[JohnBee]

The price is set at: $279.95

At a glance:

• 16MP 'Bridge' Digital Camera
• 26x Megazoom Lens, 22.3-580mm Equivalent
• Large 3.0" Tiltable LCD Screen
• 260K Dot Electronic Viewfinder
• Full HD 1080p Widescreen Video
• Triple Shake Reduction Technology
• Super Macro Mode Focuses to 1 cm
• Auto Picture and Fast Face Detection
• HDMI Output for HDTV Screening

Press release:
Versatile 16 megapixel BSI CMOS point-and-shoot digital camera features a powerful 26X super-telephoto zoom lens as well as convenient tiltable LCD monitor

Denver, CO (August 22, 2012) – PENTAX RICOH IMAGING AMERICAS CORPORATION today announced the introduction of its PENTAX X-5 digital camera, an ideal choice for photographers who want to easily capture beautiful, high-quality images of a wide variety of subjects and scenes. Featuring a powerful high-magnification optical 26X super-telephoto zoom lens, the new PENTAX X-5 provides photographers with a focal length of 4mm-104mm (22.3mm ultra-wide angle to 580mm super telephoto 35mm equivalent). Coupled with the camera’s Macro mode, which allows photographers to capture dramatic close-up images of subjects as near to the lens as 0.4 inches, the X-5 delivers an extensive range of creative photographic possibilities.

“The new X-5 features classic PENTAX styling. It is the ideal compact travel companion for photo enthusiasts who want a digital camera with them wherever they go that’s capable of taking every type of image from gorgeous portraits, to scenic landscapes to extreme close-ups and more,” said John Carlson, Sr. Manager of Sales and Marketing, PENTAX.

And for effortless image composition and image playback, the PENTAX X-5 also features a large tiltable 3.0-inch, high-definition LCD screen that offers sharp image viewing, even in bright sunlight, while allowing users to shoot from high and low angles to keep the subject neatly framed in the image area. By combining a state-of-the-art image processing engine and back-illuminated CMOS image sensor with low-noise, even up to ISO 6400, and approximately 16.0 effective megapixels, the PENTAX X-5 provides users with very high-resolution images.

Additional features include:

State-of-the-art imaging engine, supported by Super Resolution technology
Supported by the latest Super Resolution technology, the X-5’s imaging engine offers outstanding image-processing performance to produce clear, high-quality images with well-defined details. In addition, the camera’s Handheld Night Scene shooting mode helps the photographer capture blur-free nighttime images by taking multiple images at once and blending them into a single composite picture.

Triple shake-reduction technology for sharp, blur-free images and video
The X-5’s triple Shake Reduction (SR) system couples the PENTAX-developed mechanical sensor-shift-type SR mechanism with a digital SR mode for stills or movie SR mode for video to more effectively compensate for camera shake. This hybrid system assures the photographer of sharp, blur-free images and video even under demanding, camera-shake-prone shooting conditions, such as when using a telephoto lens, shooting with incident light in poorly lit locations, or photographing sunset scenes.

Electronic viewfinder
The X-5 features an electronic viewfinder with diopter adjustment for a clear view of the subject even under bright sunshine. This comes in handy when shooting a subject in harsh backlight or when the photographer needs a more solid hold of the camera. Its diopter adjustment mechanism assures the user of the clearest view of both subject and viewfinder display, while minimizing eye fatigue during extended shooting sessions.

Full HD-standard movie recording for extended recording of high-quality movies
The X-5 features a Full HD movie recording function employing the h.264 recording format. The user can capture high quality, extended movie clips (1920 x 1080 pixels at a 16:9 aspect ratio) at a frame rate of 30 frames per second. The camera also offers creative movie playback features, such as High-speed Movie mode for slow-motion playback and Time-lapse Movie mode for fast-forward playback, and features a micro-HDMI terminal (Type D) for the output of recorded movies and sound to external devices.

User-friendly Auto Picture mode for hands-off selection of the best shooting mode
The X-5 features the PENTAX-original Auto Picture mode, which automatically assesses the subject’s conditions and selects the most appropriate shooting mode from 16 distinctive shooting options, including Landscape, Portrait, Candlelight and Pet. It even comes with an Auto Macro function, which automatically switches the focus mode to Macro when it detects the subject is close to the lens.

Quick-set mode dial for delay-free selection of a desired shooting mode
The X-5 lets the user quickly and effortlessly select the desired shooting mode — from a total of 10 modes including the hands-off Auto Picture, Scene, Program, Manual, Landscape, and Handheld Night Snap — with a single turn of the mode dial, without having to access the on-screen menu.

