The Pentax K-30 excited me.
Weather sealing, front and rear dials, light and compact, uses the same battery as my Pentax KR. I was eager to try it out once it hit the stores.
I patiently waited for CameraHaus Robinson’s Place Manila to have one on display. Everytime I went to the mall (it’s very near where I live), I come by the store and ask if it has already come.
Until that day finally arrived.
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At last I had the chance to see the K30 personally, feel its body, caress its curves… and here are some of my impressions:
The body design is not very appealing to me. It looks like a robot in desguise as a camera, waiting for the right time to transform and introduce itself to the new owner.
Aside from that, everything handles very well.
The deep grip is very comfortable and secure to hold. The dials and buttons are nicely placed and not very alien to me, a KR user. The menu screen is very user friendly (or am I just being to familiar with the Pentax menus?).
Focusing is zip zip fast. With the da18-135wr attached, it locks focus almost instantaneously. I didn’t measure how fast AF is in milliseconds, and I am not intending to.
Live view Focus peaking is also a nice touch, especially for using manual lenses.
Also, it uses screw drive afutofocus when SDM focus fails. I tested it on my non SDM da*50-135. Although its a bit sluggish almost like it’s confused as to which AF module to use… surprise surprise!
The Pentax K30 is living up to my expectations… so far.
I wanted to test the video mode. I work in the TV industry so this is important to me as I want to use my Pentax glass to shoot with. I tried the adapter for Canon EOS (my network uses mostly Canon DSLRs if it needs dslr video). I don’t like the ergonomics and the results.
That’s why I was happy to finally find out that the Pentax K30 has manual controls for video for all lenses! Hooray for Pentax! Now I can use my sharpest primes for video work! But wait, there’s more…
Here’s a sample video I shot with my SMC Pentax M 40 f2.8.
Can you see? The video is wobbling all over the place when I start to pan (camera movement from left to right).
Anyway, I still like the Pentax K30. But I’m not in a rush to buy it yet.
Pentax Hunter 
