Sigma will release full-frame camera with Foveon sensor next year
Sigma is working on a camera with a full-frame Foveon sensor. The camera gets the L-mount from Leica. Sigma will also release its first lenses for the L-mount in 2019 and the brand will come with a Canon EF adapter for the L-mount.
Sigma will announce the arrival of the camera with Foveon sensor in a presentation at the Photokina, DPreview reports. Sigma has been making cameras with Foveon X3 sensors that consist of three layers for years. This allows colors to be captured better than with a Bayer sensor. Also, the photos from a Foveon sensor are much sharper because all the color information is actually captured.
The disadvantage of the Foveon technique is that the lower layers capture less light, which means that the low-light performance is poor. For its most recent cameras, Sigma used a so-called Quattro version of the Foveon sensor. It has three layers, but the top layer has more pixels, while the layers below have larger pixels that can capture more light. It is not yet known whether Sigma with its full-frame sensor will opt for that approach again.
Sigma also says that the company will no longer make cameras or lenses with the SA mount. Sigma’s current cameras have that mount. There will be an adapter to use SA lenses on cameras with an L-mount.
Sigma is also working on an adapter to use L-mount Canon EF lenses. This makes it possible not only to use Canon lenses on the future Sigma camera, but also on the Panasonic and Leica cameras with the L mount.
The manufacturer does not provide any further details about the camera yet, but it is the result of the collaboration between Sigma, Panasonic and Leica. The three brands will all make full-frame cameras with the L-mount from Leica and each brand will use its own sensor. Leica is the inventor of the L mount and already has the Leica SL in its range with a 24-megapixel sensor. Panasonic announced two cameras on Tuesday: the Lumix S1R and the S1. They get a 47- and 20-megapixel sensor respectively.
Sigma also announced five new lenses for Canon and Nikon cameras at Photokina. Photos and details of those lenses have already appeared online. Sigma will only announce the price of the 60-600 mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM: in the US the zoom will be on sale from October for 1999 dollars. Converted with VAT, that is about 2055 euros.
Sigma sd Quattro, one of Sigma’s current cameras