Rhodie
Established
The Sigma decision to delay their new DSLR and subsequent Press Release may well have come from the lessons learned from the Leica launch.
They don'y say what their issue is however.
Also, it would be fair to say, that the anticipation and expectations of the SD14 in no way compare with those awaiting the M8.
But corporate openess should be welcomed, even if perhaps learnt off the bitter experiences of others.
In a similar vein I would just like to add my applause to Popflash's generous offer to existing M8 customers;
it is rare in these days of operating on slim margins etc. seeing retailers taking the initiative and look after their customers.
I believe it is not too far removed from something suggested by Jaapv on this forum.
It would be good seeing Leica making this a corporate-wide policy rather than left to individual dealers.
FYI:
Postponement of the Sigma SD14 launch date
Dear Customers,
I appreciate your strong and kind support for our products.
At photokina 2006, we introduced our next generation digital SLR camera, the Sigma SD14.
At the time, we made it clear that we would begin shipping production cameras late November 2006.
Soon thereafter, we revised our release plan from late November to the middle of December.
Of course we continued our development work on the SD14 in preparation for production and shipping.
During this process, we found one issue that occurred occasionally and only under certain circumstances.
Initially, we felt that this could be solved with a programming or processing solution.
However, after careful investigation and many attempts at a solution, we have come to the conclusion
that we need to make a hardware change to fix this issue completely.
All of us at Sigma regret very much that this will result in a delay in the availability of the SD14 until late February
or early March 2007. Retail sales should start in mid-March.
We deeply and sincerely apologize to all of our current and future Sigma users for this delay.
We are confident that the SD14 will be an important product for photographers.
The results we have produced thus far have been outstanding. However, we feel that we would not be serving our community of
present and prospective photographers well by delivering a camera with a known issue.
We ask for your understanding. For our part, we will do our best to fix this problem and begin delivery of the SD14
as soon as possible.
The amount of interest shown in our digital imaging products at photokina 2006 and thereafter was very encouraging.
Please note that the delay of the SD14 will not have a significant impact on the development work on other cameras or lenses.
This work continues and we will announce delivery plans as they become firm.
At this time, I would like to once again express my gratitude to all of our Sigma customers for their support.
Thank you very much for your understanding and we appreciate your patience in waiting for the SD14.
We are confident it will be worth the wait.
Best regards,
Kazuto Yamaki
Chief Operating Officer
Sigma Corporation
They don'y say what their issue is however.
Also, it would be fair to say, that the anticipation and expectations of the SD14 in no way compare with those awaiting the M8.
But corporate openess should be welcomed, even if perhaps learnt off the bitter experiences of others.
In a similar vein I would just like to add my applause to Popflash's generous offer to existing M8 customers;
it is rare in these days of operating on slim margins etc. seeing retailers taking the initiative and look after their customers.
I believe it is not too far removed from something suggested by Jaapv on this forum.
It would be good seeing Leica making this a corporate-wide policy rather than left to individual dealers.
FYI:
Postponement of the Sigma SD14 launch date
Dear Customers,
I appreciate your strong and kind support for our products.
At photokina 2006, we introduced our next generation digital SLR camera, the Sigma SD14.
At the time, we made it clear that we would begin shipping production cameras late November 2006.
Soon thereafter, we revised our release plan from late November to the middle of December.
Of course we continued our development work on the SD14 in preparation for production and shipping.
During this process, we found one issue that occurred occasionally and only under certain circumstances.
Initially, we felt that this could be solved with a programming or processing solution.
However, after careful investigation and many attempts at a solution, we have come to the conclusion
that we need to make a hardware change to fix this issue completely.
All of us at Sigma regret very much that this will result in a delay in the availability of the SD14 until late February
or early March 2007. Retail sales should start in mid-March.
We deeply and sincerely apologize to all of our current and future Sigma users for this delay.
We are confident that the SD14 will be an important product for photographers.
The results we have produced thus far have been outstanding. However, we feel that we would not be serving our community of
present and prospective photographers well by delivering a camera with a known issue.
We ask for your understanding. For our part, we will do our best to fix this problem and begin delivery of the SD14
as soon as possible.
The amount of interest shown in our digital imaging products at photokina 2006 and thereafter was very encouraging.
Please note that the delay of the SD14 will not have a significant impact on the development work on other cameras or lenses.
This work continues and we will announce delivery plans as they become firm.
