Samsung to launch "Hybrid" camera system

A Micro Four Thirds rival

1 September 2008 9:00 GMT / By Verity Burns

Samsung has announced it is to launch a camera system that will be a cross between a DSLR and compact camera.

The range, to be called Samsung Hybrid cameras, is a very similar system to that announced just a few weeks ago by Olympus and Panasonic - the Micro Four Thirds.

The Samsung Hybrids will feature an APS-C sized sensor, smaller lenses than those of current DSLRs, which will also be interchangable, and a framing combination of electronic viewfinder and rear LCD screen.

Apparently, the first Hybrid model will feature the same 14 megapixel sensor that's used in the Samsung GX-20 DSLR, and indeed, the Hybrid range will run alongside the current GX DSLR series. It is currently pencilled in for a release in Spring 2010.

Samsung was quick to distance itself from the recent Micro Four Thirds announcement, stating that the company had been working on the Hybrid project for some time and pointing out the systems' differences.

"Although we want to make the new system affordable, we are concentrating on achieving professional quality with this system," said Samsung Techwin executive vice president Byung Woo Lee. "The most important point is that this is very successful in the market. A difference between Samsung’s system and Micro Four Thirds will be that Samsung will have a much bigger sensor."

Well, if anything, it rolls off the tongue better. More information as and when we get it.