SIGMA SD14 , SIGMA SD15
If Foveon was Micro Four Thirds
A review and photo examples of the Sigma SD14 and SD15 digital SLR cameras.
Table of contents
Gallery
Review
The review covers the following:
1.Camera Overview
The SD14 was released in 2007, and the SD15 in 2010. These are Sigma digital cameras equipped with the second generation Foveon sensor.
The recording pixel count is 4.5 megapixels x 3, and the actual pixel count is 4.5 megapixels, but in JPEG recording and SIGMA PhotoPro, the pixels can be combined to output a higher pixel count. I don’t use this because it takes a long time to process and the image looks more processed than the original image.
Unlike the SD9 and 10, the SD14 and SD15 are completely new digital cameras developed from the body mold, and it seems that with the release of this camera, Sigma has gained some recognition as a digital camera manufacturer. Before that, it was a manufacturer whose cameras were only known to enthusiasts.
The differences between the SD14 and SD15 are the following four points, but please see the specifications for details.
Recording media
Rear LCD
Camera data buffer size
Image processing engine
One of the improvements of the SD15 is that the buffer memory capacity is twice that of the SD14 *1, which allows 21 frames to be taken even when shooting in RAW. I was photographing a hawk at Shirakaba Pass, and although it can’t compete with Canon or Nikon, I was happy that I could take a reasonable number of continuous shots.
*1: Source: Digital Camera Watch. 2010 article
The image processing engine is different, but although I didn’t do a strict comparison with the same subject, I didn’t feel any difference as long as I processed the RAW data with SIGMA PHOTO PRO (SPP).
When you attach a 16GB compact flash to the SD14, the shooting counter goes to 999, which makes you feel the era. The SD15 supports SDHC cards, so the maximum memory capacity is 32GB.
The battery can be used with the dedicated lithium-ion battery BP-21, or the BP-22 introduced with the SD1. The difference between the two is the battery capacity, with the BP-21 being 7.4V-1500mAh and the BP-22 being 7.4V-1200mAh. Many of these batteries are compatible in shape, such as the Konica Minolta NP-400 (7.4V-1500mAh) and Pentax D-LI50 (7.4V-1620mAh), which have the same shape and voltage. The Sigma BP-22 has the smallest battery capacity. A Chinese-made compatible battery is listed as 7.4V-2300mAh, but it is unclear whether it actually has that capacity.
2.Usage
The SD14 was released four years after the SD10, when the EPSON R-D1 had become my favorite camera, and I hardly used the SD10, sold it at some point, got rid of the lenses, and was estranged from Sigma.
The SD14 was released during the height of digital cameras, and in 2006 the LEICA M8 was released, so my photography life revolved around the Leica M mount.
Still, Sigma was in the back of my mind, so I bought the SD14 when it was released and tried it out. Fortunately, it was the time when the hawks migrated to Shirakaba Pass, which is when a single-lens reflex camera is needed. However, after using it for about three days, I hardly used it when I returned to my normal life, so I sold it while it was still valuable.
Looking at the photos I took at that time, the images taken with the SD10 have a sense of resolution, but I didn’t feel the uniqueness of the colors and contrast like the R-D1 or the Leica M8. It is a good thing that the camera itself has become a very ordinary camera, but as someone who was used to the SD9 and SD10, which had too many quirks, I didn’t understand the motivation to record everyday scenery with this camera. Also, with the PC specifications at the time, the processing of SIGMA PHOTO PRO (SPP) was slow and unstable, so I was not motivated to seriously process images with SPP. I sometimes wish the SD15 had come out at the same time as the SD14, but unfortunately Sigma’s progress was a little slow.
I also bought the SD15 for the “Hawk Crossing” at Shirakaba Pass in the year it was released, but I used it extensively there and took some photos around town before selling it. So the SD15 wasn’t a camera I used very much.
My main camera at the time was Sony’s last pure SLR camera, the α900, so one of the reasons I didn’t use the SD15 much was that the camera’s completeness, including the viewfinder and mechanism, was overwhelmingly inferior to the α900.
While writing this, I happened to search for used ones, and found that the SD14 was being sold for just under 30,000 yen. I didn’t have any SIGMA-SA mount lenses, so I ordered the 24mm F1.8 HSM and the SD14 for just under 50,000 yen in total on mail order. I know very well that nostalgia doesn’t trump practicality, but sorting through my old photos made me feel like I wanted to try using the SD14/SD15.
