Olympus Stylus XZ-2

Olympus had a slew of new product announcements this week. One of the most interesting is the Olympus Stylus XZ-2, a high performance compact camera.

Here’s some information about the “game-changing, flagship high-performance point-and-shoot” that “combines optical brilliance, the manual controls of an SLR, and the unbeatable convenience of a lightweight compact in a body every imaging enthusiast should love.”

The $600 compact has a 12-megapixel sensor with ISO 12,800 sensitivity, 1080p video capture, a swiveling 3-inch touchscreen, and a 4x lens that zooms from 28-112mm with an f/1.8-2.5 aperture for “expressive background defocusing and sophisticated bokeh, plus the flexibility to use short, blur-free exposure times in low light.”

Also, the XZ-2’s hybrid control ring is built around the lens and switches between analog and digital operation: “digital operation provides a solid click on controls, whereas the analog operation offers a smooth, gliding feeling,” the company says.