Photographing in medium format for a fraction of the price
The Sigma dp Quattro are fabulous compact experts, 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
Responsiveness 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 trigger 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
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 operates.
Between the almost perfect ergonomics, the reassuring handling, the flawless construction and, above all, the incomparable rendering 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.
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
