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Sigma Germany announces SD1 Wood Edition with burl veneer

Oct 12, 2011 at 17:57:12 GMT

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Sigma Germany has announced a wood-veneered version of its SD1 high-end DSLR. The 'Wood Edition' emphasizes the camera's premium appeal by adding a casing made from Amboyna Burl, an expensive and decorative veneer taken from complex growths on a Southeast Asian tree. The case takes around 60 hours to cut, mill and polish. Ten examples of the special edition will be available, body-only, for a recommended selling price of €9,999. (From PhotoScala)

Sigma SD1

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Comments

Total comments: 351

I have read through half the comments here and I am reassured by the overwhelming proportion who are not only against this but violently so.

On a similar vein, I am beginning to wonder if DP Review is beginning to go the same route as Sigma appear to be on by even mentioning this monstrosity. That is a pity because the best of DP Review is very good.

We could do without all the nonsense at DP Review - articles by them and others that say little more than how to boil water and news which is newsworthy only to those to whom the News of the World was considered a reputable newspaper. Most of all, I would like them to do away with all the comments in their thousand that have nothing sensible to say or are abusive of others. It is hard work sorting the wheat from the chaff and I am getting closer to the point where in the end I will cease to bother reading DP Review at all.

3 upvotes

Ugly duckling.

I have read somewhere, Sigma delivers anti-slippery nano-coated gloves (for the over-polished surface) for a recommended selling price of 600 €.
Or anti-sweat powder for the fingers, that costs only 280€ / 25grams.

One thing I miss from the news: can the buyer select the one he needs of the 10 examples? I mean the wood texture must be different from example to example. I would like to have one with a slightly different texture at the bottom left corner.

Comment edited 54 seconds after posting

1 upvote

I am glad this wonderful piece of nonsensical workmanship will cost dearly.
No real danger for rainforests.

6 upvotes

Soooo tasteless, so ugly...

only a German who has a garden full of dwarves and a cuckoo clock buys it

2 upvotes

Nice workmanship. This is the only good point I could come up with :)

I'm wondering how much additional weight it will put, and if it will obstruct the accessibility of the buttons and controls.

0 upvotes

This Sigma camera shows what mindless people there are around and how low a company will stoop in order to make an easy buck. It makes me sick. I used to be in favour of capitalism because it does have definite virtues, encouraging economies to flourish. Now we have the credit crunch and the likelihood of a double dip recession to show us the other side of that coin.

I have a Sigma lens, the 12-24mm f4.5-5.6 EX DG and I have used it almost to the exclusion of the other lenses I own. For landscapes the very wide angles, more than adequate definition and very low distortion are superb. However, the next time I am in the market for a lens, I definitely will not buy another Sigma if there is an alternative that is comparable.

I do not like dealing with those who pander to those who are sick and totally self-indulgent for no meaningful gain.

0 upvotes

The new Sigma SD1 now camouflaged for Asian rain forest use that doubles as a canoe. Hold on for next weeks major announcement of the new SD1xx Speed light with Yamaha decals to complete the luxury powerboat look. Standard with survival kit in the battery compartment and face paint in the bonus lens cover so you friends will never recognize you as your stealthily lug your junk around, o yes it will make a man out of you. But wait there is more call 0900 GIZMO in the next 5 min to own one of these limited cameras and for $20 000 you can own 2 which will make you twice the photographer with twice the amount of junk. Be quick limited numbers and this offer will not be repeated. Call now 0900GIZMO

1 upvote

Ahahah, fugly.

0 upvotes

Like a screen door on a submarine.

0 upvotes

what they didn't tell you...

Sigma couldn't find buyer for the camera, so one employee suggested what he can do with the excess inventory.

60 hrs per pop, his job won't be threatened.

0 upvotes

The only special edition camera that was not booed here at DPR — but actually admired — was Pentax 645 'Japan Edition', done in red colour outfit. All special edition Leicas, this Sigma, etc. were all thrashed. I wonder why ...

Comment edited 4 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

Ewwww...

1 upvote

Look at that tiny LCD. What is this? 2001?

0 upvotes

Don't care much about "wood"... but THE Lens looks like a MONSTER ;)

0 upvotes

They designers focused so much on the wood, they disregarded the size of the LCD screen.............

0 upvotes

What an amazingly great way to let the world know that your engineers have completely run out of ideas.

NOW MAKE ME ONE WITH A DRINK HOLDER!

11 upvotes

Sorry... but that just looks ugly... A Fuji X100, or X10, or a Leica M would suit it MUCH better.

0 upvotes

Funny its the same price as the original MSRP of the camera.

Who here loves the smell of the lemon pledge?

0 upvotes

....made by Geppetto out of Pinocchio.

