Sigma SD1 Merrill Digital SLR Camera

The SD1 is well-built and produces excellent images with its Foveon sensor. Unfortunately, it's slow write times, AF issues and lack of several features leaves us wanting more.

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  Excellent build quality, Useful quick-set menu, Excellent image quality

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  AF problems in low light, Frequent writing to the memory card, Lacks video, live view, top LCD

The SD1 is a no-frills SLR with a very basic feature set that offers exceptional image quality at low ISOs (100-400). However, it's let down by slow file write times and erratic control behaviour during this process.

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  Exceptional image quality at low ISO, especially in Raw mode, Very good build quality (including weatherproofing), Straightforward operation, with external controls for all key functions, Large, clear viewfinder, Excellent grip, extremely comfortable to shoot for extended sessions, Near-perfect...

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  Extremely slow file write speeds, with erratic control behaviour while writing, Poor image quality at high ISO, with green and purple colour blotching in shadows, Evaluative metering somewhat prone to highlight clipping, Overly-conservative highlight clipping warning (can encourage underexposure),...

The latest DSLR camera from Sigma Corporation is the SD1 Merrill, named for Richard “Dick” Merrill, inventor of the X3F CMOS chip, which uses a type of layering that splits light into red, green, and blue at every one of the 4,800×3,200 photo sites on the sensor.

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  Medium-format color and resolution at a DSLR price

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  Doesn’t offer live view or video capture capabilities

By Michael Reichmann, with the assistance of Nick Devlinand the participation of Laurence Matson TheSigma SD1is that company's long-awaited APS-C sized camera using a Foveon X3 sensor. The camera was first shown at Photokina in late 2010 and started to ship in June, 2011.

We were really excited to get hold of the Sigma SD1 Merrill, it's a lovely camera to hold and you can feel the workmanship that's gone into it. The magnesium alloy body ensures rigidity and the weather sealing means you don't have to rush out of the rain.

Would you pay £6,200 in the UK, or $9,700 in the US, for an APS-C DSLR that didn't offer live view or video shooting, wasn't compatible with third-party lenses and captured raw files that weren't widely supported? That was the question posed by the 46 megapixel Sigma SD1 in June 2011.

Upon launch in 2011 the Sigma SD1 was an oddity: its 46-megapixel sensor mainstay demanded, or so the company thought, a £5000 price tag. Ouch. Fast-forward to the beginning of 2012 and what is essentially the very same camera, albeit rebranded as the SD1 Merrill, is available for a fraction of that...

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  Detail and sharpness (at ISO 100), removable IR filter; well matched to serious studio pros using ISO 100 & controlled light

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  Expensive; very poor high ISO quality; poor auto white balance; slow processing; no live view; unlikely to meet amateur users’ demands

The Sigma SD1 is capable of taking some gorgeous photos with excellent detail at the pixel level, however to get the best from the camera it is necessary to take everything as RAW and process the files.

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  Foveon Sensor, Weather sealed magnesium body, Removable IR Filter / Dust Shield for IR Photography, Very high pixel level detail, Strong colour available from the camera

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  Noise on JPEGs, High price, Only 1 Memory card slot (unlike other Pro cameras with dual slots), Lacks top LCD screen, or eye detection, Lacks video mode / live view, Sigma Pro Photo 5.0 Raw Conversion software slow, Slow to write to memory card, Poor battery life

So what’s the final word? Is the Sigma SD1 worth the premium price tag it carries and the attention of professional and enthusiast photographers? There is actually no definitive answer to these questions.

We were really excited to get hold of the Sigma SD1, it's a lovely camera to hold and you can feel the workmanship that's gone into it. The magnesium alloy body ensures rigidity and the weather sealing means you don't have to rush out of the rain.

Great camera very high Quality built.It has great Dynamic Range due to its unique image Sensor processor designmy only problem is that you can't use this camera as main camera in indoor/low light photography due to its LOW ISO range and even in above 1000 you see grainother than that its a great...

In a first time excuse me for my bad english wrtitten... i'm a french old professionnal photographer and i used more than half of my career the argentic system... When i used for the first time the numeric sensors i had to see that the colors are not really precise when you compare them to the...

To be able to change ISO looking through viewfinder. Autofocus button on rear of camera as well as exposure lock on rear. Leaves me free to compose and shoot.

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  Easy To Use, Excellent In Low Light, Fast Shutter Speed, Good Battery Life, Good Sized Screen, Great Resolution, Nice Features and Settings, Rugged

SD 1 Merrill is difficult to use. There are no words on the body to tell you what to do. The worst thing is, the color it produces. The color of images is horrible. Green is recorded as grey. Pastel pink records as white.