Sigma SD14

Last updated
Sigma SD14
Sigma SD14 img 1251.jpg
Overview
Type Digital single-lens reflex
Lens
Lens Interchangeable (Sigma SA mount)
Sensor/medium
Sensor 20.7 mm × 13.8 mm Foveon X3 sensor
Maximum resolution 2652 × 1768 × 3 (14.1 million effective pixels, 4.69 megapixel output image size)
Film speed 100–800 in 1 EV steps, 50 and 1600 in extended mode
Storage media CompactFlash(CF) (Type I or Type II) and MicroDrive(MD)
Focusing
Focus modesOne-shot, Continuous, Manual
Focus areas5 points, cross pattern
Exposure/metering
Exposure modesProgrammed, shutter-priority, aperture priority, manual
Exposure metering TTL, full aperture, zones
Metering modes Matrix, Center Area, C/Wgt Average
Flash
Flash pop-up, sync at 1/180 second
Shutter
Shutter electronic focal-plane
Shutter speed range30 s to 1/4000 s, 2 min to 1/4000 s in extended mode
Continuous shooting up to 3.0 frame/s
Viewfinder
Viewfinder Optical, pentaprism, 98%x98%, 0.9x with 50mm lens at infinity.
Image processing
White balance 6 presets, auto, and custom
General
LCD screen2.5-inch (63 mm), 150,000 pixels
Battery1500 mAhr 7.2 V Li-ion rechargeable
Weight 700 g (body only)

The Sigma SD14 is a digital single-lens reflex camera produced by the Sigma Corporation of Japan. It is fitted with a Sigma SA mount which takes Sigma SA lenses.

Contents

The camera was announced on August 29, 2006 with a "teaser" advertising campaign [1] and was unveiled at the photokina trade show in Cologne, Germany on 2006-09-26. [2] After production delays, Sigma announced the official release of the SD14 to be on March 6, 2007. [3] Sigma has released sample images on their website. [4] Unlike most consumer cameras, which use color sensors based on a Bayer color array, the SD14 uses a Foveon X3 sensor. Another unusual feature is the fact that the infrared filter is fitted to the lens mount rather than the sensor and doubles as a dust protector, sealing the mirror and sensor compartment, and can be removed easily, to allow infrared photography.

Lenses and focusing

The camera uses the SA mount, for which only Sigma itself manufactures lenses.

The SA mount is physically identical to the PK mount with a reduced back-focus of 44.0 mm (equals Canon EOS) as opposed to the 45.5 mm of Pentax PK and M42. The Sigma SA lens protocol is a clone of the Canon EF protocol. This provides the ability for most Canon EF-mount lenses to work seamlessly after exchanging the mount plate with the Sigma DSLRs, but without image stabilization.

Pentax K-mount lenses physically fit, but should only be mounted when the rear protrusions have been dismantled. Such lenses will then focus beyond infinity and may contact the protective filter. A spacer ring (made e.g. of decopperized FR3 1.5 mm circuit board) can be added between the K-mount lens body and its bayonet plate. Prime (as opposed to zoom) lenses often permit a simple resetting of the position of the focusing ring on helical inside. Zoom lenses converted this way will become vari-focals by losing the focus setting as they are zoomed. The spring that opens or closes the lens iris in the K-mount lenses may have to be reset to work in the opposite direction.

Although the Nikon F-mount back-focus at 46.5 mm is well above the 44 mm of the SD14, there is no adapter for the infinity focusing possible as, unlike with Canon EOS, the Nikon bayonet of roughly the same diameter will not fit inside the SA–PK bayonet. The M42 thread does, as taken care of by Asahi when introducing K mount in the 1970s, and therefore all M42 lenses work as is without problems with the SA/M42 converter. Lenses with equal or shorter back-focus (pre-EOS Canon, Minolta, Konica, Miranda) can only be adapted by discarding the old bayonet, milling off extra metal from the lens barrel and adding an SA = PK bayonet flange. Due to the good quality viewfinder (for a crop-DSLR) of the SD14 the missing auto-iris is not a problem, and primes from 45 mm up focus comfortably on the screen down to f/5.6. The camera meters automatically via the AV setting with anything mounted on it or being mounted on, such a microscope or a telescope. For this, the camera should be set to a virtual aperture of 1.0. The SD14's solid construction and decent size make it a desirable platform for laboratory and technical photography.

Improvements from predecessors

The camera has a new body design with more rounded corners and is a little smaller than its predecessors, the SD10 and SD9. Like the previous models, it uses a Foveon X3 direct image sensor, this time with an improved pixel count of 2652 × 1768 × 3 photo-elements (4.7 million locations, 14.1 million total photo-elements). Since there are three layers of sensor elements for each pixel location, one each for red, green, and blue, Sigma and Foveon count 14 megapixels, counting all individual single-color sensor elements. [5] Similarly, companies selling Bayer sensor cameras also count single-color sensor elements as pixels, as does Fujifilm with its Super CCD cameras, in which both large and small photo-sensors under the same color filter and microlens are counted as pixels. [6]

Other improvements over the previous design include a built-in, pop-up flash, FAT32 support for larger-capacity CompactFlash storage cards, a higher continuous shooting speed of 3 frames per second, an upgraded auto focus system with 5 sensors, an AF assist lamp, an improved viewfinder with a 0.9 × magnification, an almost silent and more durable shutter rated at 100,000 actuations, a larger 2.5" LCD monitor, a USB 2.0 interface (but no FireWire interface anymore), and a proprietary rechargeable (Minolta NP-400 compatible) lithium ion battery system with a claimed 500 shot capacity (user experience puts it closer to 150-200).

