Camera Labs

Hey all Sigma camera owners.

I heard that Sigma is the only company that uses a Foveon sensor.

Do you folks notice a difference in low light compared to CMOS or CCD?

It's a new type of sensor, correct?

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Best regards,

Daniel

dmdesign
Nikon D80 · Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF
Sigma Foveon sensor fan... future owner, promise!
flickr me!

Hi theplatypus,

The Foveon sensor is newer than both CCD and CMOS, but has been around for a few years.

Low-light performance is not it's forte and many reviews of the Sigma cameras with this sensor suggests that this sensor isn't particularly good at ' high ISO. However, the processors' performance is also part of the equation.

Where the Foveon appears to excel is with regards to color and the amount of detail a good color pickup can generate. As this sensor captures RGB info at all photo sites, it is claimed to be able to generate more detail on a number of conditions.

CCD and CMOS use the Bayer interpolation to "guess" the correct color of each pixel although each photo site can only pick up either R, G or B.

A very interesting article by Mike Chaney can be found here: http://www.ddisoftware.com/sd14-5d/

It's about the best and more thorough coverage of the Foveon sensor I have read so far and I am very excited to see how the recently announced Sigma SD-15 camera will perform.

Cheers

Thanks! That link is good stuff. I'm looking forward to seeing this tech. grow. With the new DP2 out and their full dSLR lineup growing... I'm dig'n this venture!

_________________
Best regards,

Daniel

dmdesign
Nikon D80 · Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF
Sigma Foveon sensor fan... future owner, promise!
flickr me!

Indeed..I'm keeping my eyes peeled on the SD15.

The SD14 can take some dastardly good-looking pictures, is very solid and rugged..but the TRUE processor appears to be a liiiitle slow. Speed means very little to me, but it apparently also suffers a bit when it comes to JPG shooting at higher ISO and WB requires a little more attention..again in low light.

When the SD15 comes out I expect the SD14 to drop significantly in price and unless the SD15 is a major step towards more versatility, I might snag a cheap SD14.

Cheers

But you have to take into account that ONLY Sigma lenses will fit the body.
And while some are very good IF you get a good copy there are stories abound on how bad quality control at Sigma plants is and that those lenses tend to fail pretty often
So consider everything before buying into a system!

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Very true that, Thomas!

Now, if we could just talk Nikon into taking over the Foveon, we might have something going

Cheers!

Or just talk Sigma to improve their quality-control

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Sonyian?

My Flickr - Comments very welcome
Gear: a200, Sony 18-70 3.5-5.6 DT, Minolta 50 1.7 AF, Lowepro TLZ Mini, GorillaPod SLR Zoom
Saving for Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX HSM Macro II (50%)

[dream on]Or talk all camera manufacturers of APS-C and/or FF/FX sensors to standardize on a lens-mount [dream off]

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Thats incorrect...I use umpteen different prime lenses on my SD10 and SD14, ranging from 14mm right up to 1100mm FL, and only a couple of them are made by Sigma...The rest are made by Canon, Nikon, Carl Zeiss, Carl Zeiss Jena, Tamron, Tokina, MTO, Mamiya and several more.