OT: Anyone on this forum ever use a Sigma SD9?

Just wondering if anyone here has used one and if you could share

your thoughts. These can be found for under $700 for the body and

under $900 for the body with two cheap lenses. I know about some of

the limitations (RAW only, underexposes the Red channel, use only

Sigma glass), but for not much more than a P&S you get a full

featured DSLR (not a crippled Canon rebel).

 

This camera tends to be a real people polarizer, some think it's

junk, others swear that the images produced from it are sharper than

any out there.

 

Any thoughts?

Worse than junk, look at the Fuji, Nikon and Kodak products or save your money for a canon DSLR (just not the D300 Rebel or any of it's copies).

 

Gerry

Frank, have you shot with one? I know that's the prevailing opinion everywhere except the Sigma forums(pbase,dpreview)! Are those guys delusional, or do they know something we don't?

One of the folks on the "Picture A Week" mailing list, John Bean, has an SD9. He has

exhibited some very good looking photos with it. He uses the Sigma lenses as well as

some Zeiss and others adapted via an M42 thread adapter.

 

My own preference is for the Canon 10D, however, driven by more lens choices.

 

Godfrey

I don't know about the camera, but some of the Sigma aspherical glass is not too shabby. I believe that they make some of the Leica R lenses, so I wouldn't dismiss them out of hand. If the glass is good, then probably one could forgive some weaknesses of the body, although I AM talking from a chemical photography perspective, what do I know about digital.

It's interesting, when Finnigan introduced the Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer just about everyone said it was junk (led by HP who made quadrapoles). 20 plus years latter, some of the most interesting research is being done with trapping instruments.

 

I'd really like to hear from someone who's made prints from all three sensors (CCD, CMOS, and Foveon).

i guess at this point anything goes. how long until we drop the pretense of "OT"?? indeed, at this juncture, what would be TRULY off-topic for this forum??

AMEN, Roger.

Roger,

 

I post to this forum, not any of the others at PN (ok rarely others). I want to hear from readers of this forum. And yes, what's wrong with anything goes? How many times can you discuss the relative merits of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation 35 summicron! If the moderators wish, they can delete my post or move it to FS/WTB were it will be deleted in 30 days.

jeff -- i certainly was not singling you out (at least i wasn't tryting to), and have posted my share of OTs. i used to agree with you that it's OK to have an anything goes attitude, and that one of the nice things about the forum is that people are very knowledgable about MANY things other than leica.

 

BUT, as time has gone by, and as more and more posts veer wildly OT, i feel like the forum is in real danger. i think it's OK to pepper on-topic threads with a few OT comments. and i think it's OK to have the occasional knock-down drag-out political/religious/aesthetic debate just so we know where we all stand (it personalizes the place).

 

but, in the end, without the leica focus, the common bond will be lost, and the forum will become too diffuse. we need a sense of commonality to keep people feeling, well, communal. the fact that it is/was a LEICA forum attracted a group of people who had sufficient affinities to make the enterprise interesting. lose that, and it's just an open chatroom for the GP. and as we all know, "people is hell."

 

there is also another way to go at this. one of the HUGE problems in the internet age is FILTERING. access to info used to be the goal; now it's filtering the ROARING DIN of the info deluge so that we don't get overloaded or just plain bored. pipe elevator music into your office 24/7 and soon you will stop hearing the music. if this place gets too grey, people will just tune out the buzz and go elsewhere.

 

and we have lost a huge number of core members -- real repositories of great leica info -- over the past year or two. now, you ask a question about an obscure (or not so obscure)item and you get several wrong answers from people who don't realy know, and maybe one good hint about where you might look for the right answer. that's not how it used to be.

 

i know i didn't always take this approach, but i see now that tony was right about his rules. i wish he and josh would strictly enforce them. i thought a little static was OK, i realize now that any hole in the dike is ALWAYS going to get bigger and bigger.

 

finally, it used to be fun to hear a little bit about digital. now considering that's ALL you hear about everywhere else, it might be nice to hear about NOTHING BUT film at the leica forum. if you can't talk film photography here, that really says something about the state of the industry.

A freinds of mine, (you know him, you love him) Steve Chong, used to swear up and down that he would never go digital, but the siren call became a little bit too loud, and he bought a Sigma SD9. Last I heard, he was loving it (despite some problems). Check out the more recent work on his website, and see what you think.

<p>

<a href="http://www.stevechong.com/">www.SteveChong.com</a>

The question is not off-topic at all and highly pertinent to Leica rangefinder users.

 

AFAIK, the SD9/10 is unique amongst SLRs in that it shows you the image beyond the edges of the frame, just like a rf/vf finder. This should make it superior to other SLRs in providing the ability to anticipate movement into the frame, just as the Leica M does. Also, the shooting/composing style of operation should be significantly different from regular SLRs.

 

The question is, who has used this camera enough (and Leicas as well) to comment?

 

As a footnote, it is unfortunate that all other less than full-size sensor DSLRs used with film lenses and their oversize image circles could potentially have just such superior, oversized viewfinders. Instead, the body design masks off the "excess" image. A pity.

The dim roaring for seven,(7), paragraphs...Cheers

Did I hear someone mentioned my name? Phil is that you? People the SD9 is one fine camera. Here are a few links, check out the quality of the image yourself.<p>

<a href="http://www.pbase.com/image/23162058" target="_blank">Picture 1</a><p>

<a href="http://www.pbase.com/image/25540645" target="_blank">Picture 2</a><p>

My issues with the camer are,<br>

1 - It is a tad grainy at long exposure. <br>

2 - Awkward battery design. You have to use to pairs of battery sets. Two CR-123s and 4 AA battery. <br>

3 - Skin tone is a bit yellowish, but correctable<br>

However, since I shoot mainly indoor and have total control over the lightings, these problems dont bother me much.<p>

The SD10 is a much better camera compare to the 9. Most, if not all the problems of Sd9 had been addressed. Anyway, after the firmware update I have an SD9.9 :-)<p>

Yes I love this camera!<p>

<a href="http://www.stevechong.com" target="_blank">steve</a> -