Pentax Optio E30

While its appearance is rather bland, this solid digicam offers simple controls and takes relatively good photos. The Optio E30 packs 7.1-MP resolution, a 3X optical zoom, a 2.4-inch display, 15 scene modes (with large, colorful icons and clear explanations to make choosing the right preset easy), and a Green Mode that resets the camera to its default settings. While most beginners will shy away from tweaking the white balance, ISO, and focusing area, it's nice to know that the controls are included. Colors looked fairly accurate on our tests. A photo of a coworker was well saturated with warm tones and a crisp focus. Noise wasn't overly apparent on our test shots, even when we raised the ISO to its max setting of 400. The Optio E30 also shoots 28-fps VGA video with sound, but as with the other models tested, don't expect to capture footage worth watching on the big screen. Check out our photo-quality comparison gallery to see how this camera’s images compare to other affordable cameras.

 

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