Sigma also states that the re-design of the shutter has eliminated the problem of particles flaking off of that mechanism and onto the sensor. Sigma has also revised the infrared filter (dust protector); it is now a round snap-in design rather than the square, sturdier screw-in version of the SD10.

Output data options

The camera can output a raw file size of 14.1 million sample values, organized as 2652 × 1768 × 3, or a JPEG image up to 14 megapixels, or 4608 × 3072 (interpolated) pixels. The camera's ISO range extends from 100 to 800 (or 50 to 1600 in extended mode). There is not much degradation going from 100 to 200 and even 400.

In the raw file, each of 4.7 million triples of digitized data from the sensor contains three measurements taken at three different depths within the silicon chip. The penetration of light into silicon is dependent on the wavelength of the light; therefore, the red, green, and blue values can be independently calculated at each of 4.7 million locations.

This is in contrast to the approach utilized in a Bayer sensor, which can only measure one color channel at each location, and must interpolate the remaining color information based on the neighboring values. The SD14 image quality has been compared to 9–12 megapixel Bayer-sensor cameras, depending on light conditions and types of colors present in the image. [7] [8]

Software

Sigma Photo Pro

Postprocessing of raw X3F and JPEG of all digital SIGMA cameras

Version 6.x is free Download for Windows 7+ and Mac OS Version 10.7+ (6.3.x). Actual Versions are 6.5.4 (Win 7+) and 6.5.5 (MacOSX 10.9+). [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital camera</span> Camera that captures photographs or video in digital format

A digital camera, also called a digicam, is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film or film stock. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile devices like smartphones with the same or more capabilities and features of dedicated cameras. High-end, high-definition dedicated cameras are still commonly used by professionals and those who desire to take higher-quality photographs.

The Foveon X3 sensor is a digital camera image sensor designed by Foveon, Inc., and manufactured by Dongbu Electronics. It uses an array of photosites that consist of three vertically stacked photodiodes. Each of the three stacked photodiodes has a different spectral sensitivity, allowing it to respond differently to different wavelengths. The signals from the three photodiodes are then processed as additive color data that are transformed to a standard RGB color space. In the late 1970s, a similar color sensor having three stacked photo detectors at each pixel location, with different spectral responses due to the differential absorption of light by the semiconductor, had been developed and patented Kodak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayer filter</span> Color filter array

A Bayer filter mosaic is a color filter array (CFA) for arranging RGB color filters on a square grid of photosensors. Its particular arrangement of color filters is used in most single-chip digital image sensors used in digital cameras, and camcorders to create a color image. The filter pattern is half green, one quarter red and one quarter blue, hence is also called BGGR, RGBG, GRBG, or RGGB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital single-lens reflex camera</span> Digital cameras combining the parts of a single-lens reflex camera and a digital camera back

A digital single-lens reflex camera is a digital camera that combines the optics and mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a solid-state image sensor and digitally records the images from the sensor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigma Corporation</span> Japanese camera and camera lens manufacturer

Sigma Corporation is a Japanese company, manufacturing cameras, lenses, flashes and other photographic accessories. All Sigma products are produced in the company's own Aizu factory in Bandai, Fukushima, Japan. Although Sigma produces several camera models, the company is best known for producing high-quality lenses and other accessories that are compatible with the cameras produced by other companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lens mount</span> Interface between a camera body and lens

A lens mount is an interface – mechanical and often also electrical – between a photographic camera body and a lens. It is a feature of camera systems where the body allows interchangeable lenses, most usually the rangefinder camera, single lens reflex type, single lens mirrorless type or any movie camera of 16 mm or higher gauge. Lens mounts are also used to connect optical components in instrumentation that may not involve a camera, such as the modular components used in optical laboratory prototyping which join via C-mount or T-mount elements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigma SD10</span> Camera model

The Sigma SD10 is a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) manufactured by the Sigma Corporation of Japan. It was announced on October 27, 2003, and is an evolution of the previous SD9 model, addressing many of the shortcomings of that camera. The Sigma SD10 cameras are unique in the digital DSLR field in using full-color sensor technology, and in that they only produce raw format images that require post-processing on a computer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II</span> DSLR camera

The EOS-1Ds Mark II is a digital SLR camera body introduced by Canon Inc. in 2004. It was the top model in the Canon EOS line of digital cameras until April 2007, with a full-frame 16.7 megapixel CMOS sensor. The EOS-1Ds Mark II had the highest pixel count available in a 35mm format digital SLR at the time of its introduction until its successor was announced in August 2007. It uses the EF lens mount. The EOS-1Ds Mark II is a professional grade camera body and is large, ruggedly built, and dust/weather-resistant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canon EOS-1Ds</span> Digital single-lens reflex camera made by Canon

