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Sigma full-frame Foveon still delayed but it may come with phase detection autofocus

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In an interview with Imaging Resource, Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki has announced that there is a new delay with Foveon sensor development. It sounds like the same old story we’ve been hearing since 2018, but it seems as if it’s not so much the technical challenges that Sigma is facing now. The technical development issues that have caused delays in the past seem to be resolved for the most part. It’s simply a matter of production.

The global silicon shortage has a lot to answer for across many industries, but that seems to be the only thing that’s really holding Sigma back now. Prototypes take too long to create and the sensor itself is still seeing development while waiting for those prototypes to happen. This makes them pretty much obsolete before they get close to production. But, it sounds like we’re close to full-frame Foveon becoming a reality.

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Full-Frame Foveon X3 “should be” ready in 2022 but probably not an actual camera

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The full-frame Foveon saga has been going on since 2018 when it was first mentioned at Photokina during the Sigma, Panasonic and Leica L mount alliance. It was originally expected to be released in 2019, but in March 2019, this was revised to 2020. Only a day after rumours of a February 2020 release, Sigma announced that they’re still working on it and the following month its release was delayed until at least 2021, but probably 2022.

At the beginning of 2021, that release date target became 2023 and now it seems that Sigma might be on track. In a recent interview with Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki, he reaffirmed that Sigma is still working on prototypes of the full-frame Foveon X3 sensor and that it “should be available sometime this year”. The way it’s worded sounds like the sensor will be available, but perhaps not in a retail-ready camera.

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Sigma hopes to add at least one more system mount to their lens arsenal in 2022

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During yesterday’s announcements for the Sigma 20mm f/2 DG DN Contemporary lens for Leica L and Sony E mount cameras, one of the live presentations in Japanese included a question and answers session where Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki was asked if their lenses would come to more camera mounts. He confirmed that Sigma is looking to add at least one more mount to their mirrorless lens lineup in 2022.

He didn’t clarify which mount it could be, but there aren’t really many options out there. There’s Leica L, Sony E and MFT that Sigma already covers and Nikon Z, Canon RF and Fuji X, which they don’t. I suspect it probably won’t be that last one. Sure, it’s a popular mount, but I think they’ll target the full-frame systems where there still aren’t many 3rd party options first.

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Sigma CEO confirms semi-conductor shortages

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The ongoing chip and semi-conductor shortage is not exactly news and has been affecting quite a few camera producers over the past year. However, lens brand Sigma recently confirmed that they too are experiencing supply issues that will affect their rollout and distribution of products over the coming months.

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Sigma looking to make RF and Z mount lenses – Full Frame Foveon may not come until 2023

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DPReview recently had a chance to have a video call and a bit of a chat with Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki. In the interview, a number of topics are touched on, including Mr Yamaki’s vision for the future of the company, compatibility with mirrorless camera systems other than L and E mount, and various other things.

One thing briefly spoken about was what’s happening with the long-awaited full-frame Foveon mirrorless camera, initially announced in 2018 and put on indefinite hold in 2020. In March last year, Sigma aiming for a Summer 2021 release, but now a launch might be as late as 2023… But they’re working on it.

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Sigma’s full-frame Foveon still far from ready, but “we’re still working on it” says Sigma

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It’s been a long, strange trip for Sigma’s Foveon X3 sensor since the L mount alliance was announced in 2018. During that announcement, Sigma said they were working on a new full-frame Foveon L mount camera to come in 2019. Then in March 2019, its release got pushed to 2020. But in February 2020, Sigma announced that they were starting over from scratch.

Now, in February 2021, Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki has posted a video to YouTube retelling last year’s story and the decision to terminate the contract with the original chip manufacture with whom they were collaborating. But today’s announcement reaffirms the company’s commitment to releasing a full-frame Foveon L mount camera… Eventually.

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Sigma still has no idea when they’ll release a full-frame Foveon camera

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Recently, rumours broke that Panasonic was considering an APS-C L mount camera. At the time it was also reported that Sigma apparently isn’t happy with the progress of L mount, urging Panasonic to focus more on the system. Jokingly, I suggested that Sigma should listen to their own advice and give us that full-frame Foveon we’ve been promised for two years.

Well, in a recently published interview with Dave Etchells at Imaging Resource, Sigma said they have no idea when they’ll actually be able to release a full-frame Foveon. At least, that was the story in March when Dave went to visit them, but followup questions six months later don’t indicate that anything’s changed for the better.

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Sigma is developing small L Mount lenses to go with the Sigma fp

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The L mount alliance is a funny thing. On one corner of the triangle, you’ve got Panasonic, traditionally known in the digital world for making pretty outstanding and fairly small, Micro Four Thirds cameras. When it comes to their full-frame mirrorless, though, they seem to be about as big as DSLRs, with lenses to match.

But in another corner, Sigma seems to have taken over the reins of small cameras with their Sigma fp. It still has that “big lens” problem, though. Now it looks like Sigma is planning to do something about it, according to an interview with Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki by Gizmodo Japan, and is working on some smaller lenses to use with the fp.

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Sigma CEO says they will focus on mirrorless lenses (pun unintended) over DSLRs

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Popular lens (and camera) manufacturer Sigma has said that they are going to be giving priority to their DN line of mirrorless system lenses, going forward. A tweet posted by Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki confirmed this, stating that while the primary focus will be on DG DN full-frame mirrorless lenses, they will also be working on DC DN lenses for APS-C and Micro Four Thirds.

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Sigma CEO: we will make smaller lenses, but bigger cameras

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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:

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