Sigma SD1

Sigma SD1

The SD1 created a great deal of interest at Photokina 2010. Having used Foveon's original 4.7x3MP sensor in its SD and DP series of cameras, Sigma bought the sensor company in 2008 and instructed it to focus its efforts on high quality stills photography - specifically the 15x3MP sensor that the SD1 is built around. Now, not long after the originally-proposed launch date, the SD1 is here. The first thing to be addressed has to be the price, and let's not dance around this: the SD1 is eye-wateringly expensive. Even with Sigma listing lens kits for pre-order at significantly below its own suggested price for the body alone, it's still a hugely expensive piece of kit. The company is talking in terms of the SD1 being a portable alternative to medium format cameras (which may not be entirely unfair, as the sensor has the potential to produce resolution similar to a 30MP Bayer-type sensor). Ultimately, the entire research and development cost of the sensor has to be recouped from the number of cameras the company expects to sell and, sadly, the MSRP suggests that Sigma only expects to sell medium format quantities. You could, of course, argue that it might sell twice as many if it sold them for half the cost, but that isn't the tactic Sigma has chosen.