Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Over at Saloon De La Photo in Paris, Sigma held a quick Q&A session with Mr. Kazuto Yamaki, CEO of Sigma. There is a wonky angle capture of this talk, if you want to see the entire thing (starts about 40 minutes into the video). It is a long session, with many interesting questions, but photographer Paul Monaghan took a few key notes from this session and allowed us to share them.
The first take is that the new up-coming full-frame Foveon will not be in the FP format:
Previously announced at Photokina 2018, the upcoming Full Frame Foveon L-Mount camera from Sigma has been delayed until 2020, according to reports coming out of CP+ 2019. Twitter user nuko009 has posted images from a presentation given by Sigma CEO, Kazuto Yamaki explaining that the camera’s development has been delayed.
Although he did also announce that it will have a 60.9-megapixel Foveon sensor. Sort of. Foveon sensors don’t tend to calculate megapixels in the same way as traditional Bayer sensors. And it’s actually a 20.3×3-megapixel sensor.
Well, holy cow! This is what I was hoping Sigma might say, but I never expected it to happen. Sigma has just announced that they’re releasing a new full frame Foveon sensor camera in 2019 that uses the Leica L mount. And it’s not just a current Foveon scaled up to full frame, either. It’s an entirely new generation of Foveon sensor. Well, we did know they were working on one. Now we know what it was for!
They’ve also announced Sigma SA, Sigma EF (which includes Canon’s, too), Leica M and Leica PL mount to L mount adapters. This means that right off the bat, the new Panasonic, Sigma and Leica L mount cameras will have access to a huge amount of existing lenses.
Well, this is a surprise and not an unwelcome one. Few people seem to realise that as well as being a leading 3rd party lens manufacturer, Sigma also make cameras. I have actually had the pleasure of playing with a Sigma sd Quattro for the past few weeks, and it’s pretty impressive if a little on the slow side. The Foveon sensor does produce some truly beautiful results.
That lack of speed, though, has put off many potential Sigma camera owners. Now, a new patent has been filed showing that Sigma looks to be doing something about it. The patent seems to aim more toward the video side of things but no doubt it will speed up its stills capturing capabilities, too. Perhaps this is why Sigma semed a little evasive about camera questions recently at PPE.
I love Sigma, they brought quite a few innovations to the photography world: updatable lenses, ceramic filters, the Quattro camera family, and probably a few more that I am not currently recalling. With the amazing tech behind the Foveon sensor, and seven cine lenses announced in the last year, I was really curious to learn what are Sigma’s plans in the video segment.
We met with Zach Howard from Sigma’s marketing dept, and I tried to understand if Sigma is just testing the water in video, so to say, or are they planning to be a significant player in the video market.
We basically had two questions: Is Sigma planning to be a significant player in the video market, and are Sigma going to bring out more cameras, hopefully with Foveon for video. Let me just say that response was entertaining :)
Sigma have today confirmed the final pricing and availability of the Sigma sd Quattro camera and EF-630 flash units announced in February, along with a new bundle that includes the sd Quattro and Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM Art Lens.
The Sigma sd Quattro is a mirrorless camera with an APS-C Foveon sensor, which Sigma claim as being “equivalent” to 39MP, and will cost a mere $799 body-only when it starts shipping in July.
The Bayer filter was patented in 1976 and can be found in almost all digital camera sensors sold today.
While several alternatives have been suggested over the years, some more exciting than others, none caught on. This could soon change, though, as Canon Watch reports that the 120MP full frame sensor Canon is developing will not be based on Bayer technology.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
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