|
|
|
| |
Sigma SD14 14MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Sigma SD14 14MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) |
| Product DescriptionCapture the beauty of the world around you with the Sigma SD14 14 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera. The image sensor captures pure, rich light efficiently and gives the SD14 its high resolution and richly graduated tones. The mirror lock-up mechanism raises the mirror thus preventing vibration when the shutter is released. This prevents camera shake, and is especially effective for macro photography. FOVEON X3 Direct Image Sensor (CMOS) - 20.7mm x 13.8mm - approx. 7-12x larger than the image sensors used in ordinary compact digital cameras Lens Mount - SIGMA SA bayonet mount Compatible Lenses - SIGMA SA mount interchangeable lenses Angle of View - Equivalent to approx 1.7x the focal length of the lens for 35mm cameras Manual & Auto Focus Fast & precise focusing with 5-point AF Shutter Speed - 1/4000 - 30 sec. + bulb (up to 30 sec.) Image Sensor Dust Protector High speed continuous shooting at 3 frames per second 3 metering modes - 8-segment Evaluative Metering, Center Area Metering, Center Weighted Average Metering Built-in Flash Hot shoe (contact X synchronization at 1/180 sec. or less, with dedicated flash linking contact) Storage (Not included) - CompactFlash (Type I/II), Microdrive (FAT32 compatible) Recording Mode - Lossless compression RAW data (12-bit), JPEG ISO Sensitivity - Equivalent to ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 USB 2.0, Video Out (NTSC/PAL) Li-ion Battery BP-21, Battery Charger BC-21, Optional AC Adapter White Balance - Auto, Sunlight, Shade, Overcast, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Flash, Custom Exposure - Program AE (Program Shift is possible), Shutter Priority AE, Aperture Priority AE, Manual 144mm/5.7 W 107.3mm/4.2 H 80.5mm/2 D & 700g/24.7 oz (without batteries)ReviewsNice camera, well built even built better than my Nikon D40X or my friends D5000. It has its shortcomings like slower buffer, sluggish in low lights, not good auto white balance, weird control settings and only compact flash memory. It needs that personal attention when wanting that wonderful shot another words you got to work at your photographs but it really shines when you get things right. All in all I love it yet I hate it when the color balance is off or the exposure could have been better so you need to take your time and fine tune your settings. I find it a joy to shoot because it has a solid feel, it's heavier better dampen mirror slap and quieter than my Nikon. The viewfinder also has a cleaner brighter focusing screen inside. I love the concept of the removal IR absorbing filter so you can shoot Infrared without a conversion yet I find it more of a challenge to gain a good IR image than using the Sony F717 or V3 point and shoots. But do not dismay there are many great IR photographers out there using Sigmas and getting great IR images...
The Sigma SD14 is hands down one of the best dSLRs on the market! But, it is not for the beginner or novice shooter! It has no auto modes or fancy shooting modes, just the bare basics a Professional needs! Resolution is on par with a Canon 5D full frame sensor camera. Color reproduction is unmatched thanks to the FoveonX3 sensor technology capturing all RGB colors instead of interpolating(guessing) at 2 of the three colors per photosite. Dynamic range on the SD14 is quite simply, insane! It is almost impossible to blow highlights as the data is till there and they can be recovered easily. It is best to overexpose your images by at least +.7EV. Because the SD14's one downfall is the nasty color blotching in seriously underexposed areas.
Another superb feature of the SD14 is the ability for the user to remove the cut pass filter and turn the camera into a full time IR(infrared) camera with the addition of an IR filter to the lens. Or shoot without IR filter for IR+VIS light imaging.
If you are a B&W shooter, then the SD14 is also for you!! It is amazing in B&W due to the superb Dynamic Range(DR).
But colors are, of course, phenomenal! No issues with red or shades of red like Bayer based sensor cameras(Canon, Nikon, etc.) have! All colors are recorded on each photosite, therefore true colors are reproduced.
While the SD14 can do sports, I would look elsewhere for a fast paced lower light sports camera. I don't mind the SD14 for this because I am used to manual film cameras for shooting sports, lol.
But, for portraiture, weddings, product photography, macros, nature, wildlife, etc. it is hard to beat the SD14. For landscapes, it is next to impossible to beat it short of a medium format digital camera.
The SD14 CAN do tethered shooting just fine, do it all the time with my laptop. :).
The Sigma ProPhoto software is also very top notch, very much like Lightroom.
