Multifunctional controls to the left of the 1.8-inch LCD give you one-button access to quickly adjust settings such as exposure compensation and white balance.

And novices need not fear; turning the top command dial to Auto or to one of the preset scene modes eliminates the need for any further tweaking.

You can select the RAW recording format instead of shooting JPEGs, a rarity in compact cameras.

Included accessories

Though you can't add accessory lenses or use it with an external flash, the S30 comes loaded with most of the features you'd hope to find on a top-of-the-line consumer model, such as manual, aperture-priority, and shutter-priority exposure modes as well as flash compensation, sharpening, color adjustability, and a movie mode with sound. The S30 even supports the RAW file format, an unusual feature in a camera that costs less than $600 and a more flexible and efficient option than shooting uncompressed TIFFs.