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The EOSHD Interview - Kazuto Yamaki, CEO of Sigma and Takuma Wakamatsu, Sigma Fp Product Manager


Andrew Reid
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On 9/5/2020 at 4:11 PM, Sid said:

For the Sigman current and previous Foveon cameras, does anyone have any thoughts about the quality of Quattro vs Merrill ?  Here is the article with the comparison (the Japanese woman's face).

An Ode to the Sigma Foveon Sensor

I have both the Merrill DP2/DP3... and the newer Quattro.

I'd say they are both superb but Merrill is more low-fi, not quite as technicolor.

They are like different types of film really.

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On 9/7/2020 at 1:24 PM, markr041 said:

I shoot with the fp almost exclusively wigh Canon lenses. All work fine (IS, AF), but some perform better than others - faster AF. Performance is similar on Canon bodies, except no AFC in video mode with the Sigma adapter. Ask me about specific Canon lenses, as I have a bunch, and I can tell you about my experience (I shoot only RAW video).

Thanks. Initially I would be using the 50 f1.4, 17-40 L and less often 70-200 f4.

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Great interview!

Thinking video mainly here... I think Sigma is in a great position compared other Japanese camera manufacturers, and that's because they don't have to protect some pro cinema camera line up like Sony, Canon and Panasonic needs to. These companies will always hamper their consumer cameras in some ways in order to not cannibalize the pro line up. Sigma has no such problem. If they can do it technically, they could create a consumer/prosumer cinema (hybrid) camera that rivals the highest end cinema cameras and not think twice about it, and possibly disrupt both the pro and consumer market segments. If they can, they should.

In my opinion they shouldn't concentrate on the resolution game, 8K, whatever. That's not important in vast majority of applications. And in those applications where you need 8K or 12K there's cameras that can do that now. The most important thing to concentrate still is the dynamic range and that's where Sigma's focus should be. I take higher dynamic range over higher resolution any day of the week. 4K is plenty, but the dynamic range of Sigma FP isn't.  It's good, but it should be better.

Foveon sensor cinema camera would be nice to have (at least as a technology demo), but it's probably not going to happen any time soon, if ever. If need be they should use the sensor know-how they have in-house and develop their own high end CMOS sensor (again concentrating on dynamic range and color more than resolution).

But why am I saying they should do consumer/prosumer cinema camera and not a high end expensive pro cinema camera? Because as a market, it sucks. I greatly doubt anyone is going to get rich by selling pro cinema cameras because volumes are so low, not to mention the whole rental house game. Sigma already knows this from their cinema lenses. That market sucks too, but it was a no-brainer to enter since they had the lenses already. The money is in the consumer/prosumer market and that's why Sigma is in great position, because they don't have to worry about existing pro line up.  They can create whatever they want as long as it's technically possible and doesn't get too expensive.

Oh, and the next camera needs to have OLPF. Need that for video.

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The question is - how does one compete with Sony and Canon by offering something they don't.

It's certainly not easy on the camera side to do that.

What's great about the Fp is it's different. It's complimentary to a Sony or Canon mirrorless camera and very small.

But to really be mainstream you need an EVF, IBIS, mechanical shutter, and so the product becomes homologated and similar to the competition.

Making a Cinema camera could be an opportunity, but not just an FS5 II clone.

Pocket Cinema Camera rival perhaps?

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5 hours ago, TiiPii said:

Great interview!

Thinking video mainly here... I think Sigma is in a great position compared other Japanese camera manufacturers, and that's because they don't have to protect some pro cinema camera line up like Sony, Canon and Panasonic needs to. These companies will always hamper their consumer cameras in some ways in order to not cannibalize the pro line up. Sigma has no such problem. If they can do it technically, they could create a consumer/prosumer cinema (hybrid) camera that rivals the highest end cinema cameras and not think twice about it, and possibly disrupt both the pro and consumer market segments. If they can, they should.

In my opinion they shouldn't concentrate on the resolution game, 8K, whatever. That's not important in vast majority of applications. And in those applications where you need 8K or 12K there's cameras that can do that now. The most important thing to concentrate still is the dynamic range and that's where Sigma's focus should be. I take higher dynamic range over higher resolution any day of the week. 4K is plenty, but the dynamic range of Sigma FP isn't.  It's good, but it should be better.

Foveon sensor cinema camera would be nice to have (at least as a technology demo), but it's probably not going to happen any time soon, if ever. If need be they should use the sensor know-how they have in-house and develop their own high end CMOS sensor (again concentrating on dynamic range and color more than resolution).

But why am I saying they should do consumer/prosumer cinema camera and not a high end expensive pro cinema camera? Because as a market, it sucks. I greatly doubt anyone is going to get rich by selling pro cinema cameras because volumes are so low, not to mention the whole rental house game. Sigma already knows this from their cinema lenses. That market sucks too, but it was a no-brainer to enter since they had the lenses already. The money is in the consumer/prosumer market and that's why Sigma is in great position, because they don't have to worry about existing pro line up.  They can create whatever they want as long as it's technically possible and doesn't get too expensive.

Oh, and the next camera needs to have OLPF. Need that for video.

While we are on the wish-list route, I vote for 4K60/50P. Slow motion is important, and used in many creative videos and film. 60P is also good for fast moving subject, sports, action etc. Z Cam, new Sony, Panasonic, Blackmagic all have this option for either RAW or at least 10bit color. Sigma fp lags behind in this dimension of video capabilities.

And, btw, the FullHD 120P in the Sigma fp sucks, RAW or not. Everyone agrees. So, not line-skipping, pixel-binning 4K60P.

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Great interview, hopefully the FP sells enough to avoid being a drain on other resources. Cameras seem like a real passion project and they definitely take a different approach compared to the mainstream brands. Seems like a second generation of refinements, AF improvements and better processing could make the FP a real giant killer.

Like others I'd like to see them move beyond the giant, wide aperture primes and the 2.8 zoom trinity. There's plenty of demand for smaller 1.8 primes as we've seen by the popularity of Sony's 20/35/85 1.8's and well reviewed third party lenses like the Samyang 45/75 1.8's. I love the rendering of the 35/1.2 - it looks like the best 35 ever made - I just don't want to carry it around all the time. Given the size of the new 85/1.4, there's hope Sigma lenses won't always be so damn big. I love supporting companies like Sigma, I'm glad they're around.

Chris

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8 minutes ago, Trek of Joy said:

Great interview, hopefully the FP sells enough to avoid being a drain on other resources. Cameras seem like a real passion project and they definitely take a different approach compared to the mainstream brands. Seems like a second generation of refinements, AF improvements and better processing could make the FP a real giant killer.

Like others I'd like to see them move beyond the giant, wide aperture primes and the 2.8 zoom trinity. There's plenty of demand for smaller 1.8 primes as we've seen by the popularity of Sony's 20/35/85 1.8's and well reviewed third party lenses like the Samyang 45/75 1.8's. I love the rendering of the 35/1.2 - it looks like the best 35 ever made - I just don't want to carry it around all the time. Given the size of the new 85/1.4, there's hope Sigma lenses won't always be so damn big. I love supporting companies like Sigma, I'm glad they're around.

Chris

While we are on the wish list for lenses from Sigma:  One of the key advantages of the Sigma fp is it is small. A disadvantage is it lacks in-body stabilization. But, most Sigma lenses are big, as was said, and most also lack stabilization. To use the fp handheld for video, small lenses with OIS are needed. Right now, one really has to use Canon lenses for that.

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