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2 thoughts on “Why I choose Sigma…”

  1. I agree in part.

    Using the DP2/SD9 and SD15 since a long time I must say that they are really good cameras and they CAN deliver stunning images. They also have an adequate price tag and excellent cost/performace ratio. Images are crisp, gorgeous and this is all I want.

    I tested several Sigma lenses in Canon EF, Pentax K and other manual focus mounts, and ***sometimes*** I found some very good lenses, like the fantastic 70/2.8 EX DC Macro. Sometimes I found really horrible glass like the 17-50/2.8 EX DC Macro. Ok, nothing is perfect. Acceptable.

    But there are two things that bothers me quite a lot:

    1) Sigma PhotoPro. Using my cameras with Silkypix Pro gives me far better results. No kidding, just try and see. Sigma Photo Pro 5 needs a HUGE revision.

    2) The SD1 price. Yes, again. Yes one more complain. Why should I spend $6K in a camera that have just 2 or 3 really spectacular lenses ? I compared all SD1 sample imeges that I could find with an entry level Mamyia MF camera end, sorry to say, but… Not comparable.

    3) The lack of a BIG optical viewfinder and a top level manual focusing screen is unforgivable.

    So, based on this, I decided to not buy the SD1. I may but a M9, at least Leica lenses are top notch and tehy have a really serious customer support.

    But back to the main subject:

    – Choose the DP series or the SD15 if you want photos with something different, with a very nice look and feel.

    – Do a LOT of research before buying Sigma lenses, You may find some fantastic glass. On the other side, you can buy a dog…

    – Sigma SDs are awesome. For me the best compacts ever.

    – Do yourself a favour if you have any of the SD-series camera. BUY A GOOD M42 adapter and try some EBC Fujinons and Tomiokas. Believe me. Don’t forget to order a good quality manual focusing screen.

    All the remaining things are just fun. You can be very happy with Sigma if you know what’s good and bad.

  2. A five years update:

    At this time Sigma has some REALLY good lenses in SD mount. After buying the 18-35 F.18 ‘Art” lens and the 17-70 “C” I finally decided to buy the SD1 from the Sigma’s outlet store for $899.

    It’s a solid performer and the images from it are superb with the mentioned lenses. Still slow like a snail but I can live with this.

    But again, some very annoying things:

    – Sometimes I get a green to magenta gradient cast when using some manual focus wide angle lenses, There’s something strange with the internal image processing in this camera. The same lenses produces normal images with the SD-14 and SD-15. Sometimes just a magenta only or green only color cast.

    – SPP is now on version 6. To be fair, it’s way better than version 5 but still very slow even running in a quad core i7, and still not offers a basic curves adjustment tool.

    – Iridient Developer is MUCH faster and does a better job with SD1’s X3F files.

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