At this time, I would like to once again express my gratitude to all of our Sigma customers for their support.
Thank you very much for your understanding and we appreciate your patience in waiting for the SD14.
We are confident it will be worth the wait.
Best regards,
Kazuto Yamaki
Chief Operating Officer
Sigma Corporation
IGMeanwell
Well-known
This is quite interesting
IMHO, Sigma is generally a company that has the best intentions and in my experience has been very generous to their customers.
One of my favorite lenses is their 30mm 1.4 EX HSM .... it fell from maybe 2 ft off the ground when I was changing lenses in a hurry; well it fell with a thud and it ended up bending the aperture control arm.
So I called Sigma to see if this sort of problem would be under warranty, they assured me it would; so I sent it off to them with warranty card and letter... they told me it would be a minimum 3-6weeks.
Well 5 days later there is package on my door step; in the package was my sigma lense with a brand new F-mount, service sheet included, free of charge, and they sent back my warranty card (still haven't owned the lens a year yet).
Not a single problem with it since I got it back and it still is my most used lens.
Honestly who has ever heard of a warranty turn around in 5 days?
Anyways, I applaud Sigma for this
To be honest I bet they are probably trying to do a quick buffer upgrade before its released since that has been a major concern at its release. Don't be suprised if the price is different a week or two after it finally is shipped
IMHO, Sigma is generally a company that has the best intentions and in my experience has been very generous to their customers.
One of my favorite lenses is their 30mm 1.4 EX HSM .... it fell from maybe 2 ft off the ground when I was changing lenses in a hurry; well it fell with a thud and it ended up bending the aperture control arm.
So I called Sigma to see if this sort of problem would be under warranty, they assured me it would; so I sent it off to them with warranty card and letter... they told me it would be a minimum 3-6weeks.
Well 5 days later there is package on my door step; in the package was my sigma lense with a brand new F-mount, service sheet included, free of charge, and they sent back my warranty card (still haven't owned the lens a year yet).
Not a single problem with it since I got it back and it still is my most used lens.
Honestly who has ever heard of a warranty turn around in 5 days?
Anyways, I applaud Sigma for this
To be honest I bet they are probably trying to do a quick buffer upgrade before its released since that has been a major concern at its release. Don't be suprised if the price is different a week or two after it finally is shipped
R
RML
Guest
IGMeanwell said:
Cheaper or more expensive?
pvdhaar
Peter
For Hexar-AF repairs in the mid 1990's; the Konica importer in the Netherlands. That is, when they were still in the camera business and had no website, no e-mail, no nothing. AF-Hexars would apparently be treated as pro-gear and make it to the top of the pile. I had mine back in a week, including the overhead of a stop-over on both ways at the camera shop.. Nowadays you'd be lucky if you could even find out where the heck you'd have to send a Konica to get it fixed..IGMeanwell said:
Also in great contrast to a Bessa-T repair this year that took a whopping 3 months..
fgianni
Trainee Amateur
So Sigma is behaving how you would expect Leica to behave, while Leica is behaving like a manufacturer of cheap third-party lenses...
Rhodie
Established
Good one!
Perhaps a lesson has been learnt,
and, welll one still to be owned.
Look how Popflash have taken the high road and they are only a dealership!
Perhaps a lesson has been learnt,
and, welll one still to be owned.
Look how Popflash have taken the high road and they are only a dealership!
IGMeanwell
Well-known
RML said:
good question ... probably more expensive if its a buffer upgrade
f8&go
Established
Been thinking about Leica & the financial pressures
on them. Leica does less than $40M annually, I believe,
and Sigma more that 4X that and isn't threatened by
years of troubles & losses. Zeiss is a huge conglomerate.
I hope there will always be a Leica, these boxes & glass
are a photographic tradition that we don't want to loose.
I am not picking on any posters here, just ruminating.
Leica is a small-potatoes, very fragile business proposition.
They screwed up but they are underdogs, really.
They've made a mostly terrific, truly unique digicam
that uses legendary glass. I hope it's just a stumble
along the way to a homerun.
on them. Leica does less than $40M annually, I believe,
and Sigma more that 4X that and isn't threatened by
years of troubles & losses. Zeiss is a huge conglomerate.
I hope there will always be a Leica, these boxes & glass
are a photographic tradition that we don't want to loose.
I am not picking on any posters here, just ruminating.
Leica is a small-potatoes, very fragile business proposition.
