Olympus has unveiled the XZ-1, a Zuiko lens-equipped compact aimed at ?camera-savvy amateurs and professional photographers looking for a second camera?.
Touted as a ?game-changer?, the £400 XZ-1 is due on sale at the end of January.
It features a ten-million-pixel CCD imaging sensor and borrows its TruePic V image-processing engine from Olympus?s Pen range ? to deliver ?supreme colour reproduction and less image noise?.
The XZ-1 sports a Zuiko Digital f/1.8 lens designed to produce the 35mm viewing angle equivalent of a 28-112mm zoom and macro shots as close as 1cm.
Manual control of variables such as aperture and shutter speed is possible using the lens focusing ring.
Commenting on the 1/1.63in-size sensor, an Olympus spokesman said: ?Unlike with regular compacts, users can reduce depth of field in their images to capture close subjects in sharp focus, while leaving the background blurred.?
Olympus claims the combination of large imaging sensor, fast image processor and bright lens delivers image quality in low light on a par with SLRs.
Other features include an equivalent ISO sensitivity of 6400, 1/4000sec shutter speed and a Samsung-made 3in AMOLED display (610,000-dot resolution).
An accessory port will allow the attachment of optional kit including external flash and stereo.
The XZ-1 features mechanical and digital image stabilisation, plus compensation for camera shake in movie mode. The latter, called the multi-motion function, works by cropping the sensor?s image area.
The camera was officially unveiled at the CES show in Las Vegas.
