Samsung has confirmed that the company is currently working on a new digital SLR. Speaking exclusively to WDC Editor Nigel Atherton at the company?s worldwide headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Mr Young-Bae Kim, Samsung?s Director of DSLR business, revealed that the new DSLR, the company?s third, would be quite different to its previous models.

“The GX-20 was not very different in appearance to the GX10,” he admitted, “but from the GX-20 to the next model will be a much bigger change.”

He would not reveal any specific features, specifications or even the name of the new camera except that it would be smaller in size than its predecessors, and would be launched in the second half of 2009. Asked whether it would follow the new trend of incorporating HD Video capture, Mr Kim said:

?It is certainly something we will think about, but there is lots of homework to be done to overcome some of the limitations of the feature in existing models.? Samsung already incorporates HD video into many of its compact cameras.

Like its previous two DSLR models, the new DSLR will be a joint development with Pentax and Mr Kim reiterated the company?s commitment to this partnership for the foreseeable future saying that, if anything, this relationship would ?expand?.

He did, however play down rumours that Samsung is developing a full-frame (35mm sized) sensor.
?I think we will be staying with the APS-C sensor for now, and developing it further. We believe that there is still much potential to improve the image quality from DSLRs using the existing APS-C sensor and it is very important to Samsung that we continue to do so.?

He admitted that there is still ?pixel competition? in the DSLR sector, with manufacturers striving to produce not only larger, full-frame sensors but higher pixel counts on smaller sensors, but he would not speculate on what he thought the maximum practicable pixel count might be for an APS-C sensor, or give any indication as to how many megapixels the new DSLR would have.

News of a forthcoming DSLR comes in the wake of the announcement that Samsung is working on a new ‘Hybrid’ camera system to rival Micro Four-Thirds, which will feature interchangeable lenses and an APS-C sensor, but an Electronic Viewfinder instead of a reflex mirror and prism (thus enabling a much smaller body). Mr Kim was not able to reveal any more details of this system, or whether its first Hybrid camera would look more like the DSLR-style Panasonic Lumix G1 or the rangefinder style Olympus prototype shown at Photokina. He said they would observe consumers’ response to these two products with interest.