Limit amount of pages shown in pagination within wp_query

Change your query code to this:

add_filter( 'post_limits', 'my_post_limits' );

// The Query
$wp_query = new WP_Query( $args );

remove_filter( 'post_limits', 'my_post_limits' );

In your theme/functions.php, add this:

function my_post_limits( $limit, $query ) {

    return 'LIMIT 0, 30';

}