Pentax P30 (P3 in USA) in 3 minutes

[@mypinkfluffyunicorns]

Picked up this camera at a thrift store and was a bit confused how it worked. Thanks for this! Super informative video.

[@threeminutepro]

You’re very welcome 😄

[@pauline4350]

Just got my dads camera and this is super helpful thank you a lot!!!

[@threeminutepro]

Welcome 😀

[@plestj]

I have the P3 here in America. Easy to use camera with the recommended Pentax-A lenses. Can’t set the ISO yourself due to DX so you can’t shoot expired film which needs a +1 or +2 exposure compensation. But this isn’t a deal breaker as it’s a competent camera. Thanks for the quick review, as it helped me make the decision to buy one on eBay!

[@threeminutepro]

It’s a nice piece of kit. You have the manual exposure control, so you should be fine to make adjustments that way

[@PhotoWays]

Certainly a popular camera. My little video of the p30 has been the most popular I've produced. Keep up the good work.

[@threeminutepro]

Thank you 😀

[@57thStIncident]

For what it’s worth, the P3N and P30T do offer aperture priority autoexposure as does the less common and slightly up-market P5/P50. (Mostly similar but has 2 program lines and exposure compensation, and maybe the autowinder socket?)

[@threeminutepro]

Thanks for this. The consumer Pentax manual focus models had quite a strange combination of exposure modes, didn’t they?

[@57thStIncident]

@@threeminutepro If I remember correctly, the only Pentax model that featured shutter priority until the autofocus bodies appeared was the Super A/Super Program. And those models along with the LX were also the only to get TTL flash until the SF1. I guess this was an era when the extra electronics had an actual measurable cost in manufacturing and was also a differentiation that could be used for market segmentation, charging a range of prices for bodies that weren't all that different. You can really feel in these designs how adding one or two more buttons, or a backlight, etc. was a big deal while physical construction seems more solid than what was to come in later decades. The multiple program line thing also appeared on the autofocus SF1 though in that case they could also start to adjust program line by guessing at the photographer's intent by factoring in the focal length (even on zooms) because of the additional lens data provided to the camera body.

[@SipitTV]

Thanks for the video. I just got this camera and I think it looks great! I also came out the year I was born.

[@threeminutepro]

Really nice camera to use

[@noahmoreno9607]

I’m new to the camera community and I recently purchased this type of camera. The film wind lever to load the film is unable to rewind all the way back. Does anyone happen to know the solution to this?

[@threeminutepro]

Sounds like something a repair firm might need to fix

[@terrywbreedlove]

I bought a new P3 about 1992 maybe. I still have it :)

[@threeminutepro]

Great camera

[@jimmyjimmy9524]

I have p3 and i want to sale out

[@davindzakhwan4953]

How to use the film

[@threeminutepro]

It’ll work the same way as other cameras on this site

[@robynsloan1631]

What is this camera worrh?

[@threeminutepro]

Whatever people will pay for it. Check out ebay 😀

[@sanaayub1178]

I want to sell my p30

[@threeminutepro]

Shame, it’s a great camera. Ebay is best for selling it.