The custom quick set menu and the metallic command dial are incorporated to improve usability.

ENGADGET: Sigma DP3 Merrill packs a Foveon X3 sensor and a fixed F2.8, 75mm-equivalent lens

Around back, just to the right of the LCD, is a thumb rest and adjacent video record button, followed by Canon's standard lineup of menu, playback, info and dial controls.

ENGADGET: Canon EOS M review: was Canon's first mirrorless ILC worth the four-year wait?

The diaphragm, shutter speed and menu can be changed quickly using the command dial.

ENGADGET: Sigma DP3 Merrill packs a Foveon X3 sensor and a fixed F2.8, 75mm-equivalent lens

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.

ENGADGET: Pentax intros X-5 superzoom camera with 26x lens, tiltable LCD

Dial the 800 number, work through a dizzying array of menu choices, choose to speak with a human being and wait on hold listening to music for 20 minutes to two hours (it happened to me once) and you might reach a person who can (in only 70% of my cases) provide definitive, final help.

FORBES: Time Wasters, Time Savers