Additional features of the PENTAX X-5 include:
• Powered by easy-to-obtain AA batteries
• Remote control operation using a PENTAX optional remote controller
• High-speed burst shooting of up to 10 images per second, for a maximum of 30 images in a single sequence
• 12 digital filters including Miniature and Toy Camera to add creative touches to captured images
• A range of creative image processing tools including Stretch filter, Small Face filter and Collage function
• A choice of three aspect ratios (4:3, 16:9 and 1:1) to accommodate specific applications
• Image viewing, editing and filing software included: MediaImpression 3.5 for PENTAX (Windows version compatible with Windows 7) and MediaImpression 2.1 for PENTAX (Macintosh version compatible with Mac OS X 10.7)
• Compatibility with Eye-Fi wireless LAN SD memory cards

Pricing and Availability
The new PENTAX X-5 will be available at retail outlets nationwide and online in September 2012 with a suggested retail price of $279.95.

Source: http://pentaximaging.com/about/press/282/PENTAX_Introduces_New_X-5_Digital_Camera

[panoguy]

Finally, an articulated screen from Pentax!

But when will the "Limited Black Edition" come out?

[Clicker]

Release date expected just before my birthday yay

[JohnBee]

Finally, an articulated screen from Pentax!

But when will the "Limited Black Edition" come out?

All you need is the sticker to make it official


TBH. bridge cam is a market alot of competitors don't seem to care about. I suspect were seeing the first signs of the Pentax competitive line expanding following the Ricoh merger. To which I'd add, it will be interesting how far things will go(FF perhaps?).

Anyways, these camera's will make wonderful gifts especially for our children who aren't responsible enough to care of their own interchangeable system but want to look the part. I can see myself grabbing a few of these in the near future. - wonder if they'll come in colors?

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Last edited by JohnBee; 08-22-2012 at 07:45 PM.

[WillWeaverRVA]

I LIKE this. It's not a DSLR, but I can see this being quite useful. What size is its sensor? 1"? 1/2.3"?

[Adam]

Finally, an articulated screen from Pentax!

Not quite- it just tilts!

An overview of the camera has just been posted on the homepage:
Pentax X-5 Announced - Pentax Camera News & Rumors - PentaxForums.com

[JohnBee]

I LIKE this. It's not a DSLR, but I can see this being quite useful. What size is its sensor? 1"? 1/2.3"?

Someone at dpreview mentioned it was based on a 1/2.3" backlit CMOS sensor.

[Adam]

Someone at dpreview mentioned it was based on a 1/2.3" backlit CMOS sensor.

It's a point-and-shoot sensor, basically the same one as in the WG-2 (which is the same size as the one in the Q).

[pentaximus]

There are some things not to like--no hot shoe, no filter threads, smallish sensor. But that's one heck of a starting price for this feature set! As I said on the front page, this is almost perfect for my mom. Keep getting the Pentax name out there, Ricoh!

[glanglois]

Is that a step below the Q's sensor?

I'm thinking that Pentax should take a leaf out of Canon's book and offer a second, higher specified model, as well. More dots on the EVF, tilt-and-swivel LCD, raw (!!), full-res burst or faster continuous shooting, etc.

The X-5 specs are fine for USD $280 but I'd be willing to pay another $100-$200 for the above. I'm not sure it's practical to make a WR camera of this type (owing to the super-mega zoom) but that would be the killer.

So I'll probably take a look at the Panny FZ200 unless the photokina announcements drain my photography account.

[Alizarine]

Intro price at $280... I wonder how it fares after 6 months. $230~250 for a brand-new superzoom... seems cool.

Hopefully the lens can do manual focusing by hand... though I'm not expecting much.

[steve1307]

I think it looks cool.
Without checking the competition (because i'm not bothered) that seems like a pretty good price.

I remember dropping over 2-grand on a Nikon 5700 bridge camera.
Feels like only last week but it was 10 years ago.
It was great.

Ok it did have a bigger 2/3" sensor and a fully articulating LCD
however it was "only 5mp", crap at iso400 and the LCD was 1.5", manual focus was difficult & pointless

interesting for comparing technology advances

[ogl]

The price is rather low, thats why any criticism has no any sense. IMO.
EVF and articulated screen - maybe we can see such thing in higher cameras?

[DSims]

It's a point-and-shoot sensor, basically the same one as in the WG-2 (which is the same size as the one in the Q).

But is it the same one as in the Q? This would be a huge selling point. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to save RAW files.

[Boker]

Used s similar set up from 2004 until finally decided to go DSLR a couple years ago with a KX.Might still be using it if the iso quality was better above 200.This was about the time Pentax came out with their first DSLR and as they were new at it didn't trust them to be good but guess they turned out to be.Wish I had gone with the
ist as they were in the same price range as the Panasonic fz 15 I bought.Didn't know that the old lens from my Spotmatic and K series would work on them or I would have bought one.I paid almost twice as much for the 4 mp Panasonic as they are asking for the X-5.Don't expect it to be a big seller as all the manufactures have similar cameras on the market.