Olympus' 2011 high-end compact (photos)

COLOGNE, Germany--At the Photokina trade show here Monday, Olympus announced a higher-end compact camera to be released in the first quarter of 2011. The camera is the first compact model to be equipped with a lens bearing Olympus' Zuiko lens brand that for decades has only appeared with its SLR cameras. Presumably Olympus is trying to telegraph that this is a premium product.

It's only a prototype, so don't read too much into it, but the amount the lens telescopes out indicates Olympus has a wide zoom range in mind.

With its lens withdrawn, the camera is more compact than Olympus' Pen line of Micro Four Thirds cameras. Like them, Olympus said, the compact camera will sport a flash hot-shoe. That would put it more in league with high-end compact cameras such as Canon's PowerShot G12 and Nikon's CoolPix P7000.

The back of the prototype features a wheel interface.

The design is compact. Building a wide zoom range into a small body typically means using a small sensor, though, which can hold back image quality and low-light performance. Olympus didn't share details on elements of the design.

A front view shows the Zuiko brand name.

An adjustment knob, zoom control, shutter release, and power button adorn the top of the camera prototype.