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From Sigma to Pentax -

Hulyss Bowman

Active member
Seen this article this morning. So far, it look pretty cool :

Ricoh reveals pixel-shifting high-resolution mode: Coming soon to a camera near you?

So far and roughly, it seems that this will be incorporated into the upcoming Pentax FF by the end of this year. What is interesting is that the multi shot will be quicker than the Olympus tiny m4/3 (only 4 shots) and the picture will not be stretched : they will keep the spatial dimensions. Full RGB native pictures.

With the actual "Faux Veon" development ... I do not see any future for SIGMA cameras if brands start to go full RGB way. There will be no point at all. The only way to counter that is if SIGMA come with a 1/1/1 24x36 architecture.

The Next SD will probably be priced into the 2000$ range, probably APS-C quattro. The Pentax will come into roughly the same price range (guestimate).

I used to shoot a lot with Pentax before I went into FF and those are good cameras; the lenses aren't bad either. I heard that SIGMA will probably produce their lenses in K mount so... what is the point of going SIGMA way if they lose even their sheer specificity ? This is the question I'm asking.
 

foveon

Member
this pixel- shift thing seems to be the new kid of the block. Its a bit surprising that the future solution isnt 3chip, or 3 layers, but shifting; but if it works I will be happy to buy bodies from a serious company and not from Sigma and with its quattro Sigma makes this decision easier.
 

Quentin_Bargate

Well-known member
Well, the key is in the shifting, Hulyss. The tech seems to work like a medium format multishot camera, so its no good for anything other than static objects.

So for the time being, we have to put up with the nonsense that is the Quattro, or carry on, as I am, with the Merrills while hoping Sigma can get their act together with a Quattro Mk II with more acceptable highlight performance.
 

foveon

Member
what I have seen that shifting thing becomes very quick so will work with moving objects also,
and the 3chip technology is still alive
 

Kofronj

New member
If it works---if the acquisition time isn't substantially longer, if the pixel edges are as sharp as a foveon---it would be a beautiful thing. You'd gain in the sensitivity/noise arena---an area where the layered sensors have always struggled.

For those of you who have forgotten, Foveon's first camera was a 3-chip beamsplitter camera using more traditional sensors. The alignment of the sensors for the lightpath was apparently a manufacturing nightmare (I wonder if software/firmware advances would make this easier now), and the camera was relatively large (and tethered, if I remember correctly).

So Hulyss---if they nail it, it'll be a great advance for photographers, and certainly not good news for Sigma's camera efforts. But as we know---the key is excellent execution of the concept. We've been hearing for a decade how Nikon or Canon will sweep Sigma away with a 'true-color' sensor, but I haven't seen anything tangible from them...

Jim
 

Stoneage

Member
The pixel-shift technology is not useful if you need/want longer exposures, not even for landscapes. I often get 3, 4 or up to 15 or 30 seconds exposures when i'm photographing landscapes in the evening. This is the Foveon-Land.
Today i would buy a Nikon D810, but since i can't afford a new system, i will stay with the SD1.
 

biglouis

Well-known member
Would not mind seeing this in a Ricoh GR next version. Not sure how they can improve on the GR otherwise.

LouisB
 

Hulyss Bowman

Active member
Well, the key is in the shifting, Hulyss. The tech seems to work like a medium format multishot camera, so its no good for anything other than static objects.

So for the time being, we have to put up with the nonsense that is the Quattro, or carry on, as I am, with the Merrills while hoping Sigma can get their act together with a Quattro Mk II with more acceptable highlight performance.
Yes Quentin I know for the H and know it is only for packshoot but I believe that Pentax will make it able to shoot the 4 frames in less than 1 second (I might be wrong).

For the nonsense of the Quattro... it is more than real today, especially if you look at some gruesome photos posted over DPreview or flickr... :dh2:

The DP3Q pics I've seen so far are just plain gross and horrible. The SDQ will be in the same league of grosseness if they use the same sensor. There is no way any serious photographer can promote such tech failure apart if SIGMA pay. Even if SIGMA pay, it will be some sort of lie to puch ppl to buy it.

Might be time to collect some Merrills to keep it because IMO, the Honey moon as ended in the worst way possible. Even then, I'm bored to wait fabled improvements on this chip. It is the biggest failure I ever seen on cameras priced around 1k£.
 
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Hulyss Bowman

Active member
To be more clear, the problem is very simple as I say from the start. You have a GROSS low res bi-layer picture and a "grid" on top of that to make the illusion of detailed picture.

SIGMA completely lost the plot with this sensor, a regression I never seen before with any brand. There is no way that the QUATTRO can be as clear and organic as the REAL foveon 1/1/1 scheme, even if we are good in PP. I think I am and I never managed to get "satisfactory" results out of a Q file. Whatever noise tool you use, you always end with a deteriorated file.
 

foveon

Member
Olympus also did this shift pixel thing, see DPreview, but the question is, as written above, how will this work in landscape shots with longer exposure times?
 

biglouis

Well-known member
I'm with Hulyss. I'm not selling my DPxMs anytime soon.

I really would like the DP0Q to work.

LouisB
 

Quentin_Bargate

Well-known member
I really would like the DP0Q to work.

LouisB
It won't, because the sensor is (it seems) fatally flawed.

And what really worries me is how the boss of Sigma is seen clutching a wretched quattro in his hands and giving talks about it, suggesting to me he has invested a lot of his personal credibilty in its success. Its quite difficult in those circumstances for his close colleagues to tell him that the Emperor has no clothes...

Still, I remain faithful to the Merrills, which are vastly superior where it matters - image quality.
 

pingu666

New member
you could run higher iso for quicker shutter speed and stich like that, but you still have same issue merrils have, of long processing and write times, but adding in issues

for completely still subjects, then yes its a rival, but sigma could do the half pixel step thing with just 2 shots? normal then up and right, or would moving in smaller sub pixel amounts work too?
 
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