Sigma SD14: Quick Look at a Quirky Wonder
by Wesley Fink on June 3, 2008 4:20 AM EST- Posted in
- Digital Camera
Final Thoughts
The Sigma SD14 is a huge refinement of everything that came before it. It is solidly built, well balanced, and easy to handle, with features that are much more contemporary and competitive than the SD10. These include a good viewfinder based on a real pentaprism with 98% accuracy in the view. The viewfinder is definitely one of the most significant improvements in the SD14.
The 5-point AF system is not state-of-the-art, but compared to the SD10 it is light years better. The AF module is new, so perhaps we can understand that it has trouble finding the right AF point, but it will certainly get better in the future. As a whole, the AF is much faster than the SD10 AF and much more flexible.
The electronics are something of a question mark. We initially had issues with very long start-up times with the SD14, but that turned out to be a CF card compatibility issue. With the change in CF cards start up was very fast - a second or less. However, the SD14, like its predecessors, is still plagued by agonizingly slow image processing. 2 to 3 seconds to image display followed by 6+ seconds to write a RAW image can only be described as slow. The JPEG support is also a nice option, but I think Sigma has achieved a first in that JPEG processing is actually slower than RAW. That is still a mystery.
Once the CF problem was sorted out the reliability of the SD14 was excellent in our continued testing. We are still sorting out the random lock-ups we first experienced with the SD14, but it now appears they were mostly related to a CF card design the SD14 definitely did not like. We have not experienced a single lockup since the CF card change. That certainly makes the SD14 an easier camera to live with than we first reported, but no matter how we recast these results there is no ignoring the slow image processing and write times of the Sigma SD14. We can only wonder what a Canon or Nikon or Olympus could do with the Foveon sensor, and whether the issue is the Foveon sensor overhead requirements or Sigma's issues with building processing boards. Until others release a Foveon camera, we can't answer that question.
With the limited image processing options and the extremely slow image processing of the Sigma SD14 you might conclude that there is no reason whatsoever for anyone to buy this camera. You would be wrong. When used properly, there is an almost three-dimensional appearance to Foveon images that nothing else can duplicate. It is very close to slide film with the kind of fluidity and color depth that is hard to describe but easy to love.
Sigma makes a big
deal of the SD14 being easy to operate, and we would agree that it is very easy to operate. However, that does not mean that the SD14
is easy to use. To use this camera properly requires more work than competing cameras - and a lot of
knowledge about photography. You have to be willing to shoot RAW most of the time
and spend the time in Sigma Photo Pro and Photoshop to get the most from your images.
Frankly, Sigma Photo Pro does a great job on Auto and you can safely batch process
images and save as TIFFs for Photoshop manipulation. For most images this is all the post-processing you may need, which can speed up the process for everyday shooting.
Photoshop CS3 is also reasonably good in the latest Camera RAW support in converting Sigma RAW. It's not quite as good, or as quite as flexible, as Photo Shop Pro, but it is not the disaster that past Photoshop RAW conversion was with Foveon images.
Our title said it all in this case. The Sigma SD14 is a quirky camera that is very slow in processing any images that it captures. Despite that, it is a significant upgrade and refinement to the earlier SD10 and SD9. It is certainly usable in the SD14 version as long as you keep its limitations in mind. If you choose the SD14 you learn to live with its quirks - for the gorgeous quality of the Foveon images. You have to be dedicated to live with an SD14 as there are much easier ways to achieve great results with competitive cameras. However, nothing from any competitor is quite as incredible as the best Foveon images, so there are definitely reasons to try to work with this camera.
The SD14 is probably best in the studio, in macro work, and possibly in weddings where the image quality might make your work stand out. It is even suitable for candids where speed and burst capability are not important. It would, however, be a terrible "candids" camera for sports or family action events or anywhere where slow image display times or slow image processing would be serious handicaps. In the right hands, the SD14 can be a remarkable photographic tool, but in the wrong hands it will just be a source of annoyance.
One thing definitely deserves mention in this review, however, and that is Sigma's extensive line of lenses for their SD series cameras. There are 39 Sigma lenses in their current catalog that are listed as available in the Sigma mount. Sigma-mount lenses are not easy to find, but the better ones we have worked with are very nice indeed. The 18-200mm f3.5-6.5 OS displayed very nice quality and a very competent OS implementation. We shot a number of images at 3 to 4 stops lower than the 1 over focal length rule that were very usable. It was also an absolute joy to mount a 15+ year old Sigma Macro on the SD14 and see it work exactly as it should. It was noisy compared to the best motor lenses form Sigma today, but the AF and exposure was exactly where it needed to be.
Last, after some experimentation and research it was clear the Foveon is better at highlights than at shadow detail. It seems to handle overexposure much better than underexposure. In the end, the best shots came by overexposing about 2/3 of a stop and letting Auto take care of it in RAW processing, or doing a little further exposure compensation on top of auto. This generally gave decent highlights without losing so much in shadow detail.
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justascot - Wednesday, June 4, 2008 - link
Pinto if you are genuinely looking for an extra tool to complement the 5d that you already own then you may well be interested to read a comparison between the 5D and the SD14 as carried out by another user as found here http://www.ddisoftware.com/sd14-5d/">http://www.ddisoftware.com/sd14-5d/Personally I find Image quality to be a subjective thing. I own the SD14 myself and enjoy it but I would never try and suggest that it is always going to be a better camera than your 5D. Your 5D is capable of working in different areas than the SD14 but you may well find on occasions (if you like the IQ of the foveon look that is) that you will prefer to use the SD14 for certain subject matters but that depends on 3 factors - your shooting style, your photographic interests and your ability to see the difference between the foveon and the bayer image and most importantly that like what you see.
