Pentax P30 ....... ?

[Keith]

Some kind soul came into visit me today and gave me a P30 Pentax and a couple of lenses that had been given to him by a neighbour recently ... like I need another SLR! 😛

I know nothing about this camera and I'm not even sure if it still works ... the two lenses are pretty horrible, very dirty and one of them has fungus in it. The one thing that really struck me about the camera was how nice the viewfinder was ... big and bright, and this from an OM-1 owner! 😱

 

[ChrisN]

I had one once, or one of the variations. Mine had either manual exposure or an auto exposure mode that didn't allow me to set either shutter speed or aperture (P mode). From memory it also needed to read the film speed from the canister, so no good for my bulk-loads. It worked OK. http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/bodies/film_P/P3.html

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

Chris is right. I've never owned one but have handled one for a friend. There's no ISO over ride short of making up your own bar codes for the canisters. Wouldn't be my first choice for a Pentax SLR.

The reason I was looking at my friend's was because it accidentally when for a swim in a river when he was visiting Thailand some years earlier (fresh water). He knew I tinkered with cameras and gave it to me as a project.

Even though fresh water is nowhere near as detrimental to camera longevity as salt, after being thoroughly immersed and simply put into a soft case without any further attention for years, I honestly expected it to be completely stuffed. After cleaning the external optics, and the battery chamber, with a new battery fitted, it surprised me by coming back to life nearly as good as new. Admittedly the meter was still intermittent, but it was fine, when it worked, and everything else was, as far as I could tell, perfect (if I had been bothered to take the top cover off, I'm sure the meter would have been an easy fix, too).

Despite its limitations as a fully manual camera for the type of photography I tend to do, I was, (not for the first time) impressed with Pentax build quality. Having done so little to it to make it work, I felt obliged to return it to my friend, the original purchaser. He hasn't used it since, but I'm sure if he got it out, it would still be working fine. Whatever its limitations Keith, I'd not be surprised if yours still worked well and continued to do so for some time.
Cheers
Brett

 

[c.poulton]

I've got a P30t I picked up for small change and use it for occasions when I don't need to worry too much about my cameras, such as the more seedy parts of Barcelona (recent trip). Apart from it's ISO limitations, rather confusing lack of Shutter Priority mode (w/ KA- lenses) and no readout of aperture values when in Program mode, I rather like it. I use it either in Aperture Priority or fully Manual with it's traditional shutter speed dial, and it can also mount all K-mount lenses, and appears to be fairly tough.

 

[zuikologist]

the viewfinder is a real treat. I like the P50 even more because of the diagonal split image rangefinder.

One good plus point of the P30 is a robust plastic body that resists damage, and is small enough with a small lens to go into a pocket or bag without needing a case. It works well with the DA40mm in Program mode.

 

[charjohncarter]

I have a couple of P3n cameras which I believe are the similar if not the same. I love these cameras because: small size and light, auto and real manual settings (shutter knob and aperture ring), build quality is fairly tough, good viewfinder (plus slit image), manual film advance so batteries last for ever (I had one last twenty years). I've never had a bit of problems with the bodies.