Whenever we talk about digital single-lens reflex cameras, it's rather hard to imagine anything else than a large form factor, equipped with a solid grip and a telephoto lens. However, Korean company Samsung claims that its latest digital camera, the WB500, is actually capable of providing DSLR-level photos, at the same time having a very compact body.

And when they say compact, the Korean engineers really don't kid around, since the WB500 measures 10.5cm x 6.14cm x 3.65cm, while the overall weight is of only 219 grams, which actually makes it even lighter than a lot of compact cameras available on the market.

The WB500 has been equipped with a 24mm ultra-wide-angle lens (from Schneider) and delivers an optical zoom level of 10x. Furthermore, it offers some of the most popular image improvement options around, such as image stabilization, face detection, smile detection.

Besides being able to take high-quality photos, the WB500 can also shoot videos at 720p resolutions, using the H.264 video codec. When operating in video mode, the camera benefits from the same set image improvement features used in photo mode, such as shake correction and Continuous AF.

The WB500 will be available in two colors (black and silver) and will retail for around 288 US dollars, which is too low a price to even attempt a comparison with a digital single-lens reflex camera.

Quite frankly, I'm not exactly sure just why Samsung has decided to compare the WB500 to a DSLR, since it looks like nothing more than a well-equipped compact to me (indeed, the lens is very good for a compact, but that's about it). However, since the company's press release (in Korean) doesn't really provide sufficient technical info, I'll just wait for the official specs to appear before attempting to pass judgment.


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