Can someone tell me if there's anything wrong with a Pentax P30T for a beginner, and whether lenses etc are easy to find new or 2nd hand? Plus is AU$300 for the camera & 28-80 mm zoom a good price for one in excellent condition?

-- Jodie Hill (jmirandah@hotmail.com), November 11, 2001

Answers

I've never used a P30T, but I did a bit of checking. It seems that it has a full auto exposure mode along with aperture preferred and manual modes. Manual mode is usually what is recommended for a beginner since you will learn faster. I usually prefer to use aperture priority mode most of the time. So I guess this should be a decent camera for you.

Checking completed auction prices on Ebay, it seems that the P30T with 28-80 zoom should go for US$100-150. So it seems that AU$300 isn't a bad price, but not all that great either.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), November 12, 2001.

jodi....i bought the pentax P30t as my first slr camera too. its a very good camera capable of taking wonderful pictures...but that will be what you will learn to do. The camera has auto exposure settings as well as aperature priority and shutter priority or full manual. No auto focus. Its a great camera that gives you total control of the picture. I have taken some great pictures with it, but never really had the time to see all that it could do. Best of luck, Joe

-- joseph francisco (francisco_joseph@hotmail.com), December 31, 2001.

Hi there. I bought my first SLR Camera 6 years ago and its a Pentax P30t. I bought it used, but it has served me for many years and it works perfectly. It has Auto Exposure mode when used on A(dial) and lenses with an A-setting on them. The camera chooses aperture and shutter speed automatically, focus is all manual. Camera also has aperture priority ( you choose f-stop, camera chooses shutter speed), shutter priority ( you choose shutter, camera chooses aperture ), and full manual mode, you choose both f-stop and shutter speed. Camera has 12- sec self timer, memory (exposure) lock, socket for cable release, hot- shoe for dedicated or manual flash, depth of field preview button, DX- coding pins for automatic film speed setting ( no manual setting though). Manual shutter speeds from 1 sec to 1/1000 sec and bulb mode. Thats about it.... Its a great beginner camera..... Enjoy, I am still using mine.....

-- Pieter Roelofse (tomcatz2@hotmail.com), May 07, 2002.