SIGMA SD-1 Flagship

[lightsabre]

Then still have to throw in the noise performance into the can of worms to mix buddy.

Definitely. In the real world, nosie, lens performance and other factors will impact the actual resolving power of the sensor.

Also, Foveon depends on light to penetrate deep into the silicon so in a way, the three channels are not detected uniformly like in a Bayer sensor. I suspect this could be the cause of chroma noise being a problem due to the variation in the channel strength.

Since Red channel goes the deepest, I also suspect this is why sometimes Foveon produces a green tinge on flesh tone when the lighting is not ideal. This can be corrected in the firmware ofcourse.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ab/Absorption-X3.png

It is not perfect but I really admire the Foveon X3 technology

 

[playlens]

I am excited about the sd1 especially the new sensor. With the kind of sales of all the sd dslr and dp1 & 2, I thought that it will be the end of foveon sensor. Hope to see more camera maker use this new sensor soon! By the way, I own a dp2 and love the picture quality even though it is a 4.7mp camera. I also have a d700 and a m8.

 

[lightsabre]

BTW, there is a new article talking about the effective resolution of the SD-1 sensor on DPReview.

They've taken into consideration horizontal resolution while I only looked at X-Y axis.

Anyway, they conclusion is very similar. They also concluded that the 15mpx Foveon sensor is roughly equivalent to a 30mpx Bayer sensor.

http://dpreview.com/news/1010/10100504Sigmainterview.asp

 

[DeepOne]

When you convert the present Foveon raw into a tiff or jpeg of the same image size, the image pixels are that of a single layer, it is not too difficult to understand since a pixel site contains 3 pixels stacked one on top on each other to capture RGB for that single pixel on an image. This technology make sense to me. My take is, it will be even more interesting when they come up with a full frame sensor of the same density, where each layer yields more than 33mpx ..... a whole new ball game.

In the meantime, it would be nice of them to release say a DP3 with an SD1 sensor .....

 

[alantkh]

Definitely. In the real world, nosie, lens performance and other factors will impact the actual resolving power of the sensor.

Also, Foveon depends on light to penetrate deep into the silicon so in a way, the three channels are not detected uniformly like in a Bayer sensor. I suspect this could be the cause of chroma noise being a problem due to the variation in the channel strength.

Since Red channel goes the deepest, I also suspect this is why sometimes Foveon produces a green tinge on flesh tone when the lighting is not ideal. This can be corrected in the firmware ofcourse.

err... Sigma NEVER managed to correct the cyan cast... I still see pics with the distinctive cyan cast in a lot of fovean pics. Actually the stupid color cast bugged me far more than the poor high ISO performance of SD14.

 

[DeepOne]

I am excited about the sd1 especially the new sensor. With the kind of sales of all the sd dslr and dp1 & 2, I thought that it will be the end of foveon sensor. Hope to see more camera maker use this new sensor soon! By the way, I own a dp2 and love the picture quality even though it is a 4.7mp camera. I also have a d700 and a m8.

don't think the sales figures of the foveon will affect Sigma much, after all they own the technology, so there is no hurry, let nikon and canon sought out the pixel war and in the process lower the fab costs .... :bsmilie:

 

[oracle0711]

I have been procrastinate any decisions to invest in a Sigma camera for a long long time. One one hand, the future of the firms ability to produce and survive is something that I am not able to be confident about and on the other hand, image quality rendered out of high ISO has been more disappointing than other brands like Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, etc, etc.

However, ever since i started to shoot more stuff in controlled environment and more importantly black and white, I think the SD1 is starting to look more and more ideal. I love large prints and thus the large megapixel count. Secondly, the dynamic range so far has been impressive and that gives a stronger impact to a picture of black and white nature. Thirdly, this gives room to be creative in playing around with lighting to bring out a stronger 3-dimensional impression on the stuff I am trying to do.

Looks like it is about time to grab a copy of SD1 the moment it arrives on our shore.

 

[DeepOne]

I am looking forward to their SD1 which I see it showing up early next year, digital cameras are consumer electronics to me and I believe Sigma timed the market, I never felt more excited when I shoot with the DP1, DP2 than with the D700 even with the Zeiss lens.

 

[alantkh]

sigma just released the pricing for the SD1....

 

[flowerpot]

The pricing is rather shocking... 9K for a APC using sigma lens... i dunno who in the world would buy that... no disrespect to sigma lenses... i think they do made some wonderful lenses, but if im that rich... im not gonna spend so much just to use sigma lens...

 

[Cowseye]

Must had been the unique sensor

 

[ManWearPants]

The price is disappointing. I wonder what is Sigma thinking to be setting that price point. They are definitely not trying to penetrate the market. Seems like targeting a niche market much like Leica...but can Sigma do it?

 

[rhino123]

Other than the sensor... all or most other spec of the camera seemed to be lacking. for example... the LCD only had 460000 dots, the speed of the camera is a mere 6fps (quite normal at this time), no movie mode, no LCD control panel (?), 11 points AF (I think). I cannot imagine fishing out US$9700 for this camera... with this money, I can get pro level camera like the D3s, 1DMKIV, etc.

Unless the Sigma's sensor could really dish out incredible pics (that is comparable to medium frame camera) I don't think it would be too big a hit in the market.

 

[Fishmaster]

For an amateur hobbyist who has been shooting on the Sigma SD14 for years, I cannot justify that price and see no upgrade path to my dying old-horse SD14. My only hope is that my Sigma SA-mount lenses will worth at least some money when I am forced to switch systems after my SD14 dies.

 

[ManWearPants]

For an amateur hobbyist who has been shooting on the Sigma SD14 for years, I cannot justify that price and see no upgrade path to my dying old-horse SD14. My only hope is that my Sigma SA-mount lenses will worth at least some money when I am forced to switch systems after my SD14 dies.

I am very upset with Sigma. I have been hoping the SD1 is in the US2k region. OK, time to forget about foveon , time to forget about Sigma. They have just killed themselves.

 

[ShaneKua]

I am very upset with Sigma. I have been hoping the SD1 is in the US2k region. OK, time to forget about foveon , time to forget about Sigma. They have just killed themselves.

You can still buy their awesome primes for other camera mounts

All’s not lost

 

[zixaw]

I have no idea where Amateur Photographer got the price of USD9700 for the body from. If you head over to the Sigma website, http://www.sigmaphoto.com/shop/sd1-kits , the Sigma SD1 kits are listed with the following prices (I am assuming in USD):

1. SD1 + 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM Kit Price: $7,819.00 MSRP
2. SD1 + 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM Kit Price: $7,529.00 MSRP
3. SD1 + 24-70mm F2.8 EX DG HSM & 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG HSM Kit Price: $8,649.00 MSRP
4. SD1 + 30mm F1.4 EX DG HSM Kit Price: $7,359.00 MSRP

No where close to what is being reported and I am sure the price will even be lower at retail. Not cheap but still not as expensive as reported.

 

[Cowseye]

Could had been a misprint on the first digit? Could be a 6 instead of a 9?

 

[Trishula]

It is too overpriced for that body.

However, their lenses were very impressive enough for me to throw away my Ls.

 

[ManWearPants]

It is too overpriced for that body.

However, their lenses were very impressive enough for me to throw away my Ls.

Where did you throw?