Lisa Cekan

Pentax Optio 430

Pentax's Optio 430 has dials and buttons all over its case, including a combination dial/shutter-release button on the top of the camera, a zoom toggle, a menu button, four-way navigation arrows, and three buttons on the back that perform a total of ten different functions, depending on the number of times you push them and whether you're previewing or shooting an image. Controls are well marked with words and icons and are fairly intuitive and easy to use.In addition to the features you'd expect on a $700 camera, such as aperture- and shutter-priority, continuous shooting, and auto exposure lock, Pentax adds a few extras, such as a diopter adjustment lever over the optical viewfinder that corrects for mild near- or far-sightedness. One of the Optio 430's five program modes lets you overlap images to create a double or multiple image. You first snap a photo in standard mode, then set the camera to multiple-image mode. The camera transparently displays the photo you've taken in the LCD viewfinder so you can see how your next shot will appear over it. You can then frame the camera to take the overlapping image and snap the next shot. And you don't have to stop there; after you've created the double image, the camera will prompt you to lay another and another image over it.You can record movies up to 30 seconds long; the one we shot moved smoothly and looked bright and clear, whether we filmed in dark or light conditions.
The Optio 430 is identical in size, weight, design, and controls to its 3.34-megapixel sibling, the Optio 330, which costs $200 less. The main reason for the Optio 430's higher price seems to be its higher pixel count. In our tests, however, the Optio 430 scored only marginally better than the Optio 330 in image quality--not as good as we expected from a 4-megapixel camera. The reds and blues in our mannequin's scarves reproduced faithfully, as did her skin tone in the non-flash shot, but she looked washed out in the photo taken with a flash. The blue sky in our outdoor photo was clear and rich, but the buildings were too dark. Our still life didn't catch many of the details, and the text in our cropped shot was fuzzy and hard to read, though the narrow lines didn't introduce the extraneous colors that many cameras do.The rechargeable battery ran out quickly, lasting a total of 169 shots before running out. That's well below the average of 269 for above-$500 cameras and 15 shots less than the Optio 330. Pentax does include a battery recharger, however, and it's quick to recharge.
The 3X optical zoom moves smoothly in both normal and macro modes and indicates on the viewfinder when you are zooming in normal mode or in macro mode. Close-up shots in macro mode looked well-focused and detailed. When previewing shots, you can zoom digitally another 2X.ACDSee 3.1 software comes with the Optio 430; it allows you to organize, manage, and share your photos using a browser interface, but provides no image-editing functions.The camera's small manual lacks an index, but its table of contents is fairly extensive, and an appendix covers error messages and troubleshooting.
The Optio 430 is small enough to take anywhere and easy to use, but its image quality could be better.

Buying Information

Pentax Optio 430 4.13 megapixels, 2240 by 1680 maximum resolution, 37.5mm-112.5mm focal range (35mm equivalent), f2.6 to f7 aperture range, shutter speeds from 2 seconds to 1/2000 second, optical and LCD viewfinders, USB and video connections, 16MB CompactFlash media, one rechargeable lithium ion battery, 8.4 ounces with battery; ACDSee software. One-year parts and labor warranty, toll-call support for 8.5 hours on weekdays. $ 699 4.13 megapixels, 2240 by 1680 maximum resolution, 37.5mm-112.5mm focal range (35mm equivalent), f2.6 to f7 aperture range, shutter speeds from 2 seconds to 1/2000 second, optical and LCD viewfinders, USB and video connections, 16MB CompactFlash media, one rechargeable lithium ion battery, 8.4 ounces with battery; ACDSee software. One-year parts and labor warranty, toll-call support for 8.5 hours on weekdays. http://www.pentax.com 800/877-0155