Sigma SD14: Quick Look at a Quirky Wonder
by Wesley Fink on June 3, 2008 4:20 AM EST- Posted in
- Digital Camera
Our Digital Sensor Part 1 and Digital Sensor: Part 2 articles got us thinking again about the state of the Foveon sensor. The Foveon hadn't been in our hands since our early fascination with the first Foveon camera, the Sigma SD9. As there are some very serious devotees of the Sigma Foveon and even an active Sigma DSLR discussion forum at DPReview, our curiosity was burning on whether the Foveon had improved any since that error-plagued early attempt by Sigma. After many launch delays, the SD14 has now been shipping for almost a year and it has gone through several rounds of firmware and software updates. Time has likely made the SD14 as stable as it will ever be.
The Sigma SD14 is the current Foveon sensor Digital SLR, but since it has been on the market for almost a year it will not be dissected as a new model. The emphasis instead will be Foveon performance and SD14 workflow questions. This is a closer look at how the SD14 operates - the speed, typical workflow, and image quality across the available ISO range. The SD14 is the first Foveon DSLR to actually have the option of saving in JPEG mode. However, JPEG saves are very slow and still much poorer quality than RAW on the SD14. As a result most SD14 users work in RAW mode. Since that is how most users work it is how we will evaluate the SD14.
Here you see the SD14 decked out with the optional Power Grip PG-21. Sigma also offers an extremely broad line of prime and zoom lenses for the SD14. Sigma has produced lenses for their digital SLR cameras for more than 15 years, and even the early Sigma-mount lenses attach and work well. The current lens line even includes new models with Optical Image Stabilization that is said to provide up to four stops of improved performance.
Foveon fans will not likely be swayed by much that we report, but our out-of-the box experience with the SD14 was anything but an auspicious beginning. We were somewhat prepared for the SD14 to be slow in operation, but we were not really prepared for almost nine seconds from camera turn on to being able to take an image of any kind. We were also not prepared for the initial lockup where the interminable blinking red light - that indicates the camera is busy - would never turn off.
After formatting both 8GB CF cards a second time with an external USB2 card reader, the camera finally came to life after eight blinks of the CF card busy light and a couple of quick flashes while it set up the CF file system. To err on the caution side we updated the firmware, which strangely required two update sessions in the correct order to end up with Firmware version 1.07. The firmware update didn't stop the once-in-a-while lockups, but a "drive-dial" off and on usually fixed locks and we didn't have to go to the extreme step of removing the battery to recycle the hangs but once. Clearly, Sigma still needs some refinement in their camera firmware as users of a Canon or Nikon would never settle for this buggy operation.
If it were strictly about the camera itself we would have given up at this point, but we trudged on because every photographer knows it is about the image - and the second generation Foveon is a totally different beast from other cameras.
UPDATE: After the review was published we received several emails from current SD14 owners who reported 1 second start up times and few if any lock-ups with 1.07 firmware. We looked further into the slow startup and lockup problem. We had used three different 8GB CF cards in the course of testing for this review. All were 280X cards based on Samsung memory chips, and all 3 cards have worked fine with every other camera we have tested at AT.
After receiving the reports from SD14 users of startups of 1 second or so, we tried two new CF cards of different brands - a 16GB and a 4GB. BOTH the new cards initialized in about a second and we have not experienced a lock-up yet in shooting with either card. Image write times remained very slow with every card we tested. THE STARTUP DELAY AND LOCK-UPS APPEAR TO BE THE FAULT OF CF CARD COMPATIBILITY ISSUES AND NOT THE SD14 CAMERA. The rest of this review has been revised to reflect these new findings.
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cheetah2k - Wednesday, June 4, 2008 - link
I've bought over 100 memory cards on ebay, and all at respectable prices (here in Australia we still pay about US$30 for 2GB!) and I've never had a problem. I just purchased a nice 8Gb Sandisk Ultra III CF for my Sony A350, 4Gb CF Ducati, and 8gb Sandisk MicroSD just recently, and again without any errors or faults.The only way to test these cards also, is to fill em up to the hilt with data. At 14MP, and 1 day of continuous shooting, I easily fill 8Gb.
The advice here should be dont buy $0.99 memory cards from sellers with less than 20 sales and 99% good comments or you will end up with BS backdoor memory cards full of sawdust instead of the usual silicone
cheetah2k - Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - link
In terms of this review, I think Anandtech has lost the plot againWhy compare a 14MP camera with 10 and 12MP??
You've reviewed the Sony A350, why isnt that in your review?
