DC
Cinematographiliac
I've been a Sigma shooter for awhile now, hopelessly smitten with the imagery output of the FOVEON sensor. I had an SD14, and now an SD15 (both were modified for Nikon lenses).
Sigma is launching three cameras with the "Merrill" badge, signifying a tribute to the late Dick Merrill (co-inventor of the FOVEON technology employed in their cameras).
Here 's the re-badged Sigma SD1 Merrill DSLR: http://www.sigmaphoto.com/shop/sd1-merrill-digital-slr-camera.cfm - 46MP FOVEON - HUGE PRICE DROP to $2,299 MSRP!!!
...the Sigma DP1 Merrill: http://www.sigmaphoto.com/shop/dp1-merrill-compact-digital-camera
...the Sigma DP2 Merrill: http://www.sigmaphoto.com/shop/dp2-merrill-compact-digital-camera
Here's the story behind the tribute, the story of Dick Merrill: http://blog.sigmaphoto.com/2012/the-vision-and-passion-of-dick-merrill/
I'll freely admit that the Sigma cameras generally lack many of the "bells & whistles" feature-set of other brands, but the company's philosophy is focused on the art and science of capturing the highest quality still images, which is done in a "no-frills" sort of way. And that's just fine by me.
Sigma is launching three cameras with the "Merrill" badge, signifying a tribute to the late Dick Merrill (co-inventor of the FOVEON technology employed in their cameras).
Sigma's announced that they've finally achieved economies of scale for the sensor in the Sigma SD1 that permit them to drop the SD1's price to the level they'd hoped for all along. The drop is dramatic to say the least, with the new Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) coming in at just $2,299. That's quite a drop from the roughly $6,900 [originally launched at nearly $10,000 MSRP, competing in the Medium Format category] the camera was selling for the day before the announcement. We'd felt all along that the camera produced truly exceptional image quality at low ISOs, but the high price made it hard to recommend for all but a fanatical few. With the street price dropping to just $2,299, though, it's a whole different ballgame: This is now a camera that many landscape, architectural, and studio photographers can affordably fall in love with. The natural question is what's to be done for the people who just shelled out $6,900 for a camera that's now worth a third that. The precise details are still cloudy as we go to press, but it appears that Sigma is going to be offering a very generous "points" system whereby current SD1 owners can recoup at least some of the price differential (potentially quite a bit) in the form of other Sigma product. - So it looks like current SD1 owners are in line for a big kit of Sigma lenses for their cameras. (Kudos to Sigma for this level of customer care; we can't recall when a manufacturer has taken such an aggressive approach towards supporting their current users in the face of a price drop.
One last point: The Sigma SD1 shall henceforth be known as the Sigma SD1 Merrill, in homage to the late co-founder of Foveon and the co-inventor of the Foveon sensor technology Dick Merrill. Despite the name change, there are nochanges in the camera's electronics, body, optics, or firmware. (Unlike the fairly radical changes in the DP1 and DP2 Merrill editions.)Here 's the re-badged Sigma SD1 Merrill DSLR: http://www.sigmaphoto.com/shop/sd1-merrill-digital-slr-camera.cfm - 46MP FOVEON - HUGE PRICE DROP to $2,299 MSRP!!!
...the Sigma DP1 Merrill: http://www.sigmaphoto.com/shop/dp1-merrill-compact-digital-camera
...the Sigma DP2 Merrill: http://www.sigmaphoto.com/shop/dp2-merrill-compact-digital-camera
Here's the story behind the tribute, the story of Dick Merrill: http://blog.sigmaphoto.com/2012/the-vision-and-passion-of-dick-merrill/
I'll freely admit that the Sigma cameras generally lack many of the "bells & whistles" feature-set of other brands, but the company's philosophy is focused on the art and science of capturing the highest quality still images, which is done in a "no-frills" sort of way. And that's just fine by me.
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DDDD
