Four new affordable D-SLR's

PMA 2002: With Canon's announcement of the EOS-D60, Nikon's D100, Sigma's SD9 and the Fujifilm S2 Pro the market for digital SLR's has never been so open and so affordable. We're now faced with four very interesting digital SLR's from different manufacturers at either already announced or expected affordable prices. What could make it even more interesting is the fact that each D-SLR utilizes a slightly different type of sensor technology. This article provides a very quick features and specifications comparison to anyone considering one of these new D-SLR's.

	Sigma SD9	Canon EOS-D60	Nikon D100	Fujifilm S2 Pro
Info	Press release	Preview	Preview	Press release
Retail price	US$ 3,000	US$3,000	Not announced	US$ 3,000
Sensor	Foveon X3	CMOS	CCD	Fujifilm SuperCCD III
Sensor total	2304 x 1536 x 3 (10.3 million)	3152 x 2068 (6.5 million)	3110 x 2030 (6.3 million)	3024 x 2016 *1 (6.1 million)
Final image size	2268 x 1512 x 3 (3.4 million)	3072 x 2048 (6.3 million)	3008 x 2000 (6.0 millon)	4256 x 2848 (12.1 million)
FOV crop *3	1.7x	1.6x	1.5x	1.5x
28 mm equiv.	47.6 mm	44.8 mm	42 mm	42 mm
Lens mount	Sigma SA mount	Canon EF mount	Nikon F mount	Nikon F mount
Colour space	sRGB (?)	sRGB (?)	sRGB, Adobe RGB	sRGB (?)
Sensitivity	ISO 100 - 400	ISO 100 - 1000	ISO 200 - 1600 *4	ISO 100 - 1600
Exp. modes	P, A, S, M	P, A, S, M	P, A, S, M	P, A, S, M
Scene modes	Unknown	5 modes	None	None
Metering	8-Segment evaluative Center metering CW Average	Evaluative Partial Center CW Average	3D Matrix CW average Spot	3D Matrix CW average Spot
Bulb shutter	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Shutter	30 - 1/6000 sec	30 - 1/4000 sec	30 - 1/4000 sec	30 - 1/4000 sec
Flash X-Sync	1/180 sec	1/200 sec	1/180 sec	1/125 sec
Exp. compen.	+/- 3.0 EV in 0.5 EV steps	+/- 2.0 EV in 0.3, 0.5 EV steps	+/- 5.0 EV in 0.3, 0.5 EV steps	+/- 3.0 EV in 0.5 EV steps
Auto bracket	3 shots, +/- 3.0 EV	3 shots, +/- 2.0 EV	2 or 3 shots, +/- 3.0 EV	2 or 3 shots, +/- 3.0 EV
Auto focus	TTL	TTL, 3 AF points	TTL, 5 AF points	TTL, 5 AF points
AF Assist	Unknown	Yes, white light lamp	Yes, white light lamp	Yes, white light lamp
Focus modes	One-Shot, Continuous	One-Shot, Servo, Manual	Single shot, Continuous, Manual	Single shot, Continuous, Manual
Drive modes	Single, Continuous	Single, Continuous	Single, Continuous	Single, Continuous
Continuous	Unknown	3 fps max 8 images	3 fps max 6 images	2 fps max 7 images
White balance	Auto, 5 settings, manual	Auto, 5 settings, manual	Auto, 6 settings, manual	Auto, 6 settings, 2 manual
Image params.	None	4 set in-camera	5 set in-camera	3 set in-camera
Image formats	RAW	JPEG, RAW	JPEG, RAW, TIFF	JPEG, RAW, TIFF
Flash	Unknown	Pop-up, Guide no. 12	Pop-up, Guide no. 11	Pop-up, Guide no. 12
Flash compen.	Unknown	+/- 2.0 EV in 0.3, 0.5 EV steps	+/- 2.0 EV in 0.3, 0.5 EV steps	Unknown
Hot-shoe	Yes, X-sync	Yes, X-sync	Yes, X-sync	Yes, X-sync
PC Flash terminal	Unknown	Yes, JIS B-type	Unknown	Unknown
LCD monitor	1.8" 130,000 pixels	1.8" 114,000 pixels	1.8" 118,000 pixels	1.8" 117,000 pixels
LCD coverage	100%	100%	100%	100%
Viewfinder	TTL, 97% coverage	TTL, 95% coverage	TTL, 95% coverage	TTL, 92% coverage
RAW conversion	Software included	Software included	Software included	Software included
Storage	Compact Flash Type II	Compact Flash Type II	Compact Flash Type II	Compact Flash Type II
Microdrive compat	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Connectivity	Firewire, USB 1.1	USB 1.1	USB 1.1	Firewire, USB 1.1
Video Out	Yes, NTSC/PAL	Yes, NTSC/PAL	Yes, NTSC/PAL	Yes, NTSC/PAL
Remote terminal	Yes, wired terminal	N3 wired type	Via optional portrait grip	Yes, wired
Portrait grip	Optional	Optional	Optional	n/a
Power	Lithium CR123A x 2 & AA x 4	Supplied Lithium-Ion	Supplied Lithium-Ion	2 x CR123A Lithium & 4 x AA batteries
Battery capacity	n/a	1100 mAh	1400 mAh	n/a
Weight (no batt)	803 g (1.8 lb)	780 g (1.7 lb)	700 g (1.5 lb)	760 g (1.7 lb)
Dimensions	152 x 120 x 79 mm (5.9 x 4.7 x 3.1 in)	150 x 107 x 75 mm (5.9 x 4.2 x 3.0 in)	144 x 116 x 81 mm (5.7 x 4.6 x 3.2 in)	142 x 131 x 80 mm (5.6 x 5.2 x 3.1 in)

*1 Unconfirmed specification
*3 Our new notation for 'Focal length multiplier', it better equates to a field-of-view crop
*4 Can be boosted for higher sensitivity