Sigma SD14 First Impressions Review - Sigma Digital Cameras

The Sigma SD14 is a bulky camera. Its styling is a pleasing combination of curves and edges, with a design emphasis on solidity and substance – the camera is bigger, and seems more substantial, than typical entry-level DSLRs. That's a reasonable thing, given that it costs about twice as much.

At 5.7 x 4.2 x 3.2 inches and 24.7 oz., the SD14 is larger than entry-level DSLRs. Its dimensions are close to those of the Nikon D200 and the Canon EOS 5D, though it weighs less than either. The typical user will carry the SD14 in a camera bag or on a shoulder strap – it's not the camera casual users will stuff in a backpack compartment.

The fit and finish of the prototypes we examined was very good, even though the battery door fell off. We'd infer that the environmental seals on the SD14 have at least one weak spot from that surprise, though.

The SD14 is easy to hold securely – the grip in front is comfortable and nicely textured, and the thumb rest on the back in excellent. Because we saw the SD14 at a demonstration booth at Photokina, we saw several people hold it. The grip seems natural for many users. Nearly everyone cradled the lens in their left hand, supporting the camera's weight and operating the zoom ring from underneath.

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The Sigma SD14 has only one control dial, so a number of functions require the user to turn the dial while pressing a button. Fundamentally, that's slow. We also had trouble avoiding the auto focus button while trying to press the exposure compensation button and turn the dial simultaneously. The Function button is tricky too – the SD14 scrolls one step through a series of adjustments each time the button is pressed, and the user has to hold the button down while turning the dial to adjust each option.

It's a waste that several buttons work only in Playback mode. The magnification controls are very prominent, but don't provide any shooting function. They could take the function of a second control dial. The star button, which marks, protects and rotates images, and initiates slideshows, also does nothing in shooting mode.

It seems as though menu structure is driven by marketing more than many other aspects of camera design. New features, or features that allow the camera to catch up with its competition.

The SD14 has three separate means of accessing typical menu controls. Most prominently, its ISO/Quality/White Balance button brings up four controls on the LCD, laid out to match the 4-way controller. The top control is ISO, which scrolls from 100 to 1600. The bottom control is white balance, which scrolls through Auto, several presets and manual. The left control sets file format – RAW, or 3 levels of JPEG compression. The right control sets the file's pixel dimensions. Typical choices for the 4-way controller are ISO, white balance, flash sync, auto focus mode, metering pattern, burst mode – controls that users are likely to adjust frequently while shooting. JPEG compression really isn't like that, but it's making a first appearance on the SD14, so Sigma apparently gave it the pride of place.

The Function button controls several options with an interface on the top LCD. These are: metering pattern, auto focus mode – single versus continuous focus – wireless remote control channel, flash sync, Extended ISO and “AL,” which no one at the Sigma booth could identify. As if to reinforce the contention that the SD14 is still in prototype, the extended ISO setting did not work on the sample we examined – the range ran from 100 to 1600 regardless of the setting. The camera should stop at 800 when not in extended mode, according to Sigma staff.

The matters left for the main menu range from fundamental to rarely-used, but they appear in a single, scrolling list. The type size is small for the screen's resolution. The settings are:

Set custom white balance	Shoot to set a white balance
Adjust setting	Submenu for Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation and Color Space
Date/Time	Set date and time
Language	Set menu and alert language
Quick Preview	Set length of time images show up on the LCD after they're shot
Preview Style	Set to show data in preview
Folder manager	Create and choose folders for image recording
Exposure Warning	Show overexposed areas
OK shortcut	Set OK button as a shortcut to various functions
Format CF card	Initialize memory card
LCD Brightness	Adjust display
LCD Contrast	Adjust display
LCD sleep	Set display automatic shutoff
Auto Power off	Set SD14 to shut itself off
Key sound	Set volume for beeps
Video mode	Set output to PAL or NTSC
Firmware	Update embedded programming
Camera reset	Revert to default settings

The SD14's controls are needlessly convoluted. Though it has plenty of buttons, they're not sensibly assigned. It's more important for a camera to be efficient in shooting than in image review, but the SD14 has more dedicated controls for review than shooting. It's easier to access JPEG compression than metering pattern or flash sync mode. It's inefficient to have to scroll through options including ISO extension and remote control channels to get to basics like metering.

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Sigma SD14

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