For conventional lenses you are stuck with Sigma, but that is NOT a bad thing!! Sigma makes some of the ebst consumer and professional lenses on the market! You can also purchase a low cost M42 thread mount adapter and use any older M42 screw mount lenses on your SD14 in manual focus, but still with focus lock confirmation. :). There are also other adapters to convert the SD14's SD mount to another brand's mount.
My only true complaint is the odd blotching in seriously underexposed areas when you try to recover them and the somewhat flimsy battery door. Other then that the SD14 gets my full recommendations and kudos!
I only gave it 3 stars for ease of use because most novice or beginning shooters will find it having a large learning curve because of it not having any of the auto and scene modes on it.
Sigma SD14's were expensive when they first came out, but I just couldn't resist when price dropped below $300, too bad price has gone back up again lately.
For a digital camera of this calibre, and like most other high end digital cameras, shooting RAW and processing it properly will give you the best results, however its JPG files are really quite excellent as well as long as you know how to adjust WB, exposure, and other parameters correctly to your liking according to the shooting conditions.
Controls are very intuitive, straight forward, and easy to use, many testers complain about the "one-way" user interface but trust me, after using it just a couple of weeks you will have it easily memorized and you will know exactly what comes next. Those who complain are simply unfamiliar with its controls.
This is not a camera for beginners, you really do need to practice sound photographic techniques to get the most out of it, also using Sigma's top the line EX lenses will certainly help bring the most out of its unique Foveon X3 sensor.
Sigma SD14 is a really unique product, currently there is really nothing in the market place quite like it. It is not a product designed for the masses, but a product designed by and for lovers of photography.
I purchased this camera to use as backup but I was impressed enough that I puchased a second to use as my main and a backup, The camera does have some short comings, it is slower than I would like and you do have to allow for that but the picture quality is second to none.
I was very, very excited about this camera when I ordered it. An underdog, it seemed to be getting great reviews here, and it's backed by a good name in lenses. Excitement turned to disappointment once I started reviewing the images it captured. I sent it back after less than a week, dissatisfied.
I shot everything at the 4.7MP setting, using Sigma's 17-70mm lens (the same lens that turns out great photos on friends' Canon and Nikon bodies). This was the first DSLR I've owned, but I'm comfortable with manual film SLRs and I've spent time with borrowed Canon Rebel XT and XTis. This camera was to be an upgrade to my Fuji S602 Zoom, a nice but outdated SLR-ish point-and-shoot with a 3MP sensor.
The no-frills controls were great--two dials is definitely the way to go. The camera is heavy in hand, but not unmanageable. Great orange-backlit LCD on top of the camera for reviewing settings, though the backlight sometimes wouldn't engage.
Autofocus was slower than the Canon system, but fast enough for me. The delay between the shutter release and the LCD image review was too long, sometimes a few seconds.
As for image quality, I was never able to capture a sharp image with this camera. I took around 100 photos, most indoors and a few outside in the rain, and every one of them lacked the detail I've seen in other samples online. Soft edges everywhere.
In addition, the camera's auto white balance was terrible. I could shoot at a white sheet of paper under incandescent lighting and wind up with a strong yellow cast. Not even a calibrated custom white balance setting could compensate for this fault. Even my Epson digicam from 2000 had better on-camera white balance.
Now, white balance isn't so important if you're shooting in RAW. Sigma's own Photo Pro software doesn't work on my platform (Linux), nor did I expect it to. I tried RAW a few times, but the dcraw and ufraw processing tools that work well for Canon's RAWs have a bug that adds green banding to Sigma images. Ordinarily, this would be fine; I don't mind shooting in JPEG most of the time. But, coupled with the camera's white balance problems that aren't easily correctable in JPEG, I couldn't produce usable photos without full-spectrum lighting.
Thinking the softness might be in my head, I tried the SD14 side-by-side with the Canon XTi (with the 18-35mm kit lens) and the Fuji S602 Zoom. I photographed a photo calendar on a wall about 3' away under bright soft white lighting at 100 ISO (160 on the Fuji, its lowest setting), shooting handheld. The Canon and Fuji turned out acceptable images, and the Sigma's were soft and yellow.
To stack the odds in the Sigma's favor, I even tried shooting RAW (colors be damned), putting the camera on a tripod, using mirror lockup, and focus bracketing (!!) in case the autofocus was miscalibrated or something. It didn't seem to make much of a difference. Even with all those additional precautions, I got better image definition from the handheld 3MP Fuji and better overall image quality from the XTi. I can believe and accept that the XTi might be capable of creating better images, but I couldn't believe the SD14 had trouble matching my rusty trusty Fuji.
I started with really high hopes and an open mind, but this camera just couldn't perform for me.
|
|
|
|
|
|