I used the SD14 for the first time in a while, and the shutter sound is pleasant, and I feel that it is sufficient for street photography that does not require continuous shooting. However, I still feel that the viewfinder is problematic. First of all, because the viewfinder is almost 100% of the sensor size, it feels very small when you look through it. Someone once said that it was like looking into the bottom of a well, which is very apt.
I actually prefer the sports viewfinder of the SD10. Also, it is difficult to see the focus peak when using a wide-angle lens, which has not changed since the SD10, and this is probably because the matte is flat and has few undulations for AF.
Also, if the AF of the SD14 is high-performance, it would not be a problem, but the AF of the SD14 becomes suspicious when the amount of light around the edges becomes insufficient. The camera displays a focus mark in the viewfinder, but if you believe it and release the shutter, you may end up with a photo that is out of focus.
3.if Foveon.
As I was looking through the viewfinder of the SD14, a thought suddenly occurred to me. I feel like I’ve had a similar impression with this viewfinder on another camera. After digging through my memories of using cameras, I realized that it was similar to the viewfinder of the Olympus E-1 Four Thirds camera.
So I looked into digital cameras released in 2007, the year the Sigma SD14 was released, and found that the Olympus E-3 Four Thirds mount camera had been released.
Using this comparison to research image sensors, I found that the size of the Foveon sensor mounted on the SD14 is 20.7 x 13.8 mm (area: 285.7 mm2), while the size of the Four Thirds sensor is 17.2 mm x 13 mm (area: 223.6 mm2).
The difference between the two is that the Foveon sensor is about 3 mm larger in the width direction, but is almost the same in the height direction. With this size difference, wouldn’t it be physically possible to mount a Foveon sensor on a Four Thirds body? However, since the Four Thirds sensor is smaller, it would be possible to crop the sensor if the sensor size is to be matched.
Calculating the number of pixels when cropped, if the 4.5 megapixel x 3 second generation Foveon is cropped to the size of a Four Thirds sensor, it will be 3.52 megapixel x 3.
The E-3’s Four Thirds sensor is a 10 megapixel Bayer array, and the Foveon is a three-layer sensor, so it would be possible to advertise it as having 10 megapixels.
It may be a sophistry, but I think it is enough to compete in the marketing arena. If there was room in the image circle of the lens, it would have been interesting to use the 4.5 megapixel x 3 sensor as it is without cropping.
In this way, if Olympus had received sensors from Sigma and released two types of cameras, the E-3 with the conventional Bayer sensor and the E-3F with the Foveon sensor, the history of digital cameras might have been slightly different. Unfortunately, no such event occurred, but it is interesting to imagine what might have happened in history.
Specification and Compare
| Items | SD9 | SD10 | SD14 | SD15 |
| Camera Effective Pixels | 10.29 million pixels (2,268 x 1,512 x 3 layers) | ← | 14.06 million pixels (2,652 x 1,768 x 3 layers) | ← |
| Camera mount | SIGMA-SA baynet mount | ← | ← | ← |
| Image sensor | FOVEON X3®(CMOS) 20.7×13.8mm | ← | ← | ← |
| Back LCD | 1.8-inch Low-temperature polysilicon TFT color LCD monitor 130,000 pixels | ← | 2.5-inch 150,000 pixels | 3-inch 460,000 pixels |
| View Finder | Pentaprism type single-lens reflex viewfinder | ← | ← | ← |
| Battery | Main 2 x 3V lithium batteries (CR-V3) 4 x AA Nickel-Metal Hydride Batteries 4 AA nickel batteries Sub 3V lithium battery (CR123A type 2 pcs.) | 2 x 3V lithium batteries (CR-V3) 4 x AA Nickel-Metal Hydride Batteries 4 AA nickel batteries | Lithium-ion battery (BP-21/BP-22) | ← |
| Record Media | Compact flash Micro drive | ← | Compact flash | SD-card(SDHC) |
| Size(mm) W x H x D | 152 × 120 × 79 | ← | 144 × 107 × 81 | ← |
| Weight(g) | 805g (Ext battery) | 785g (Ext battery) | 700g (Ext battery) | 680g (Ext battery) |
| Release date | Year 2002 | Year 2003 | Sep.2007 | Jun.2010 |
Options
- Vertical grip・PG-21
- All Sigma SA mount lenses
Reference links
- Live action report of SD14 by Digital Camera-Watch
- New product review of SD15 by Digital Camera-Watch
Update
- 2024.8.14
- 2024.02.12:Update
- 2023.02.12:First draft
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