TOKYO - Japan's Matsushita said it would launch the world's smallest digital single-lens reflex (SLR) camera, targeting female users who want a high-performance machine that does not weigh too much.

SLR cameras, high-end models with interchangeable lenses, are the fastest growing and most lucrative segment of the digital camera market. But some compact camera users are reluctant to move up to SLR models because they are bulkier and heavier.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd, which changes its name to Panasonic on October 1, offers the Lumix brand digital cameras.

Its new Lumix model, DMC-G1, is 27 per cent smaller than its existing DMC-L10 SLR camera, and weighs 385 grams -- slightly more than a regular can of beer.

The new machine will go on sale in Japan on October 31. Matsushita it expected a package of the camera body and a lens unit to sell for 90,000 yen ($1,206).

Overseas launches are scheduled for late October and early November.

Matsushita was the world's seventh-largest digital camera maker with a 7.1 percent share in 2007, according to data from research firm IDC. In the digital SLR camera market, which is dominated by Canon Inc and Nikon Corp, its share stood at 0.5 percent last year. -- Reuters