Sigma buys Foveon

[bmattock]

I guess this means Sigma is serious about continuing down the Foveon path. Good for them.

http://www.sigma-photo.co.jp/english/news/info_081111.htm
http://www.foveon.com/press_article.php?a=248

I read last week about the untimely death of the founder of Foveon, Dick Merrill, in October 2008. I wondered at that time what it would mean to the future of Foveon.

Well, the DP-2 continues to look good to me. Wish I was in a financial position to be able to afford it. Maybe someday.

 

[35mmdelux]

helps us out -- who/what is Foveon?

 

[Chris101]

Foveon is a digital image sensor technology that is an alternative to the tri-color array. Each element can distinguish red, green and blue levels. Sigma digital cameras have been using this technology for about six years now.

 

[meven]

helps us out -- who/what is Foveon?

Foveon is the company that makes the sensor used by Sigma in there digital cameras.

See HERE

 

[bmattock]

As stated, Foveon makes image sensors of a particular type, which are used in a variety of applications, including industrial sensing. However, their most famous use is in the Sigma digital cameras, where they are unlike other digital cameras (some say that's a good thing, others that it is a bad thing). They sense color in a different way than all the other camera sensors on the market.

A good overview can be seen here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foveon_X3

Final take - which echoes my own beliefs in Foveon technology:

Sigma's SD14 site has galleries of full-resolution images showing the color produced by the current state of Foveon technology. The 14-MP Foveon chip produces 4.7 MP native-size RGB files; 14-MP Bayer filter cameras produce a 14 MP native file size by interpolation (demosaicing). Direct visual comparison of images from 12.7-MP Bayer sensors and 14.1 MP Foveon sensors show Bayer images ahead on fine monochrome detail, such as the lines between bricks on a distant building, but the Foveon images are ahead on color resolution.

Anyway, it is significant that Sigma would buy Foveon, because it shows a commitment to a) the Foveon technology by Sigma and b) their desire to keep making cameras (they are primarily a third-party lens and flash unit maker).

 

[George S.]

Conspiracy Theory anyone? It's obvious to me that Sigma had him killed.

 

[fergus]

I picked up my SD14 when they were $499 on sale (just after the DP1 release). I could afford it, the Aussie dollar was over US$0.90 at the time (sigh) and I didn't want a mainstream DSLR anyway, so for me it was a good choice.

The only problem with it is the speed - 7 seconds between raw images, 6 seconds between jpg's. On the high quality setting the buffer holds just 3. For it's purpose (dlsr, 500mm+ lenses, animal images eg africa) that's pathetic. Apparently the SD15 is the SD14 all over agin but with the speed fixed!!!! Yay!!!

The images? I like them. Foveon works for me. I don't rely on it for a living, and I like having something a little different, and I don't try to keep up with the jones's... more likely to put more slide film in the fridge than change digital cameras.

If sigma continue the foveon development, good for them! I always dreamed of a 5x7 foveon thing to fit a view camera. Bliss.