You're just wasting your own time carrying out reviews like this with out proper comparisons. I guess thats just because Anandtech is trying to be a jack of all trades, but not doing it very well
Wesley Fink - Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - link
Others would argue we should only compare the SD14 to 6 Megapixel cameras, or even less, since it is really a 4.7MP finished image. Most consider the SD14 roughly competitive in the 10 Megapixel space - with some tilting toward the 8 megapixel side and others to the 12 Megapixel end. Our choices were representative of prosumer cameras many would consider as having good IQ in that megapixel range, which was our goal.If you wish to compare the images to the Pentax K20D and the Sony A350 the crops and full images can be found at http://www.anandtech.com/digitalcameras/showdoc.as...">http://www.anandtech.com/digitalcameras/showdoc.as...
cheetah2k - Wednesday, June 4, 2008 - link
I understand what others argue. However, when you're comparing cameras, you also need to compare cameras of equal MP, regardless of what their end result is. This then gives an unexperienced DSLR user the opportunity to compare and examine the results from, for example, how a sony 14MP camera produces vs SD14 14MP camera, etc. This way, for those wanting 14MP, they can establish good value for money and make a call on where they ultimately want to end up. Therefore, it would have been good to include the Sony A350 results that you got from a previous review.As noted above, in the case of Anandtech's past review of the Canon 450D (12.2MP) vs Sony A350 (14.2MP) vs Nikon 10.1MP cameras, I understand the varying MP review as that was all that was around at the time. From that review I actually purchased a Sony A350X set with the 2 lenses, as I established it was good value for money (and actually cheaper than the Canon 450D)
Some times a LIKE for LIKE comparrison is what we all need, especially for those of us who are non-pro photographers.
melgross - Wednesday, June 4, 2008 - link
I've never heard of this being compared to a 12 MP camera. 8 to 9 seems to be the agreed upon equivalent. And even there, it depends upon the images, some look sharper, and some less so.pinto4402 - Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - link
Amen to the comment about the CF issue. I feel better about the startup time, but now I'm troubled by the memory card problems. When you depend on your gear for your living, any possible point of failure is scary.pinto4402 - Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - link
Holy cow. I considered purchasing a Sigma for portrait work because other portrait photographers rave about the IQ of the foveon sensor. I'm shocked, however, by the 9 second start-up time. This is not something anyone has discussed before. It is simply unacceptable for any modern camera to have such primitive electronics. I know that there are many "artistes" out there who feel smug about how they can create beautiful images with primitive gear. I am not one of them. I want my camera to function well and stay out of my way.This is a good, fair summary of the camera. While "ease of use" is a subjective and nebulous concept, I think it's appropriate that you pointed out that the camera took 9 seconds to boot up and has a slow write time. Aside from IQ comparisons, this is the kind of useful information I'm looking for in a camera review.
Maxington - Wednesday, June 4, 2008 - link
If I was heavily into portraits I'd go with the Fuji DSLR's, with their specialized sensors, not the Sigma.I can't knock Sigma lenses, they have some gems, but their cameras so far are pretty lacklustre.
I'd like Foveon to stay around as competition though, maybe with development it will find its strong points.
pinto4402 - Wednesday, June 4, 2008 - link
My only experience with Sigma lenses turned me off to "generic lenses" forever. I had my camera with a Sigma 17mm lense slung on my shoulders. As I was leaning down to pick something, the camera swung down and hit the ground. Not too hard, but hard enough. The lense and camera continued to operate fine, so I thought nothing of it. When I got home and developed my slides, I noticed that there were stray light streaks in all my images (not typical lense flare). When I examined the lense more carefully, I noticed that its plastic casing had cracked. The rubber focusing ring had obscured the crack.I'm still ticked off about this to this day 15 years later because I was on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Cambodia photographing Angkor Wat. All the hundreds of images I took with the Sigma had light streaks. Luckily, it was not a paying job, but the images had a lot of personal importance to me.
I've never had any such problems with the Canon L lenses, even though they've taken worse abuse. Their all metal build quality and wheather sealing (as well as fantastic optical quality) are the main reasons why I have been loyal to Canon even though Nikon, for now, has arguably superior cameras (D300, D3) to what I'm using (40D, 5D).
pinto4402 - Wednesday, June 4, 2008 - link
I agree that Fuji has found a place in the toolkits of many portrait photographers. The deal killer for me is that it has low resolution. I generally enlarge my prints to 24x36. An effective resolution of 6MP on the S5 Pro does not cut it. Come to think of it, the Sigma is probably not a good choice either because of its lower resolution. I've been a happy Canon 5D user, but I'm always looking for something different to add to my kitbag. That's why the foveon had some appeal.