Photographing in medium format for a fraction of the price
The Sigma sd Quattro is a fabulous compact expert camera, although deliberately atypical, which shine by the ingenuity and the quality of their Foveon X3 Quattro sensor associated with a fixed focal length.
With the sd Quattro mirrorless camera, Sigma transposes the virtues of its eponymous sensors in a case with interchangeable lenses in SA mount while remaining faithful to the principles of the brand: irreproachable quality of manufacture and very finely thought out ergonomics… it’s a bit like photographing in medium format for a fraction of the price.
This camera was first introduced in 2016 and it is now available with an APS-H sensor (51,2 Mpx).
Ergonomics 7/10
Pros:
- Very well designed and excellent handling
- The main screen is great (1 620 000 points )
- Focus peaking
- Double wheel system
- Secondary screen monitor
- Weather sealed body
Cons:
- Not good for left eye dominant shooters
- Hard to find SA mount lenses
- Non-tactile or adjustable screen
Speed 3/10
Pros:
- AF speed is okay in good light
- 4,2 fps continuous shooting
Cons:
- Useless for sport photography
- Very slow to power-on (5sec)
- Slow to power off the camera (more than 1sec)
Image quality 9/10
Pros:
- Close to medium format for a much lower budget
- Ultra sharp and detailed images
- SFD mode (39 Mpx)
- No Anti Aliasing filter
- Foveon X3 sensor makes every pixel has complete red, green and blue data available
Cons:
- High loss of quality from 800 ISO
- Greenish tones on photos
Verdict 7/10
Shooting with a Sigma sd Quattro means giving up a lot of things: capricious AF (although in progress), slow to start, unsuitable viewfinder for those aiming with the left eye, bulkiness of the body, no video, etc. Yet … the magic happens.
Between the almost perfect ergonomics, the reassuring handling, the flawless construction and, above all, the incomparable quality of images, photographing with the Sigma sd Quattro is a bit like photographing in medium format. A crush camera that requires self-discipline and a lot of passion, but it will repay you in spades.
Full Specifications
| Format | Interchangeable Lens SLR Type Digital Camera |
|---|---|
| Compatible Lenses | SIGMA SA mount interchangeable lenses |
| Lens Mount | SIGMA SA bayonet mount |
| Angle of View | Equivalent to approx. 1.5 times the focal length of the lens (on 35mm cameras) |
| Image Sensor | |
| Image Sensor | Foveon X3 direct image sensor(CMOS) |
| Image Sensor Size | 23.4×15.5mm (0.9in. ×0.6in. ) |
| Number of Pixels | Effective Pixels: Approx. 29.5MP T(Top): 5,440×3,616 / M(Middle): 2,720×1,808 / B(Bottom): 2,720×1,808 Total Pixels: Approx. 33.2MP |
| Aspect Ratio | 3:2 |
| Recording System | |
| Storage Media | SD Card, SDHC Card, SDXC Card, Eye-Fi Card |
| File Format | Lossless compression RAW data (14-bit), JPEG (Exif2.3), RAW+JPEG |
| JPEG Image Quality | FINE, NORMAL, BASIC |
| Color Mode | 11 types ( Standard, Vivid, Neutral, Portrait, Landscape, Cinema, Sunset Red, Forest Green, FOV Classic Blue, FOV Classic Yellow, Monochrome ) |
Full specs on Sigma Global