The EOS-1Ds is a full-frame 11.1-megapixel digital SLR camera body made by Canon in the 1Ds series, released on 24 September 2002. It was Canon's first full-frame DSLR. Its dimensions are 156 x 157.6 x 79.9 mm and mass is 1,265 g.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canon EOS-1D Mark II</span> Digital camera model

The EOS 1D Mark II is a professional 8.2 megapixel digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) camera body produced by Canon. The EOS 1D Mark II was the successor of the EOS 1D and was itself replaced by the Canon EOS-1D Mark III in 2007. It was Canon's first dual-card slot EOS camera with one CF slot and one SD slot that was meant easily to use two dominant card types and have a assurance that once a small sized primary and faster CF slot is full, camera can be used to take photographs when recording was continued on secondary and slower card in critical moment. It also now had wireless capabilities. When paired with the new Canon WFT-E1, you could transfer images to a PC using an FTP server.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">APS-C</span> Image sensor format

Advanced Photo System type-C (APS-C) is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the Advanced Photo System film negative in its C ("Classic") format, of 25.1×16.7 mm, an aspect ratio of 3:2 and Ø 30.15 mm field diameter. It is therefore also equivalent in size to the Super 35 motion picture film format, which has the dimensions of 24.89 mm × 18.66 mm and Ø 31.11 mm field diameter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigma SD9</span> Camera model

The Sigma SD9 is a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) produced by the Sigma Corporation of Japan. The camera was launched at the Photo Marketing Association Annual Show on February 18, 2002. It was Sigma's first digital camera, and was the first production camera to use the unique Foveon X3 image sensor, which reads full color at each pixel site. Other sensors detect only one color at each site and interpolate to produce a full-color image.

The Sigma SA-mount is a lens mount by the Sigma Corporation of Japan for use on their autofocus single-lens reflex and mirrorless cameras. It was introduced with the SA-300 in 1992. Originally, the SA-mount was a dual-bayonet mount with inner (SA-IB) and outer (SA-OB) bayonets, the latter being a feature intended to mount heavy telephoto lenses, but never utilized by Sigma and consequently dropped with the release of the SD14 in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Image sensor format</span> Shape and size of a digital cameras image sensor

In digital photography, the image sensor format is the shape and size of the image sensor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenses for SLR and DSLR cameras</span>

This article details lensesfor single-lens reflex and digital single-lens reflex cameras. The emphasis is on modern lenses for 35 mm film SLRs and for "full-frame" DSLRs with sensor sizes less than or equal to 35 mm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigma DP1</span>

The Sigma DP1 was a high-end compact digital camera introduced by the Sigma Corporation. It featured a 14-megapixel Foveon X3 sensor, a fixed 16.6 mm F4.0 lens, a 2.5-inch (64 mm) LCD and a pop-up flash. It was the first "compact" camera that featured an APS-C sized sensor, a feature that Sigma claimed would result in DSLR quality images from a small, pocketable camera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kodak DCS</span>

The Kodak Digital Camera System is a series of digital single-lens reflex cameras and digital camera backs that were released by Kodak in the 1990s and 2000s, and discontinued in 2005. They are all based on existing 35mm film SLRs from Nikon, Canon and Sigma. The range includes the original Kodak DCS, the first commercially available digital SLR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard B. Merrill</span>

Richard Billings Merrill (1949–2008), a.k.a. Dick Merrill, was an American inventor, engineer, and photographer.

The Fujifilm FinePix S200EXR is a digital bridge camera from Fujifilm introduced in July 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mirrorless camera</span> Compact camera with a user-removable and replaceable lens

A mirrorless camera is a digital camera which, in contrast to DSLRs, does not use a mirror in order to ensure that the image presented to the photographer through the viewfinder is identical to that taken by the camera. They have come to replace DSLRs, which have historically dominated interchangeable lens cameras. Other terms include electronic viewfinder interchangeable lens (EVIL) cameras and compact system cameras (CSCs).

References

  1. Sigma Corporation. "Sigma-SD14.com".
  2. "The SD14, 14 megapixels (2,652×1,768×3 layers) Digital SLR camera" (Press release). Sigma Corporation. 2006-09-26.
  3. Kazuto Yamaki (February 20, 2007). "To our valued customers who waited patiently for the SD14 camera".
  4. "Sigma SD14: Sample Image Gallery". February 16, 2007. Archived from the original on February 18, 2007.
  5. Sigma Corporation. "Product Summary: 1. 14 Megapixels Foveon X3 direct image sensor". SD14. Retrieved 2006-09-28.
  6. Fujifilm (2006). "Digital Cameras: FinePix S5 Pro". Fujifilm US website. Retrieved 2006-09-28.
  7. Sigma SD14 Resolution: Can it Hang with the Big Dogs?
  8. Camera Test: Sigma SD14 – PopPhoto – July 2007
  9. "SIGMA Photo Pro | Software".