Sigma SD14 DSLR delayed 'till March

Oh, Sigma. First you get us all excited with a tantalizingly over-the-top teaser site for your flagship SD14 digital SLR, then you officially announce the camera with the usual fanfare at Photokina, only to delay the launch date by a few weeks shortly thereafter. Now, you're throwing our digital camera-loving hearts for a loop once again, announcing that the camera's been pushed back all the way to March 2007, blaming the delay solely on an unspecified "issue" that can only be remedied with a hardware fix. We'll give you this one more chance to get it right, Sigma, but there's only so torment much we can take.

[El Guano Posted Dec 7th 2006 4:43PM]

I really want to see Foveon succeed, but they're going to have to do more than be "that Sigma sensor" if it's going to happen.

It also means they'll have to jump head-on into the megapixel race. Foveon pixel quality is indeed higher, but they still need to heed consumer psychology.

[PorkchopFlavoredCupcake Posted Dec 7th 2006 7:12PM]

Foveon hit a brick wall in furthering the megapixel race sometime ago. They can't really make it beyond 5MP without killing the quality they initially set out to preserve.

The next answer appears to be with what Fuji calls OCMOS (Organic Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor), it's a second line of sensors in development from Fuji, famed for their SR CCD sensor technology, and it's based around a similar concept of capturing RGB at every pixel point. The methods for doing so are a bit more complex than what Foveon has, but if paired with SR, Fuji could quite possibly achieve the best replication of film known within DSLR cameras and Digital Cinema cameras.

I wouldn't discount Canon either, they've been cemented in CMOS development for a long time now, and they've probably still got a few more tricks up their sleeve.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY Posted Dec 7th 2006 4:28PM]

Sigma = cheap fun!

[Sine Posted Dec 7th 2006 4:48PM]

Ouch, this doesn't look good for Sigma's sales numbers. Most people wouldn't even consider Sigma (through lack of brand presence) when purchasing a DSLR, so IMHO their only hope is to release good products while the hype machine is still buzzing.

At this point, I don't see many people waiting for this over an equivalent Canon or Nikon that they can have now.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2006 5:10PM]

Why would I buy a Sigma with access to only Sigma lenses, when I can buy a Canon or a Nikon and have access to all of Sigma's lenses plus all of either Canon or Nikon's?

Their sensor may be shiny, but it's certainly not blowing anything else out of the water.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2006 6:12PM]

looks like something you would get out of one of those claw machines.. CHEAPPPP

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2006 6:20PM]

Foveon is the greatest waste of a exciting and innovative technology. Too bad they don't sell it to a mainstream SLR maker like Nikon, Canon, Fuji or Kodak. Aside from the sensor, the "features" that the Sigma SD-14 "boasts" are extremely sub par compared to anything else out right now: 5 point AF system WOW!, Dust protector OOOOH and lets not forget the most exciting feature of all: the sigma lens mount! My prediction is that this will be the last Sigma D-SLR. If you want a 3rd party D-SLR look at the new Fuji S-5 (basically a Nikon D200 with a SuperCCD).

[El Guano Posted Dec 7th 2006 8:58PM]

Very interesting info, thanks. A "brick wall" is unfortunately an apt description for Foveon tech over the last few years.

I haven't heard about OCMOS, and I just hope Fuji can take it from design to production at a faster rate than they've been doing for the last couple of generations of SuperCCD.

Word from the Canon camp is that 2007 is going to be the year of some dramatic new CMOS sensor technology, focusing on significantly-increased dynamic range.