Sigma SD1 User Manual download pdf (Page 2)

GEAR Sigma SD1

82 September 2011 Taking your photography to the next level

Taking your photography to the next level September 2011 83

GEARSigma SD1

With the SD1 Sigma is clearly going

for the studio market and the company

seems to be aiming higher than rivals such

as Canon, Nikon and Sony if the price is

anything to go by. So what better way to

test out the camera than to spend ten days

putting it through its paces in my busy

studio on a real job? A real baptism of re

that I wouldn’t wish on any new model!

Now let me say at the outset that I

expect a great deal from my kit and I am

very fussy when it comes to image quality

and usability, especially when working in

a very dark studio, under pressure with

demanding clients on site. Getting to grips

with any new camera system is always a

learning curve and the SD1 proved to be no

exception. As always (because I am a man)

I bumbled around the menu systems for a

while and then resorted to the instructions

for the nal pieces of the jigsaw. To be

honest it was all quite straightforward, and

I encountered no more than a couple of

areas of uncertainty, which is a testament to

Sigma. The instruction manual also proved

to be well written on the odd occasion when

I simply had to admit defeat.

The main menu system on the camera is

quite utilitarian but functional none the less,

and the Quick Selection menu is nice and

easy to use and allows you to make most

of the regular adjustments you are likely to

need. Being a commercial shooter the fact

that the ‘mirror-up’ control is located on the

main control dial is a joy to behold (Canon

please take note; it isn’t rocket science)

and everything else fell into the hand very

easily. Even in the dark I was able to navigate

around the body very easily after a couple of

hours. So much so that it felt strange going

back to my Canon, where I achieved lots

of wrong button pushes! Battery life I also

found was excellent over the period of the

test, and this appears to be at least as good

as anything else out there on the market at

the moment. A small point but important.

All that said there are a number of

omissions and some quite serious usability

issues when using the SD1. There is no Live

View for example, which makes critical

focus on small/medium products extremely

dicult and a rather hit and miss aair. With

the entire current crop of high-end DSLRs

having this function right now, and seeing

the kind of market Sigma is aiming at, it

seems a strange and unforgivable omission.

Trying to remedy this omission by using

the new autofocus system doesn’t help

too much either as the SD1 has a tendency

to hunt in low light levels. In a commercial

environment colour is everything and

although the SD1 does allow for custom

white-balancing it does not allow the user to

dial in specic Kelvin values. This may seem

minor but when shooting low-key product

with anything but ash, getting a correct

custom white-balance isn’t always possible.

If, however, you know the colour of your

lights this function is invaluable and the fact

is that it is readily available on other camera

systems aimed at a much lower section of

the market, and really should be found here.

On the subject of colour the SD1 does err

a little on the magenta side of things but

no more than other systems, but the blue

bias oered by the LCD is quite o-putting.

This however is just a characteristic of the

screen itself and the images themselves are

actually ne when you pull them up.

The main problem I encountered while

giving the SD1 a thorough workout, and

this in my opinion is the camera’s Achilles

heel, is its internal buer. Even using top

spec Compact Flash cards, the average time

from shutter release to being able to view

and zoom in on an image – to check focus

for example – is 15 seconds for a Raw image!

This time is further increased when long

exposures are taken. This may not seem

much but, by comparison, my 5D Mark II

takes just two seconds. Even on a still life

shoot this is an age, and if you happen to

be working on a portrait or fashion shoot

it quickly becomes unworkable. When

shooting a model portfolio for a prospective

model I ended up using JPEG capture when

shooting to speed things up. Don’t get me

wrong, the JPEGs were excellent but I would

have innitely preferred Raw. Another area

where the SD1 misses out, and again this

may increasingly be an issue for some, is in

the fact that there is no provision for video

capture. It doesn’t happen to be an issue for

me but at this price bracket adding a pop up

ash while missing out the new buzz toy

seems like a strange decision.

Image quality

From what I saw there is no doubt that the

SD1 can produce superb results in the studio.

Is it medium-format quality? Unfortunately

I would say not. Image quality is comparable

to my Canon 5D Mark II – which is no mean

feat – but rendered no more detail when you

examined les side by side.

Although there is plenty of detail in the

images, where the SD1 lags behind – even

to sub £1000 DSLRs – is when it comes to

ISO performance. The Foveon chip does

not have a great reputation for even mild

ISO levels and, unfortunately, the SD1 still

suers from this design trait, something

that is clearly visible from the inset images.

The SD1 introduces high levels of noise from

ISO 800 upwards and colour saturation all

but disappears at anything from ISO 1600

and above. In the studio this wouldn’t matter

too much, and there are lots of good noise

reduction software packages available,

but at this price bracket I am sure most

purchasers would require more.

Once I took the SD1 outside the studio it

proved itself to be a capable performer but

not outstanding. Again the level of detail in

the images is excellent, but the metering is

a little erratic and, although the autofocus is

very good, in bright light at least, it is not as

good as high-end Canons or Nikons.

I have in the past raved about the Foveon

sensor and landscapes and the SD1 takes

this to another level completely with smooth

tones, vibrant colours, and a whole new level

of detail. In addition to this a fantastic selling

point of Sigma cameras, and indeed the

whole Foveon sensor line-up, is the ability to

take out the dust lter to allow the camera

to become fully infrared. Being this user

friendly and easy to achieve means the SD1

can handle both full visible spectrum and

infrared pretty much at will, so no need for

two camera bodies in the future!

Back at the computer, processing of the

SD1 les is undertaken, for the time being

at least, by Sigma’s own Raw processing

software, Photo Pro 5. This turned out to be

nicely designed and surprisingly ecient.

“Outside the studio

the SD1 proved

to be a capable

performer but not

outstanding ”

ABOVE:

The Foveon

chip really

does produce

smooth and

silky images

with both

highlight and

shadow detail.

The tonality

from the SD1

images is

excellent and

requires less

sharpening

than its

predecessors

ABOVE:

On this image

of fresh Sushi

the SD1 really

shows its

pedigree. With

a little coaxing

and good

glass the level

of detail is

wonderful

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