I'm not going to try and sell you a SD14 that should be Sigma's job, I just see the camera (whoever manufacturers it) as a tool in which to do a job. I happen to like the end result of what this tool is capable of in the areas that I have in interest in - that being landscapes, portraiture and IR. Having used this camera for a few months now and seen the images of other users I am also gaining more of an interest in macro. These are all areas in which the SD14 excels if you have an interest in any of those fields it might well be worthy of further consideration by yourself.
As for the Megapixels argument, I have little time for that between any manufacturer. The quality of the megapixels seems to vary greatly between camera and camera no matter whether a foveon or bayer chip is used. I know from experience that there is a lot of information in a raw foveon image that suggests it is greater than the 4.7MP that some say, but less than the 14MP that Sigma would like us to believe. There are some users that say they can get print up to A0 with a SD14 file, and Sigma have been known to do this themselves but personally I've never felt the need to print that extreme. A2, or perhaps on the rare occasion A1 would be perfectly adequate for my needs and for that the raw file of the SD14 is ideal. It takes a little bit of skill to get the most of the foveon file. In my experience I found the auto white balance wasn't good enough for my needs but after switching to custom white balance in camera I found the results improved dramatically.
My advise is to do your research and look at what others who own the SD14 are able to get out of it and decide from there. In the end that's what sold it for me. The cheap price although a factor in sparking my initial interest was also something that put me off to an extent but it was the photography of the long term users that persuaded me in the end not the marketing by Sigma or megapixels argument between bayer or foveon fans.
pinto4402 - Wednesday, June 4, 2008 - link
Your comments are well taken. Thank you for taking the time discuss this with me.justascot - Wednesday, June 4, 2008 - link
You are welcome. I hope whatever conclusion you come to, it proves to be the right decision for you.My apologies for my lack of spacing between paragraphs in my previous comment I hadn't realised my mistake until after I pressed send.
Wesley Fink - Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - link
WE WERE WRONG ABOUT START-UP.We used three different 8GB CF cards in the course of testing fro 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 several emails from SD14 users reporting 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. THE STARTUP DELAY AND LOCK-UPS APPEAR TO BE THE FAULT OF CF CARD COMPATIBILITY ISSUES AND NOT THE SD!$ CAMERA.
We will revise the review shortly to reflect these findings and also update the lock-up issue as soon as we have had more time with the new cards.
justascot - Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - link
By on large as a Sigma SD14 owner of a few months I found this a fair and reasonable review, except on one matter. The experienced start up time of the author of this review puzzles me greatly. When I turn on my camera, within about a second its ready to go. If I had experienced an 8 second start up time I would have returned it to the shop in frustration. Sadly I'm not patient enough to deal with a start up time of that magnitude, thankfully I've not had to do just that. In fact the start up time has never been an issue for me. I'm not sure why the author experienced this issue, perhaps it was the 15 year old lens that was used although that seems unlikely.There are areas where the camera is slow, writing to card for instance - so for someone who is used to a quicker camera it does mean an adjustment in shooting styles.
Anyway about from the issue I highlighted it was a fair review. The Image quality of the camera is superb with good quality lens when combined with good skills of an experienced photographer. I would say the IQ compares favourably with the mid priced dslrs albeit at low isos, and with the current price of the SD14 it is a bargain, especially when you consider you have two cameras for the price of one if you are into IR. Most if not all other Dslrs require a permanent irreversible modification if you want to shoot in IR, whereas with the SD14 you can easily swap between regular colour and IR as your mood dictates.
I would never try to suggest this as a camera for everyone, its a specialist camera but if you have an interest in Landscape, Macro, portraiture and/or Infrared photography its well worth consideration for the image quality capabilities of the camera and the price - and unless something is very wrong it should be ready to shoot without contemplating whistling the first few notes of "Why are we waiting...."
Souka - Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - link
9 sec start up time? Probably running a flavor of Windows....crimson117 - Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - link
This is hardly primitive gear. As Wesley wrote in the review, since no other major manufacturer has used the Foveon sensor, it's impossible to know whether it's the camera design or just the sensor itself that is responsible for the slow response times.Your portrait photographer friends don't need a really quick camera, as portraits are usually carefully set up and controlled. Add in unbeatable image quality and it sounds like the right choice for a portrait photographer.
aeternitas - Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - link
Layer-per-primary is the future of digital photography. I can't wait till Canon or Nikon do the same, as they are bound to wrap more accurate hardware around the technology.For more pictures
http://reviews.photographyreview.com/blog/sigma-sd...">http://reviews.photographyreview.com/blog/sigma-sd...
s12033722 - Wednesday, June 4, 2008 - link
Layer-per-primary is definitely NOT the future of digital photography. It's a concept that sounds nice, but in practical application things are a lot muddier. The basic problem is that while the literature makes it sound like red photons go to one layer, green to another layer, etc, the reality is that you don't get nice discretely separated layers. Photons of a certain wavelength will generally penetrate silicon to a certain depth, but that depth varies based on a lot of factors, and photons come in a continous spectrum, not discretely separated wavelengths, so the reality is that you get a nice soup of photons all being absorbed in the "red" layer that may not be red at all. The sigma cameras are only able to produce their images through some very impressive image processing.If you want R, G, and B information at each pixel, there is a good way to do it: 3-CCD technology. Use a beamsplitter to image the same scene with 3 different imagers each filtered for one color. That will give you correct tri-color information at each pixel, but it costs a lot and it can be quite difficult to design.
Justin Case - Friday, June 6, 2008 - link
And has no real advantage over a single Bayer sensor with twice the height and width. Takes up (a lot) more space, cost more and is extremely hard to align (different wavelengths diffract differently).