Welcome to a Digital Camera Battery specialist of the Pentax Digital Camera Battery
This will be the first DSLR I’m actually reviewing on this site as most of the other cameras that have been featured here have either been point-and-shoots or mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras. I know some of you still prefer big, bulky DSLR cameras and most camera manufacturers still make entry level DSLRs that are very competitively priced with smaller mirrorless cameras so a DSLRs still have a certain appeal to them. On that note, most people pick up either Nikon D3200 or the new Canon T4i as those are probably the two most well known brands on the market, but what I have here is something much different and in my opinion, very special. Today I’ll be taking a look at the PENTAX K-30 with a full review in a couple of weeks. Like all my other hands-on previews, I’ll be concentrating on the way the PENTAX K-30 looks today and how it feels in my hands.
Let’s start off this review with the obvious. The PENTAX K-30 is very large, especially when compared with all the other cameras I’ve looked at this year. It’s about as large as a regular DSLR but has a more angular shape to it with less rounded corners. This is probably the biggest thing people notice about the K-30 and it might not appeal to everyone. In my case, I quite like it and even though it has a lot of sharp corners, it’s comfortable to hold in your hands.
Moving to the top of the K-30, you’ll find even more buttons and dials. From this view, you can see just how far out the hand grip protrudes which allows for most of the buttons to be placed in this general area. That means that while holding the camera, you’ll be able to reach everything with your shooting finger. Up top you get another adjustment dial above the shutter release button which is surrounded by the power switch. Below this you get the EV button to adjust exposure settings as well as the “green” button which honestly I have no idea what it does at this moment. To the left of all these buttons is the mode selection dial. There are a ton of different modes you can choose from on here and the dial itself has a really nice, solid click to it when turning. To the left of the mode dial is a rather large pop-up flash assembly as well as the hotshoe mount.
If we look at the underside of the camera now, you’ll notice that the tripod mount is placed directly at the center axis of the lens. This is usually the norm for more DSLR cameras. To the left of the tripod mount is the battery door. If you open it, you’ll notice that the rechargeable batter sits in a rather odd shaped hole. If you take the battery out, it becomes apparent that you can fit 4 AA batteries like Pentax D-LI90 Battery, Pentax D-LI8 Battery, Pentax D-Li85 Battery, Pentax Optio S5i Battery, Pentax D-LI95 Battery, Pentax Optio E85 Battery, Pentax D-LI92 Battery, Pentax D-LI109 Battery, Pentax D-LI7 Battery, Pentax Optio 750 Battery, Pentax Optio MX4 Battery in this hole. However, that will do you little good as you need a AA batter adapter which is sold separately in order for it to work.
It’s been a while since I’ve handled a proper DSLR. For the better half of this year, most of my photography has been done with mirrorless cameras and point-and-shoots. The closes in size to a DSLR I got was probably the PENTAX K-01, and even that camera, while massive, is still smaller than the PENTAX K-30. However, as large as the K-30 is, I can’t say that I’m not pleased with what I see here. The camera is comfortable to hold, easy to handle, and very well balanced. All the little buttons and dials are very easy to reach use without having to take your eyes off your subject. Fit and finish on the K-30 also seems really top notch with no weird gaps or creeks in the body.
I will also say that even though the PENTAX K-30 is a typical DSLR, its strange, angular body does draw looks from others and so does the fact that it’s a PENTAX. In a world where most people you see are using either Canon or Nikon cameras, having something different does make others curious about it.
Well, that’s it for now. Stay tuned for a full review after I’ve had more field time with the K-30.