SIGMA SD-1 Flagship

[nik34]

Thats a big price drop.

But understand from other web , Sigma SD camera is better to shoot in RAW, not
really for Jpeg shooter, is that true ?

 

[tomcat]

Also better for low ISO shots. Some of the latest P&S might run rings around it when high ISOs are concerned.

 

[Tachyon]

$3320
i got from cathay but they dont have demo set so call up audio & photo distributor to test demo set before purchase

Hi Mr Khaw,

Could you share with us your first impressions on the picture quality and also some pictures?

Thank you!

 

[weswesley]

Any feedback on this S1M? Thanks!

 

[sfoto100]

Sigma SD1 / SD1 Merrill In-depth Review: Digital Photography Review

 

[pushypin]

Just got myself a SD1 Merrill,here's some pict to share...

All the above are shot in raw and converted using Sigma Photo Pro and edited in LR4.

 

[pushypin]

More picts from my SD1 Merrill...

 

[ManWearPants]

Just got myself a SD1 Merrill,here's some pict to share...
All the above are shot in raw and converted using Sigma Photo Pro and edited in LR4.

Thanks for sharing. While the colours are rich, the contrast seems low and the overall tone is dull.

Possible to post samples without going through LR4 and which lens are you using?

 

[tomcat]

Without post-processing, wouldn't the contrast and tone be even lower and duller? :think:

 

[pushypin]

Thanks for sharing. While the colours are rich, the contrast seems low and the overall tone is dull.

Possible to post samples without going through LR4 and which lens are you using?

Maybe its my lousy LR skill that caused the dull-nest as i am normally a Jpeg shooter and i don't use LR very often.I have tried shooting jpeg from SD1 but the color does not turn out very well.You have to use Raw to bring the best out of it.What truly amazed me is the sharpest and the special 3D look of the image.You really have to see an uncompressed picture from SD1 to be impressed by it.Btw i am using a 17-50mm for all my pictures.Here's two more:

 

[ManWearPants]

Without post-processing, wouldn't the contrast and tone be even lower and duller? :think:

I am suspecting LR4 does not handle the files from Sigma well. Just use the default Sigma Photo Pro to pp the files.

 

[keyuan]

Wel, I didn't use a sd1 before. But my previous wk flow with dp1s. I will just adjust the raw files using the sigma software. And upload to aperture3 jus for photo files management

 

[tomcat]

pushypin has been using Sigma Photo Pro to convert the raw images from the SD-1. He only post-processed them with LR4. I have the SD-14, DP1 & DP2 and also found that Sigma Photo Pro gives the best results with the raw files from these cameras but I have never once gotten such contrasts and tones from my photos after conversion by Sigma Photo Pro.

 

[ManWearPants]

I have just picked up a SD15 at an affordable price thanks to the Merrill. Still waiting for the lens and adapters to arrive. I can definitely appreciate the 3D and richness of the colours. However, looking at the photos posted by pushypin, I will be disappointed if this is the output. The church looks dull and lifeless despite of front-lighting. Does it already look like this after raw conversion? Is this to do with exposure? The colours of the "Caution" signs does not look like the actual. Is this straight out of camera? Anything to do with WB?

Anyway, I will test when my lenses are here. I will probably leave LR4 out of the workflow at the moment.

 

[tomcat]

I have just picked up a SD15 at an affordable price thanks to the Merrill. Still waiting for the lens and adapters to arrive. I can definitely appreciate the 3D and richness of the colours. However, looking at the photos posted by pushypin, I will be disappointed if this is the output. The church looks dull and lifeless despite of front-lighting. Does it already look like this after raw conversion? Is this to do with exposure? The colours of the "Caution" signs does not look like the actual. Is this straight out of camera? Anything to do with WB?

Anyway, I will test when my lenses are here. I will probably leave LR4 out of the workflow at the moment.

Seemed to me that they were mostly very under-exposed. Some looked like the shots were exposed for the sky thus causing the foreground to be severely under-exposed. Actually the dynamic range of the Foveon sensors is very good and a lot of details could be recovered from the shadows during post-processing if so desired.

In the case of the church photo, the light was so good that it should not have came out that way under auto-exposure mode. The sky and the building should have been properly exposed as in this shot of mine taken with the DP2.

 

[pushypin]

Sorry for the unexposed photos...has been using a macbook air 11'' all the while without any calibration and i also failed to check the histogram.Guess its time to upgrade to a better monitor+calibration to go into more serious editing work.I just found out too i have accidentally set my raw setting to low for all the photos i shot!! Therefore the pictures you see here are not in their top form...I will show you guys more pictures in the high setting when i have more time.Meanwhile..wanted show you how goods is the dynamic range of the camera..of coz its not as good as D800E lag but i think it matches the best apse carmera in the market now.

1.Raw file from SD1 converted to jpeg without any adjustment using Sigma Photo Pro

2.Raw file from SD1 converted to jpeg after adjustment using Sigma Photo Pro

Did you guys notice that the color information in the shadow area are not lost and has virtually no noise!!

 

[pushypin]

I admit its me for the under-expose picts,not the camera fault.Here's how it should look like..straight from SD1 raw converted to jpeg,no editing to exposure/contrast.Shapness +2.

 

[ManWearPants]

Sorry for the unexposed photos...
Did you guys notice that the color information in the shadow area are not lost and has virtually no noise!!

I admit its me for the under-expose picts,not the camera fault.Here's how it should look like..straight from SD1 raw converted to jpeg,no editing to exposure/contrast.Shapness +2.

The DR as shown in HDB shot is great.

I am relief as I thought I have went the wrong path. I am hopeful again. We should start a thread on Sigma SD photos.

 

[ManWearPants]

I just started using my SD15 with a manual focus lens. I have problem with the focus confirmation. At infinity, it is back focus. At near distance, it is front focus. The beeps are not accurate. Is there any way to adjust the focus confirmation? At this rate, my eyes have to keep blinking and squirm to focus accurately. Anyone can share their experience?

 

[ManWearPants]

pushypin has been using Sigma Photo Pro to convert the raw images from the SD-1. He only post-processed them with LR4. I have the SD-14, DP1 & DP2 and also found that Sigma Photo Pro gives the best results with the raw files from these cameras but I have never once gotten such contrasts and tones from my photos after conversion by Sigma Photo Pro.

I came across this site. Adobe has yet to support SD15 and SD1 x3f files. I am not sure how different is the SD14 and SD15/SD1 x3f files and what kind of impact to the jpgs when using LR and PS to edit.

Camera Raw plug-in | Supported cameras