Sigma and the Foveon Sensor

I used an Sigma SD14 for a while and the files were impressive at their native size, which was very small. Under the right conditions the colour and sharpness were very good indeed, but it was only really useable at base ISO.


I just wonder if Sigma can make the SD1 work with the larger size and whether they can improve the higher ISO's. Their previous cameras have been great for landscape photographers but hardly anyone else.





In the meantime there have also been vast improvements to Bayer sensors, and I wonder if they can come up with something special. Leica / Kodak have shown that no anti-aliasing filter doesn't have to mean bad high ISO but the Foveon sensor is something else. Nobody else has touched it and its taken so long to come up with a version that produces images of a useable size that I wonder if there are particular problems with it.


It will be interesting to see some samples when it appears.





There's a certain number of Photographers who would like to see manufacturers offer a non-anti-aliased sensor option of their cameras. Thom Hogan has been on at Nikon to do this for years. I saw some images from a D3 with its AA filter removed and they were spectacular. Imagine a D3X sensor with that done.


Would that then negate any advantage that the Foveon sensor has?











All images shot on a Sigma SD14.

Sigma SD1 and the Foveon sensor

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1009/10092129sigmasd1.asp

Photokina 2010 is interesting in that the gear that is stirring up lots of interest is not from the big two, Canon and Nikon but some of the smaller companies. Certainly the Fuji X100 has created a real stir. That was a surprising announcement and equally surprising and welcome news is that Sigma have finally come out with a Foveon Sensor that produces images of a decent size.


The Foveon works differently in that it layers its pixels vertically in colour layers. What this means in real terms is that the figures that Sigma quote for MP need to be divided by three to indicate how big their camera files are. So the SD15 with its advertised 14MP in fact produces a file in terms of size of just over 4.6 MP. The full size of an SD15 file is 13.3 MB. 


Because of the three colour layers and the lack of an Anti-Aliasing filter the images are sharp with wonderful colours but are only just under 9 x 6" at 300 ppi. They can be slightly interpolated but this reduces the quality substantially.


I had an SD14 and loved the look of the images. I shot mostly multi image panoramas with it since the single files couldn't be made large enough to use for my stock work. 


However it produced beautiful looking pictures.




















The colours weren't particularly accurate but had a lovely warm glow, which I liked. When I bought my Leica M8 that camera reminded me very much of the Sigma. Same sharpness and lovely colour.


Ultimately I stopped using the Sigma and sold it. The small file size was very frustrating. Now nearly three years later, out of the blue they come up with a 46MP camera. This means that it will produce files 15MP in terms of size. Thats very useable. I always thought that if they could get the foveon sensor to produce larger files then it could produce sensational results. It seems however that the SD1 isn't yet finished and there are certainly no samples to view at the moment. 


I'm still interested in what they can come up with, though in many ways the Leica M9 does everything that the foveon sensor promised. It could be a disappointment, since there are obviously reasons why its taken them so long to come up with this. However if they do get it right we could be on the verge of something quite special.


D

Morning Sales

One of the first things I do every morning is check my overnight sales on the various websites who sell my work.

I was interested to see what I'd used to take some of these images. I picked the last 5 images sold.

Nikon D300 18-55mm zoom lens Multi- Stitch Panorama

Sigma SD14 10-20 zoom

Nikon D700 Zeiss MF 18mm

Panasonic Lumix G1 14-45 Zoom

Pentax 645 200mm F4 lens Fuji Velvia 50 (pushed 1 stop) - Scan

So, a complete variety.

I no longer own any of the cameras or lenses I took these images with.

However as I have said before, I'm pretty unsentimental about cameras. Whatever works for me at the time is what I use.

What is really important is the flood of memories that come back. Driving round a corner on a country lane in Devon and seeing a huge field of wheat spread out before me. Seeing the skies finally lift on a damp, dull day in Scotland and the island of Mull appear from the gloom.

There's a somewhat cruel and crude description of the difference between an "amateur" and "professional" photographer. "If your house is on fire, what do you attempt to rescue? The amateur grabs their camera, the professional their photographs."

Not my phrase, I hasten to add, but from an extremely well-known wildlife photographer, who shall be nameless. However it makes the point. I could survive having all my cameras destroyed or stolen (I have in fact had the latter happen to me) but I couldn't survive the loss of my images.

Just thought I'd pop that in for the person who reviewed this blog on the internet by saying:-

"Nice pictures, but focuses on the technical aspects and equipment"

Words - D

Pictures - D & A

Panoramic Stitching

For the past 3 years or so over 50% of my images submitted to picture libraries have been multi image panoramic stitches.
For many libraries a file size of 48MB + is required. This is to give clients the opportunity to print up to A3. Since there are very few DSLR's that are capable of producing files of that size, files have to be interpolated.
This is something I've never been happy with. It does compromise on image quality and "cons" clients into thinking they are getting something they aren't.
However since its part of my living, I've had to do it.

The improvements to the Photomerge software in Photoshop have offered an alternative. By shooting a picture in sections and then combining them to produce a larger file, interpolation can be eliminated. It also allows me to use cameras that produce high quality but smaller file sizes. My Leica M8 and Panasonic G-series cameras for example. I had a Sigma SD14 a while ago, and while the images were superb, they were very small and didn't interpolate well. This technique allowed me to produce some really high quality, high resolution files from that camera.

Even with good software there's a lot of work needed on the files after stitching. However I find the final images are well worth the trouble.

A