Sigma SD14 Digital Camera Review

Sigma SD14

Digital Camera Review

Sep 29, 2006 - By Patrick Singleton
The Sigma SD14's unique sensor, the Foveon X3, is not the camera's only unique feature, but it calls attention to the camera more surely than anything else. Most sensors – CCDs, CMOSs, and NMOSs chips – put the three color sensors for each pixel side by side. The Foveon stacks them, which should eliminate any problems produced by having a lateral shift between color sensors. Sigma announced only a European price for the SD14, a substantial 1499 euros. For the hefty price, the SD14 shoots at an advertised 14 megapixels, although since the pixels are stacked, the total resolution is interpolated. The camera also has a dust protection feature, and an easily-accessible mirror-lockup control. Other aspects of the SD14, including a 2.5-inch, 150,000-pixel LCD, 5-point auto focus, and 3-frames-per-second burst speed, fall just short of some entry-level DSLRs that cost much less.
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Likes
- Innovative internal design (Foveon Chip) 
- Dust Protection scheme – if it works
- Comfortable Grip        
Dislikes
- Limited 5-frame RAW burst (took over 30 seconds to write)
- Low-resolution LCD
- Mode dial is a waste of space (restricts monochrome LCD)
- Clumsy interface
- Feeble port door
 
 
Conclusion
It's hard to get excited about the SD14 in its current state. Either the Foveon X3 is a big advantage, or it's not, but Sigma isn't ready to let us see for ourselves. They share images of some very beautiful women, lit spectacularly. The images are sharp and the tones are smooth, but it's impossible to say what's due to the production values, and what the camera can do.
 
What we can say is that the SD14 does not offer an advanced interface or mechanical system. The value of this camera rests entirely on the possibility that its image quality is superior. 
Overall Impressions Page 10 of 10
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