stay away from buying it, but unless you plan to get caught in the rain a lot there are better ways to spend your $900.

Where the K30 really excels is in its build and handling. The rugged design is backed up by a multitude of weather seals to keep it protected. Offering such a high-end feature within a mid-price model is very commendable. We adore the feel of the K30 in the hand too. It feels solid and should survive a knock here and there. 

Add to this the 6fps burst rate and K30 is a very well equipped DSLR. It does stand out in the mid-range market and though it's currently expensive we expect its price to fall over coming months. For anyone looking to advance from a compact, the K30 makes a sensible choice. Best of all it will produce great images and give you all the DSLR control you need to progress your ability to the next level.

The fact that the body is weather-proofed is a huge bonus as one of the main reasons why cameras area sent for repair is water damage. Of course to get the full benefit of the K-30's weatherproofing it needs to be matched with one of Pentax's WR (Weather Resistant) lenses. Given the 'outdoors' credentials of the K-30 the smc DA 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR is a better pairing than the 18-55mm lens, giving greater flexibility, reducing the need to change lens in hostile environments and offering much better autofocus performance. If you're buying a kit rather than the camera body only, we'd recommend the 18-135mm version, but at £250 ($300) more that means a serious hike in the price. While the self-levelling sensor is a great idea (and one we have seen before in Pentax SLRs), it really needs to work beyond 1degree to be useful. As it stands it's better to use the electronic level in most situations. The digital filters are lots of fun, but when you want to get serious about image quality the results from the raw files taken at ISO 100 and 200 are hard to beat.

The Pentax K-30 is weather sealed D-SLR with a large pentaprism viewfinder. It shoots at 5.2 frames per second, does well in low light, and ships with a sharp kit lens.

One of the main areas where the Pentax K-30 offers a significant advantage over the company's flagship model is in its video capture capabilities. The wide selection of frame rates contrasts with the K-5, which had a fixed rate of 25 fps for Full HD, and a choice of 25 or 30 fps at lower resolutions. The K-30 provides a selection of 24, 25, or 30 fps at Full HD and VGA resolutions, and adds 50 or 60 fps modes for 720p, although it isn't clear whether this is from matching sensor data rates. Movies are also recorded in .MOV containers using H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC compression, rather than the inefficient (but high-quality) Motion JPEG of the K-5. There's also an audio gain control. All that's really missing versus the flagship camera is an external microphone jack.