They screwed up but they are underdogs, really.
They've made a mostly terrific, truly unique digicam
that uses legendary glass. I hope it's just a stumble
along the way to a homerun.
IGMeanwell
Well-known
I was only riffing on the fact I think Sigma often gets a unfavorable rep considering how many people use their lenses and cameras.
and yes Sigma had probably responded to the many internet forums that have had issues with cameras that have been shipped with various shortcomings ... it show's their maturity to hold off on shipment and try to get it right
and yes Sigma had probably responded to the many internet forums that have had issues with cameras that have been shipped with various shortcomings ... it show's their maturity to hold off on shipment and try to get it right
kbg32
neo-romanticist
You pay your money and take your chances.....
f8&go
Established
IGM,
I was happy to hear of your positive experience with Sigma.
I'd like to see their camera survive too. I understand from
a PopPhoto article that they have a following amongst
landscape specialists for their color accuracy. Like Leica,
theirs is not simply another conventional sensor; same for
Fuji.
You are probably right about them getting a heads-up
from the Leica affair.
I was happy to hear of your positive experience with Sigma.
I'd like to see their camera survive too. I understand from
a PopPhoto article that they have a following amongst
landscape specialists for their color accuracy. Like Leica,
theirs is not simply another conventional sensor; same for
Fuji.
You are probably right about them getting a heads-up
from the Leica affair.
ywenz
Veteran
Sigma > Leica
Michael I.
Well-known
I have a sigma 28/1.8 full frame(late nineties-before digital) in nikon mount(af but used manual focus only). Very nice lens.
Andy Aitken
Registered Loser
Hmmmm.
Sigma 30mm f1.4 in Leica M mount - how nice would that be?
Sorry, just dreaming again...
Sigma 30mm f1.4 in Leica M mount - how nice would that be?
Sorry, just dreaming again...
fgianni
Trainee Amateur
Andy Aitken said:
I was thinking of getting one for my 20D, but on the reviews I have seen about the Sigma 30mm 1.4 the reviewer seemed somehow unimpressed.
On the other hand I am very happy with my 20mm f1.8 (providing I use it stopped down to at least 2.8) and the 150mm f2.8 macro.
I am eagerly waiting for the DP1 to see how they handled the problem of a compact wide angle lens very close to an APS size sensor, maybe the DP1 too will require an IR filter?
decoyslikecurve
Member
The sigma 30 1.4 is a fantastic peice of glass.
I run one on my 30d and it is absolutely PIN sharp even at 1.4 with beautiful color contrast and bokeh. Sharper than my canon 70-200 f4L (famed L glass) and overall usually gives a nicer picture.
I also own a sigma 10-20 and I find it excellent as well. Minimal distortion, extremely sharp and fast af etc etc. Built better than the canon which is twice the price.
I really like Sigma, I'd definetly be interested in seeing that sd14 slr in action. the sensor sounds very interesting. Kudos to them doing the right thing as well...
I personally think the whole m8 think is very overblown. Its still a camera I would have. Its still a camera I desire. Theres not really much like it.
I run one on my 30d and it is absolutely PIN sharp even at 1.4 with beautiful color contrast and bokeh. Sharper than my canon 70-200 f4L (famed L glass) and overall usually gives a nicer picture.
I also own a sigma 10-20 and I find it excellent as well. Minimal distortion, extremely sharp and fast af etc etc. Built better than the canon which is twice the price.
I really like Sigma, I'd definetly be interested in seeing that sd14 slr in action. the sensor sounds very interesting. Kudos to them doing the right thing as well...
I personally think the whole m8 think is very overblown. Its still a camera I would have. Its still a camera I desire. Theres not really much like it.
decoyslikecurve
Member
Raw file turned jpeg- no sharpening - taken at f1.6... sigma 30mm 1.4 ex
I know this is off topic but I couldn't help myself - so happy with the lens.
I know this is off topic but I couldn't help myself - so happy with the lens.
erichard44
Member
As a very happy Sigma SD10 user I too have experienced Sigma's warranty service, and it was very good. They have a great reputation for both the cameras and lenses. Meanwhile, as to the SD10, it is a stunning camera, if flawed. The SD14 shold resolve most of the "camera" issues, and the DP-1 may be something else again. The 14MP sensor behind a 28MM (equivalent) lens ought to be very interesting. Sigma knows how to make very good lenses when they want to.