On the current launch in Japan of the now much-discussed Sigma BF, the attending journalists have been additionally taken on a tour of the manufacturing unit the place it’s made. This facility is positioned in Aizu, within the Fukushima prefecture, about 190 miles north of Tokyo.
On show in a showroom on the Aizu manufacturing unit are the numerous milestone merchandise within the historical past of Sigma because it was based in 1961. Clearly many of those are lenses, however there’s additionally a stunning variety of cameras.
The road-up – which commenced in 1976 with a 35mm SLR primarily based on a Ricoh mannequin – reveals that Sigma largely caught with conference with its early movie cameras, which included fairly plenty of fully-automatic compact cameras.
Within the digital period, Sigma began to do issues in a different way – adopting the three-layer Foveon sensor for its first DSLR, the SD9, which was launched in 2002. The Foveon X3 sensor was developed within the USA as an alternative choice to the (nonetheless) widely-used Bayer sample of RGGB filters positioned over clusters of 4 photodiodes.
Making a full-color picture thus requires interpolation (particularly demosaicing) and Foveon reasoned that this compromised picture high quality – particularly sharpness – and got here up with a sensor construction comprising three vertically-stacked layers of photodiodes, individually delicate to blue, inexperienced and pink (prime to backside).
Thus every photosite delivered full RGB colour and successfully 3 times the decision (a lot as now occurs with high-res pixel-shift multi-shot seize).
In follow, nevertheless, there have been issues, notably with the pink layer – the deepest one – as a result of loads of mild is misplaced on the way in which, so the result’s much less sensitivity and extra chroma (colour) noise.
However, Sigma favored the Foveon sensor a lot that in 2008 it purchased the corporate. It has continued to work on making an attempt to enhance the efficiency, however this has been much more problematic with a full body imager (all of the X3 sensors to this point have been APS-H, APS-C or barely smaller).
Sigma continues to stick with Foveon, regardless of ongoing technical points, whereas having now produced three full-frame mirrorless cameras utilizing standard sensors.
After Kodak’s much-publicized fallout with Canon, it switched its DSLR platform to Sigma’s SA-9 physique refitted with the EF mount and utilizing its personal 14MP full-frame CMOS sensor. This digital camera was referred to as the DCS Professional SLR/c and was launched in 2004, however simply over a 12 months later Kodak ended its DSLR program.
At all times a small participant on this sector, Sigma additionally turned its consideration to creating compact digital cameras with a wider enchantment, beginning with the DP-1 in 2008. It used the identical 14.15 MPFoveon X3 sensor because the SD14 DSLR (which was truly barely smaller than APS-C, giving a focal size magnification issue of 1.7x) and a 16.6mm f/4 fastened lens (successfully 28mm).
Though pretty standard in design, however not the concept of an even bigger sensor in a small digital camera, the high-end DP1 started Sigma’s fame for making cameras with, shall we embrace, extra individualistic enchantment.
The next-res Foveon X3 sensor was launched in 2012 with a trio of 15MP layers to present 46MP in whole (44.3MP efficient) which was spectacular for the time. It was additionally now totally APS-C in measurement, so the DP1 was redesigned with a 19mm f/2.8 lens to nonetheless give an efficient focal size of 28mm.
The brand new sensor additionally appeared within the SD1 DSLR and the DP2 compact which had a 45mm-equivalent fastened lens. Round this time, Sigma additionally started including the title “Merrill” to varied editions of its cameras, in honor of Richard B Merrill (1949-2008), founding father of Foveon and the inventor of the X3 vertical colour filter know-how.
Normally, although, there have been just about no variations between the variations.
With the next-generation DP Quattro collection of fixed-lens cameras, launched in 2014, Sigma went utterly off-piste with the styling whereas additionally introducing a much-revised Foveon sensor, primarily designed to assist scale back the problems with colour noise.
