The Pentax X-5, announced in August 2012, is Pentax's last bridge camera — a 26x superzoom styled unmistakably like a shrunken K-5 DSLR, launched just before Ricoh refocused the brand on DSLRs and the Q system.
It combines a 16-megapixel 1/2.3-inch backlit CMOS sensor with a 26x zoom spanning 22.3-580mm equivalent — unusually wide at the short end — plus sensor-shift Shake Reduction, an electronic viewfinder, a 3-inch tilting 460k-dot LCD, 1080p video, and power from four AA batteries.
Its significance is as a well-specced oddity: the tilting screen, EVF, 22mm-equivalent wide end and AA power made it a genuinely practical travel superzoom, and its K-5 looks give it shelf appeal; as the only Pentax-badged bridge camera of the modern era it also attracts brand collectors, supporting its steady 15-listing UK presence.
UK used-buying checks: open the AA compartment and check for alkaline leakage and battery-door latch wear, the classic failure points; run the 26x zoom end to end for smoothness and test the tilting screen ribbon by working it through its range while live view runs; verify the EVF/LCD toggle switches cleanly; test Shake Reduction at 580mm equivalent; and confirm video records with sound — a full-function X-5 should sit comfortably under £100, so price anything with niggles accordingly.