Shooting with the Sigma SD1 Merrill

     I get alot of questions asking, "What camera should I buy?" The person asking usually gives two cameras either Nikon or Canon. While Nikon and Canon are the main power houses in the DSLR world, I have been growing quite fond of Sigma. Sigma is mostly known for their lenses made for multiple mounts, but a few years ago the got into the DSLR business. Their biggest draw to their cameras? The Foveon Sensor. The foveon sensor captures all three colors per pixel, much like the emulsion layers on film. This allows for true color and less artifacts. The sensor design also eliminates the need for optical filters and a demosaicing process necessary in bayer pattern sensors.

A Foveon sensor vs a Bayer Pattern sensor.

Did you know that a typical sensor's photo sites are 50% green and only 25% red and 25% blue?

This is because the human eye is most sensitive to the color green.

Now on to the SD1. Sigma has released many DSLRs before and few were taken seriously by the normal market. But now Sigma has released a monster. The SD 1 Merrill is a 46mp (15.3x3) APS-C beast. By standard pixel definition it is 15.3mp but because of the Foveon's unique properties it has the equivalent resolution of a 30mp bayer pattern sensor.

I feel that I have been technical enough for this post, Now on to some samples...

Here is a shot I took at Imaging USA 2013 in Atlanta. Sigma had a booth with a full setup for anyone wanting to try out a lens or the SD1.

The scarf that Mackenzie has here would manifest some serious Moire with a normal sensor.

This was shot on a Sigma SD1 with a 24-70 f/2.8 as a JPEG high quality. The color is dead on and the image was razor sharp.

Here is an image from a less controlled environment. I shot this at The Birding and Photo Fest in Marineland, Fl

This image was captured in the Sigma RAW file format and processed using Sigma Pro Photo 5.5. Once again the color is spectacular. I boosted the colors here because it was high noon and the sun was washing out the saturation. The SD1 captured the proper colors and made it easy to boost them without making it look too fake.

If you want a full review on the SD1, I'd have to shoot with one longer first, but the time I had with it makes me seriously consider buying one.