Design

The Optio 430 is only a little larger than Kyocera's tiny Finecam S4 and just 45 g heavier fully loaded. It's clothed in an all metal case, the only plastic parts are the LCD cover, buttons and compartment doors. The rather conventional design is easy to carry, pocketable and easy to understand. Just like the Finecam S3 the Optio 430's lens extends an inch from the body once the camera is powered up, I found the lens extension and zoom motor to be rather noisy (compared to others).

Just like the Optio 330 the 430 did have a tendancy to get quite warm during long sessions, the heat was predomenantly isolated to the front of the camera around and just below the 4.0 megapixel label.

In your hand the camera feels small but weighty, controls are pretty much where they should be although I would have preferred even the hint of a front grip to "hook" your finger onto. Finish levels are good but not excellent, it doesn't have that solid "brick like" feel that Canon's IXUS (S100 / S300 / S330) do.

LCD Monitor / Viewfinder

The Optio 430's 1.6" (an unusual size) LCD monitor is bright and fairly easy to see even outdoors, it's protected by a plastic window which should prevent it from damage if carried in a pocket, although there's no anti-reflective coating. The Optio's viewfinder is the fairly standard 'optical tunnel' type with no parallax correction lines (although there are AF bracket indicators), unusually for an ultra-compact the Optio's viewfinder has a dioptre adjustment.

Battery / Compact Flash Compartments

In the base of the Optio 430 you'll find the battery compartment. The tiny Lithium-Ion battery has a rated output of 3.7 V, 900 mAh (3.3 Wh), this sits it somewhere between the battery used in Sony's DSC-P5 and that used in Canon's PowerShot S40. The battery is charged out of the camera in the supplied charger. On the right side of the camera (from the back) is the small Compact Flash compartment door, it's made of plastic and doesn't hinge particularly well. Behind this we find a CF Type I slot, cards are inserted with the thumb lip at the back which does makes it easier to remove the card later.

Connections

On the left side of the camera (from the rear) behind a rubber door we find the DC-IN (for the optional AC adapter) and USB / Video out connectors. The concept of dual purpose connectors seems to be catching on, the Optio 430 is supplied with a Video and USB cable, both of which end in the same small connector and only one of which can be connected at one time.

In The Box / Accessories

Supplied in the box are:  • Pentax Optio 430 digital camera  • Shoulder / wrist strap  • D-LI2 Lithium-Ion battery  • D-BC2 battery charger  • 16 MB Compact Flash card  • Video cable  • USB cable  • User manual  • CD-ROM: USB driver, ACDSee

Pentax optional accessories:

• O-CC2 carrying case
• Infrared remote control
• K-AC2 AC adapter
• D-LI2 Lithium-Ion batteries