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Sigma DSLR or Nikon or Sony or ....

rollsman44

Well-known member
I never used Sigma equipment . I see beautiful images but I have NO idea how the lenses and cameras are. Can you share this with me. I am a Nikon guy now and used to be Sony.
Any reason to switch over to Sigma? Thanks
 

biglouis

Well-known member
I never used Sigma equipment . I see beautiful images but I have NO idea how the lenses and cameras are. Can you share this with me. I am a Nikon guy now and used to be Sony.
Any reason to switch over to Sigma? Thanks
Hmmm. It all depends what you shoot. If it is sports and action then NO!

If it is landscape and you work at the pace of the old film days, then maybe.

Sigma, imho, is not for the faint hearted but it rewards effort.

Just my two cents.

LouisB
 

gnuyork

Active member
I concur with everything Louis said. I shoot several cameras including Canon DSLRs, the Sigma is not the be all/end all...but for what I use it for (mainly landscapes at base ISO), there's hardly anything if at all better than what it does.

I should disclaim I only have the Merrill DP2M which is a compact point and shoot, not a DSLR.
 

xpatUSA

Member
. . . Any reason to switch over to Sigma? Thanks
For me, it was the purity of the concept, by which I mean one pixel out of the camera becomes one pixel on my screen with no interpolation and no guesswork -which, in turn, means no color aliasing. See:

http://kronometric.org/phot/sensor/fov/Color_Alias_White_Paper_FinalHiRes.pdf

If you like sharpness and fine detail, then perhaps pick up a so-called "Merrill" Sigma camera, there are three compact fixed, non-zoom lens models and one DSLR - the SD1 Merrill. All are renowned for their acutance with probably the DP2 Merrill being the most popular. I would recommend Sigma Photo Pro V5.3.3 for development - a very mature converter; ignore V6 for now.

If you go with the SD1, I would recommend the 17-70mm 'Contemporary' model lens to go with it:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/lenses/sigma/17-70mm-f2.8-4-dc-macro-os-hsm-c/review/

The earlier 17-50mm "kit" lens is also pretty good but quite soft in the corners wide open:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/lenses/sigma/17-50mm-f2.8-ex-dc-os-hsm/review/

Hope this helps.
 

Rand47

Active member
I never used Sigma equipment . I see beautiful images but I have NO idea how the lenses and cameras are. Can you share this with me. I am a Nikon guy now and used to be Sony.
Any reason to switch over to Sigma? Thanks
Hi Rollsman44!

As others have said, the Sigma sensor is not for the faint of heart. At base ISO, in good light, with mostly static subjects, it is like shooting MF or 4x5 film. (I have DP1, 2, and 3 Merrills.) BUT, beyond those narrow parameters they are terrible cameras, eat batteries like there's no tomorrow, sometimes get weird color casts, slow - takes forever to write a file to the card, crude, clunky, not flexible at all. BUT, when you print a well exposed / processed file from the "sweet spot," it will blow your mind.

Pick up a used DP2 Merrill - not that expensive, and have some fun.

I now have a pretty extensive Fuji system that I love (and would never consider the Sigmas as able to replace) but the Merrills are impossible to beat within their "one trick pony" limits.

Rand47
 

Rachael Alice

Not Available
That is 100% true that switch one camera to another totally depends upon your need regarding your photography. But for me there is no reason to switch Nikon to Signma.
 
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