In a current PetaPixel interview with Sigma‘s CEO, President Kazuto Yamaki, it was revealed that Sigma stays dedicated to the event of the Foveon sensor. That is each predictable information given Sigma’s unwavering loyalty to the expertise, however it’s additionally stunning. Sigma’s final digital camera with a Foveon sensor was the sd Quattro, outfitted with a 29MP APS-C Foveon X3 sensor. This was launched in 2016, and although it was in manufacturing for the rest of the last decade alongside older Sigma cameras additionally utilizing the Foveon X3, we have see no new Foveon-equipped digital camera launched since.
Rumors have circulated throughout the intervening years {that a} full-frame Foveon was in growth, however this has by no means materialized. In 2023 it was stated {that a} manufacturing sensor is likely to be prepared in 2024, although growth was troublesome. Subsequently in early 2024 Yamaki additionally said that “not a lot progress has been made”. Causes for this embrace the Foveon sensor being essentially completely different to standard Bayer sensors, thereby requiring a devoted manufacturing course of. To be able to decrease the manufacturing complexity, Yamaki said that “at the moment, we try to understand a three-layer construction utilizing as many commonplace processes as doable on the design stage”.
Quick-forward 12 months to this newest PetaPixel interview and it appears the legendary full-frame Foveon is simply as elusive as ever. Sigma continues to be apparently engaged on it, and Yamaki says “we are going to do our greatest” (relating to its growth). Nevertheless he’s additionally trustworthy in stating that growth is taking far more time than anticipated, and that technical points have been encountered with prototypes (Skip to 42:53 within the YouTube interview for the Foveon particulars).
So after this a few years of attempting, why is Sigma nonetheless chasing its Foveon dream? The core purpose is probably going {that a} Foveon sensor guarantees, in concept, superior picture high quality versus a traditional Bayer sensor, resulting from its distinctive design. The place the floor space of a Bayer sensor is cut up into pixels that seize purple, blue and inexperienced mild, (25%, 25% and 50% of the sensor space, respectively), a Foveon sensor has a separate layer for every of those three coloration wavelengths, stacked on high of one another. Consequently, by stacking the purple, inexperienced and blue pixel layers, the sensor can (theoretically) seize round 3x extra mild than a Bayer sensor of equal dimensions. This then doubtlessly interprets to considerably improved coloration constancy, dynamic vary, and decreased picture noise.
Sounds nice, however in apply Foveon sensors have not actually confirmed to be convincingly higher than a Bayer sensor. The sd Quattro was praised for its potential to resolve fantastic element, with its 29MP sensor stated to extra corresponding to 39MP Bayer sensor on this metric. Nevertheless, this benefit got here at the price of picture noise, which was reportedly larger than that from up to date cameras with typical sensors.
The theoretical advantages of Foveon are compelling, and it is easy to see why Sigma, a small participant within the digital camera market, would need to stand out from the likes of Canon, Nikon and Sony by producing a full-frame digital camera with a essentially completely different (and hopefully superior) picture sensor. However might such enormous growth prices ever be recouped by gross sales of a digital camera that might certainly solely ever enchantment to a distinct segment market? Provided that Sigma has deserted Foveon for its fp cameras and the new BF, it appears even much less possible that we’ll ever see a Foveon return. If growth actually is constant, we’ve to imagine it is on a small scale. There’s certainly no logical enterprise case for ploughing important monetary funding and technical experience right into a sensor that, when judged on previous efficiency, does not provide a convincing benefit over Bayer expertise.