Nonetheless with three layers, the brand new X3 sensor now used solely the highest one to seize luminance data (brightness) together with the blue colour, whereas the opposite two layers captured inexperienced and pink. Sigma referred to as this the “1:1:4 construction”, therefore the Quattro title. Brightness info was subsequently added to those two layers because the picture was processed within the digital camera.
As solely the highest layer captured the total decision, the Quattro collection cameras had an efficient pixel rely of 19.6 million (however there was a ‘Tremendous Excessive’ high quality mode, which used interpolation to present 39MP for JPEG seize).
There have been initially three fashions – the DP1 Quattro with a 19mm f/2.8 fastened lens (equal to 28mm), the DP2 with a 30mm f/2.8 lens (45mm) and the DP3 with a 50mm f/2.8 lens (75mm). The DP0 Quattro adopted in early 2015 and had a 14mm f/2.8 lens, equal to 21mm.
These have been cameras with loads of quirks and foibles – amongst them no EVF, no video, no picture stabilization and gradual operation – however they gained a loyal following of devoted lovers and carried out nicely by way of picture high quality. By the way in which, Foveon X3 sensors can’t file video – interval.
Subsequent got here the sd Quattro collection in 2016, which have been mirrorless our bodies utilizing Sigma’s personal SA bayonet lens mount as per the sooner 35mm SLRs and the DSLRs. The sd Quattro mannequin had an APS-C measurement sensor, once more with the native decision of 19.6MP, however the possibility of ‘Tremendous Excessive’ high quality seize for JPEGs at 39MP.
The sd Quattro H featured the biggest measurement Foveon sensor seen so far, equal to the APS-H format in imaging space, to present a focal size magnification issue of 1.3x. The native decision is 25.6MP, however with the choice of an upscaled 51.2 megapixels when capturing within the proprietary 14-bit X3F RAW format (which required Sigma’s clunky Photograph Professional software program).
Maybe because of this, the sd H additionally had the choice of 12-bit Adobe DNG RAW seize. Notably, these cameras have a built-in EVF (together with a tilt-adjustable monitor display) and the styling, whereas not as radical as that of the fixed-lens Quattro fashions, continues to be fairly uncommon.
Once more, there’s a devoted following with the H mannequin, specifically, sustaining fairly buoyant pricing on the second-hand market – largely due to its distinctive sensor, regardless of there nonetheless being efficiency limitations.
With the adoption of a traditional Bayer-filtered sensor for the present fp collection mirrorless cameras, Sigma embraced video with nice enthusiasm – and, consequently, these very compact our bodies have near-cinematic capabilities and are notably suited to rig or gimbal utilization.
That is now the L-Mount period, so there’s a alternative of lenses past Sigma’s personal choices, though it nonetheless has essentially the most intensive vary. The unique 24MP Sigma fp and the present fp L mannequin with 61MP on faucet proceed Sigma’s want to do issues in a different way in digital camera design.
Other than being the smallest and lightest full-frame mirrorless our bodies – even after the arrival of Panasonic’s Lumix S9 which, after all, can also be an L mount mannequin – they’re nonetheless pretty idiosyncratic in each kind and performance.
It appears that evidently, pretty early on, Sigma decided it might by no means compete with the most important digital camera manufacturers and determined as an alternative to draw consideration in different methods. Consequently, it isn’t about chasing massive gross sales numbers (though the intention might be all the time to at the very least break even) however having the braveness of convictions which, when realized, are convincing sufficient for others to purchase into.
The brand new BF is Sigma’s most radical departure from conference but, however it’s most likely solely occurred as a result of not one of the firm’s different adventures in digital camera design have been full failures. It’s undoubtedly daring, courageous and possibly, probably downright bonkers – however it’s not with out both perception or inspiration, and that’s all the time going to start out a dialog.
As Oscar Wilde famously famous, “There’s just one factor on the earth worse than being talked about, and that’s not being talked about”.
How do Sigma’s newest cameras fare? Try our Sigma BF evaluate, together with our Sigma fp evaluate and Sigma fp L evaluate. All three use the L-Mount, so check out the finest L-Mount lenses.