I was just checking out dpreview for news as usual and found out Sigma is buying sensor developer Foveon. Does that mean we will see an improve and possibly higher resolution sensor soon? Just thought I might start a discussion.
Whatever spin both companies are going toput, the capital is all dried up in silicon valley. I am hearing really horror stories from the guys, how venture capitals are pushing the seeds... (We are living in a world where LIBOR touched 6%+... why silicon valley didnt crash, that should be point of discussions).
To me, it must be near death situation for Foveon, and (in that scenario) end of the road for Sigma SLR/Digital cameras dream...
As we say in Hindi (Marta kya na Karta): Dying guy can do any thing....
Period...
Lets listen to all the spins from highly paid MBAs hired by these companies...
I hope Sigma will be forced by the economy to join m4/3. I see no other way to broaden the camera appeal and this way selling bigger volumes. I just hate the corrupt mentality of camera makers, each one on it's own turf at the expense of consumers.
WIl be nice too if Sigma hire somebody with clearer vision on product development. My impression is Sigma cameras can't be everything to everybody. So instead of trying to mimic other manufacturers better make a simple well developed photographer's cam aimed at the enthusiastic segment of the market. Good ergonomics, old fashioned manual controls, weather proofing, modularity with choices of camera final specifications (I think) pull right cords in many photographers' hearts
It was only a matter of time before someone bought them. Startups like these whose only capital is of the intellectual kind exist in the hope they'll be bought before they burn through their VC startup funds.
With the Yen up 20% on the dollar and Foveon likely to have zero access to any other form of debt funding in the current climate I expect Sigma got a very good price on the deal.
I hope they invest in pushing this technology forward but right now I suspect they'll be happy to sit on it until the recession is over happy that they've eliminated the risk of a competitor cutting off their sensor supply.
Not shocked, it's the only way keeping a Foveon sensor in Sigma's vanity-project (their camera line) is viable. Sigma doesn't buy enough sensors to keep Foveon afloat as an independant company and they were Foveon's only significant customer.
I.G.I. wrote:
I hope Sigma will be forced by the economy to join m4/3. I see no other way to broaden the camera appeal and this way selling bigger volumes.
The way for Sigma to broaden appeal is to make larger Foveon X3 sensors with higher resolution...Thats what really matters and with Sigma's timely financial injection it might just have a chance of happening.
Its taken years for Canon, Nikon and others to catch up with the image quality offered by the SD14 so a full frame Foveon X3 sensor would literally wipe the floor with them.
Not to be rude, but are you from the same planet I'm from? Foveon sensors have some nice perks, but wiping the floor is a hyperbole I'm not willing to consider. I do think a FF foveon sensor would be cool, but the chip size is non-trivial, since it requires a LOT more fabrication. I doubt we'll see a FF foveon any time soon.
Alf Beharie wrote:
The way for Sigma to broaden appeal is to make larger Foveon X3 sensors with higher resolution...Thats what really matters and with Sigma's timely financial injection it might just have a chance of happening.
Its taken years for Canon, Nikon and others to catch up with the image quality offered by the SD14 so a full frame Foveon X3 sensor would literally wipe the floor with them.
From what I've seen Sigma is not in the league of producing well rounded commercially viable 35 mm DSLR. My impression is, from what I've heard repeatedly since 2003, is that buying into a yet another mount with zero lens choice is what put many a interested customers away. Considering this a new line of cams with shared mount is a better way to reach to a wider audience than chasing the FF mirage.
Alf Beharie wrote:
The way for Sigma to broaden appeal is to make larger Foveon X3 sensors with higher resolution...Thats what really matters and with Sigma's timely financial injection it might just have a chance of happening.
Its taken years for Canon, Nikon and others to catch up with the image quality offered by the SD14 so a full frame Foveon X3 sensor would literally wipe the floor with them.
I haven't seen anything from the SD14 that compares well with even several year old cameras in any terms except colour rendering (which is a strength of the Foveon sensor). It'll take a lot of upgrading of the Foveon sensor for it to match the detail and noise performance of the 30D's sensor let alone a modern sensor.
