Sigma on Wednesday both remade and added to its camera lineup. First off, the company's new CEO, Kazuto Yamaki, revealed that the high-end SD1 DSLR will be renamed to SD1 Merrill and get a very significant price drop, from $9,700 to $3,300. Yamaki said the reduction is due to the lower production costs of the 46-megapixel APS-C sensor, though no performance compromises have been made.
CEO of camera and lens maker Sigma, sadly, has passed away. The 78-year-old Michihiro Yamaki succumbed in Tokyo, Japan on January 18 after a fight with liver cancer. Yamaki founded the company in 1961 and was heading up the company up to 2011, on its 50th anniversary.
Sigma ended the week by officially unveiling its flagship medium-format DSLR, the SD1. First introduced late last summer, the camera now sports a 46-megapixel sensor thanks to the three layers, each rated at 15.4 megapixels. The SD1 is alone in using Foveon's 23.5x15.7mm APS-C X3 direct image sensor.
Sigma has just introduced a new digital compact camera, the 14-megapixel DP2x. An evolution of the DP2 model, it sports the same Foveon X3 ASP-C sensor found in the SD14 DSLR. It gets a new AF algorithm for high-speed autofocus and has an Analog Front End that converts full color data into a digital signal.
Japan’s Sigma Corp. has today taken the covers off its flagship Sigma SD1 15.4 megapixel DSLR at Photokina. It adopts a lightweight, weather-proof, solid magnesium alloy body to house its 1.5X crop Foveon X3 sensor. The technology enables the camera to capture all primary RGB colors at each pixel location rather than use a Bayer filter and leads Sigma to make a questionable claim to a 46-megapixel sensor.
The delayed Sigma SD15 DSLR has finally began showing up in US stores. First shown in September of 2008, the camera sports the signature 14-megapixel Foveon X3 CMOS sensor along with a 3-inch LCD. There is otherwise a 5-point auto focus sensor that can shoot up to 21 continuous shots in RAW.
The long-delayed Sigma SD15 DSLR has finally received a release date and a final price. It will launch on June 25 in Europe and should cost the equivalent of $1,443. It will retain its 14-megapixel Foveon X3 direct image sensor that includes three 4.7-megapixel layers that each capture red, green and blue light.
Sigma has kept itself in action at PMA by upgrading two models and reintroducing a third. The 14-megapixel DP1x gets the same True II imaging processor as the DP2 and has a faster autofocusing algorithm. Controls have been inherited from the DP2s and bring both easier menus as well as a quick-access button for frequently used presets.
Sigma this morning saw fit to upgrade its original Foveon-based camera with features borrowed from the DP2 as well as others. The DP1s gets the Quick Set shortcut function from the second-generation camera and assigns it to the digital zoom button found on the original DP1 controls. It also supports shooting RAW and JPEG images at the same time, much like DSLRs.
Sigma on Thursday acted on its word and launched the long-delayed DP2 in the UK. The 14-megapixel camera is a cross between regular compacts and digital SLRs and continues to hinge on its FOVEON sensor, which is significantly larger than in point-and-shoots and helps produce more professional images, particularly in RAW mode. It also gets full manual controls and, since it was first shown last year, now has light sensitivity up to ISO 3,200 as well as a quick-access button for some of the more common camera settings.
Kawasaki, Japan-based digital camera maker Sigma Corporation has purchased all stock of Foveon Inc., a company that developed the original three-layer image sensor for digital cameras. Prior to this Tuesday announcement, the two companies have worked together on the Foveon X3 sensors used in all Sigma digital cameras, including the recently introduced SD15 and DP2.
Sigma today set pricing for its long-delayed DP1 high-end compact camera. Set to launch worldwide in the spring, the camera will now be priced in Sigma's UK home at a minimum £550 ($1,083) including tax for the standard version and £600 ($1,181) for a version that bundles a hot-shoe mounted digital viewfinder for photographers who prefer composing shots in a similar fashion to a digital SLR.
Sigma at the PMA photo expo has committed to a release window for the DP1, its unusual crossover between compact cameras and digital SLRs. Now due sometime in spring, the final camera still maintains the 14-megapixel Foveon sensor that defines its shooting characteristics. The new three-layer silicon technology (also used in the SD14) captures each portion an RGB image in one pixel instead of three and allows the sensor to be several times larger than for other point-and-shoots this size; this provides both a major lift both to resolution as well as color response, Sigma says. The DP1 also comes with a custom-tailored 16.6mm f4 lens that can produce a shallow depth of field effect normally impossible with compact cameras.
