Pentax K-30 Review: Digital Photography Review

Menus

For the K-30 Pentax has slightly tweaked the menu system, compared to the K-5. Some options have been moved around a little and movie mode now has its own tab, but otherwise the basic structure remains the same. There are now 5 tabs: Record, Movie, Playback, Set-up and Custom Setting. Each tab (when selected) is further separated into numbered sub-tabs. The front control wheel allows you to navigate through major tabs, while the rear control wheel rotates through numbered tabs. For selections within each tab you use the rear multi controller.

The K-30 is packed with features and therefore the menus can at first sight appear a little intimidating. However, considering the number of options and parameters to choose from, the camera's menu structure is pretty straightforward and easy to work with once you've been shooting with the camera for a couple of days or so.

	The camera's menus are split into five sections; Record, Movie, Playback, Setup and Custom Functions. Each of which has its own a 'tab' at the top of the page. Like previous Pentax SLRs the menu is separated into multiple numbered pages within each tab. We found this made it quite easy to remember where we were and where options lived.

Record Menu


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Custom Image	• Bright • Natural • Portrait • Landscape • Vibrant • Radiant • Muted • Bleach Bypass • Reversal Film • Monochrome • Cross Processing	see below for complete Custom Image sub-menu
Digital Filter	• Off • Extract Color • Toy Camera • Retro • High Contrast • Shading • Invert Color • Color	Most filters offer adjustment of intensity and/or color and tones.
HDR Capture	• HDR Capture Off Auto HDR 1 HDR 2 HDR 3 • Auto Align On Off • Exposure Bracket Value 1 EV 2 EV 3 EV	Allows a three-frame High-Dynamic-Range image to be captures and combined. This function is only available when the camera is set to JPEG shooting.
Image Capture Settings	• File Format JPEG RAW RAW + JPEG • JPEG Recorded Pixels 16M 12M 8M 5M • JPEG Quality • Color Space sRGB AdobeRGB
AE Metering	• Multi-segment • Center-weighted • Spot

AF Settings	AF.A Off On Expanded Area AF Off On AF Active Area Auto 11 Auto 5 11 Spot AF Assist Light Off On
Lens correction	• Distortion correction Off On • Lat-Chromatic-Ab Adj. Off On
Multi-exposure	• Start shooting • Number of shots Off 2 - 9 times • Auto EV Adjust Off On	Combines up to 9 separate exposures to create a single image. Auto EV adjust corrects the exposure back to the brightness of a single exposure.
Interval shooting	• Off/On • Interval hh/mm/ss • Number of shots 2-99 • Start trigger Now Set Time hh/mm	Allows up to 99 shots to be fired at pre-chosen intervals starting either when you press the shutter button or at a pre-determined time.
D-Range Setting	• Highlight correction Off Auto On • Shadow correction Off/Low/Med/High/Auto

High-ISO NR	• Auto • Off • Low • Medium • High • Custom
Slow Shutter Speed NR	• Auto • On • Off
Composition Adjustment	• Start adjustment • Recall previous position Off On	Use four-way controller to adjust the composition
Electronic Level Disp.	• Yes/No
Automatic Horizon Correction	• Yes/No
Shake reduction	• On • Off
Input Focal Length	Choose a focal length between 8 and 800mm. Default setting is 35mm.	If you use an old lens that that does not report its focal lens to the camera you can set it here. This information is used to optimize the performance of the Shake Reduction.

Live View	• Contrast AF Face Detection Tracking Select Spot • AF Autozoom Yes/No • Focus Peaking Yes/No • Show Grid Off Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 • Info Overlay Yes/No • Histogram Yes/No • Bright/Dark Area Yes/No
Instant Review	• Display Time 1 sec 3 sec 5 sec Off • Save RAW Data Yes/No • Histogram Yes/No • Bright/Dark Area Yes/No • Enlarge Instant Review Yes/No
E-Dial Programming	Move mouse here to see screen	Defines the function of the front and rear dials in the different shooting modes
Button Customization	• RAW/FX Button One Push Raw Exposure Bracketing Optical Preview Digital Preview Composition Adjust AF Active Area • AF/AE-L Button Enable AF1 Enable AF2 Cancel AF AE Lock • AF/AE-L Button/movie mode Enable AF1 Enable AF2 Cancel AF AE Lock
Memory	• Flash Mode • Drive Mode • White Balance • Custom Image • Sensitivity • EV compensation • Flash Exposure Compensation • Digital Filter • HDR Capture • Shooting Info Display • Playback Display • File No.	Lets you select which settings to save when the camera is turned off.
GPS	ASTROTRACER • Action in B Mode Astrotracer bulb • Precise Calibration • Timed Exposure Yes/No • Exposure Time up to 5 minutes • GPS LED Indicators Yes/No • Calibration • Positioning Interval 1 min 3 min 5 min 10 min • GPS Time Sync Yes/No	Astrotracer traces the path of celestial bodies using the camera's built-in shake reduction to capture stars as individual points even when shooting with a long exposure setting.
Save USER Mode	• Save Settings User 1/2 • Rename User Mode User 1/2 • Check Saved Settings User 1/2 • Reset User Mode User 1/2	Saves current camera settings for instant recall via the USER position on the mode dial.

Movie Menu


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Exposure Setting	• P • Av • M
Movie Capture Settings	• Recorded Pixels Full HD HD VGA • Framerate 60fps 50fps 30fps 25fps 24fps • Quality level	Full HD = 1920x1080 HD = 1280x720 VGA = 640x480
Recording Sound Level	• 0-5
Movie SR	• Off • On	Shake Reduction in movie mode
Interval Movie	• Start shooting • Interval 3sec-1h • Recording time hh:mm:ss • Start interval Now Set Time hh/mm

Playback Menu


Option	Values / Actions	Notes
Slide show	• Start • Display Duration 3 sec 5 sec 10 sec 30 sec • Screen Effect Fade Wipe Stripe Off • Repeat Playback Off On
Quick Zoom	• Off • x2 • x4 • x8 • x16	Defines the initial magnification level jumped-to when playback mode is zoomed-in and whether bright and dark areas are highlighted.
Bright/Dark area	• Off • On
Auto Image Rotation	• Off • On
Delete All	• Delete All • Cancel