4 upvotes

Better not set that puppy near a termite mound :-)

1 upvote

Major fail.

0 upvotes

What a waste of 60 hours and €9,999... The time and money invested developing this could've been better spent in R&D. But no, some numb-nut higher up at Sigma actually thought this would be a better idea. This is worse that the Nikon D3100 in red, far worse.

0 upvotes

reminds me of my electric basses top woods, AAA Curly Maple or Purple heart anyone?

Now where is my matching electric bass!

0 upvotes

Omg, do they really expect anyone to buy it? They should've made it in solid gold. At least it would be a better investment.

0 upvotes

when a company's marketing department realizes that they have an overpriced, inferior product (compare to canon, nikon and olympus products in its price range) they will 'spin-doctor' such gimmics to simply get headlines and reviews. Sigma will not a competitive edge anytime soon...or will eventually be bought out or fade away from the digital DSLR market, sticking to lenses.

4 upvotes

OMG. Guess we'll see that in 2014. What a waste of time Sigma.

0 upvotes

its like chartreuse-colored lipstick on a pig.

poor steve jobs just rolled over in his grave.

1 upvote

It looks like luxury wood from Southeast Asian. I it is maybe Dalbergia cochinchinensis Pierre which is 20 times more expensive than oak. I guess the raw material is illegally imported from Cambodia or Lao. Oak is very cheap wood in these two countries if compared to Dalbergia cochinchinensis Pierre.

1 upvote

This casket should come with special gloves featuring mini suction cups on each finger to hold it (something similar to octopus legs).
;^)

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 3 minutes after posting

2 upvotes

Does it come in Oak or Curly Maple too???
Whats next? 'Sigma Wood Polish'?

Comment edited 11 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

I have one word: Kindling :-)

1 upvote

Very nice, but I must remember, next time I visit my local camera shop, not only do I purchase a lens cloth, I must remember to buy the furniture polish as well :-)

Comment edited 38 seconds after posting

1 upvote

That definitely would be the most slippery SLR of all time.

4 upvotes

That thing is so ugly it could have been created by the Nikon V1 team!

8 upvotes

I'm not expert on decoration but the casing really looks plastic to me.

0 upvotes

That's what over lacquered wood looks like, really nice wood work is many many layers of hand polished lacquer derived from laq bug droppings.

This is three coats of floor finish buffed with a motor driven wheel.

1 upvote

It will match my koala fur sweater !

5 upvotes

put some diamond and gold. The rich will buy.

0 upvotes

There is an old saying my dad use to say: "you cannot put a spit-shine on a terd"

1 upvote

The wood is too dark. Tiger maple would look sweet!

0 upvotes

Say what you want but hell, if I was really rich, I'd definitely buy one of these. I mean how awesome would it look to have a polished wood camera, one of only ten in the world?

0 upvotes

Sigma Sucks

2 upvotes

Well they priced it DOA, so this must be the coffin.

19 upvotes

So they encased a Sigma SD1 in wood. Who would want to lug around this monstrosity?? I can't even imagine trying to grip a heavy DSLR with a polished (i.e. slippery) wood casing.

1 upvote

ugly monster!

0 upvotes

My father was a cabinet maker, I never saw him make anything as horribly shiny as that, I wonder if you have to varnish the wood on occasion, probably not as it looks like it has an over the top shiny protective layer on it, it actually does not even look like real wood so it defeats the object of the exercise, a final word....YUK!

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 5 minutes after posting

3 upvotes

The wood that they put in Cadilacs, Lexus and other high-end vehicles is the same over-laquered polished stuff actually. I am a furniture maker. Its kinda cool, but dumb.

0 upvotes

My Cadillac DTS is full of that stuff! I should get an SD1 to match! :)

1 upvote

fine fetish

0 upvotes

The same look can be achieved by a $20 copy made in Asia. Sorry, it is a total fail because the wood is too decorative and not pratical. This makes the gold plated snake skin wrapped Leica look like a pj everyday camera, and the Hassy Ferrari edition a good buy!

0 upvotes

The design of this camera is already a failure & this cheap looking shiny wood made it even worse..

0 upvotes

I'm a lumberjack,
And I'm OK...

12 upvotes

I like the concept (way over my budget though). I wish there were companies who would offer optional covers for our existing cameras.

0 upvotes

Horrible!

0 upvotes

It looks like the camera version of a cheap and nasty 3rd party phone cover

0 upvotes

Total comments: 351


Firmware updates from Nikon and Sigma: D4, SD1 and SD1 Merrill updated Jul 6, 2012	Just Posted: Sigma SD1 preview Raw and JPEG samples Sep 6, 2011	Sigma highlights sub-$7000 street price of SD1 DSLR May 25, 2011	Sigma releases SD1 flagship digital SLR Sep 21, 2010

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