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Now reading: Sigma Germany announces SD1 Wood Edition with burl veneer 349 comments

349

Sigma Germany announces SD1 Wood Edition with burl veneer

Published Oct 12, 2011 | dpreview staff

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)

Tags: camera-news, sigma

Comments

All (349)

Most popular (15)

Editors' picks (0)

DPR staff (1)

Oldest first

Scottelly

This looks false (like a prank of some sort) to me. Just look at the pictures. How would you open the memory card door? No, I think this is fake and stupid. It looks like someone is making fun of Sigma. Maybe Sigma deserves it, for making such a blunder with their pricing, even though the SD1 is worth what they are selling it for.

Oct 28, 2011permalink

(unknown member)

I fro Sigma take greert pride in good loocking equipment.
Granted even it alvays not does live up to expectations of public.
Is pretty on shelf - bo just black - is wood - tomo origato !

Oct 25, 2011permalink

GKC

I'll buy it if I can get it with 24k gold inlays and a waist strap that allows me to use it as a codpiece.

Oct 24, 2011permalink

eljamoquio

So where's the retraction and apology? My opinion of Sigma went down when I thought this was real, as dpreview reported it was.

Oct 23, 2011permalink

Joe Wiegman

Hmm... I've heard of cleaning your lens, but polishing your camera too?? Does that mean Sigma will release $1,000 custom wooden covered external grips for these things?

Oct 20, 2011permalink

Bart Aldrich

Can't wait to see some rich dweeb packing one of these turkeys!

Oct 19, 2011permalink

PhotoKhan

Overpriced, under-performing and, now, extremely ugly.
The Kamikaze Trifecta! :)
PK

Oct 17, 2011permalink

backfire hurts

it is like making a pretty lady, unattractive with a heavy makeup.....

Oct 17, 2011permalink

Faisalee

Sigma Succeeded in one thing for sure... Getting the most number of comments EVER on a DPR news ;-)

Oct 17, 2011permalink

Paulo Ferreira

Sigma has no input (or output) whatsoever in this "news". It is just a bad sketch of the BBC1 program "Would I Lie to You?"

Oct 17, 2011*permalink

Faisalee

hehehe... of course you wouldn't :)

Oct 19, 2011permalink

Andrei Todea

It's a lie!
Sigma did NOT announce this and DPReview knows this very well. They tried to fake it and instead of using a link from the official Sigma website (which of course doesn't mention anything about this stupidity and they never did) they used and obscure website to fake this announcement.
Shame on you, DPReview!

Oct 17, 2011*permalink

Paulo Ferreira

Yes! As I said quite a few times here, shame on you Dpreview!!! Gutter "journalism"!

Oct 17, 2011permalink

Andy Westlake

Let's be absolutely clear here - we have no reason to believe this announcement is anything other than genuine. FWIW, here's a link you may wish to follow: http://www.public-star.de/deutsch/home/index.html

Oct 17, 2011permalink

Paulo Ferreira

Well you should! You are mentioning yet another "third party" source. Pick up the phone and give a call to Sigma Deutschland tomorrow +49180 590908585 or anywhere on this page http://www.sigma-foto.de/kontakt/kontaktinfos.html Start doing some journalism instead of cheap gossip and let us know once for all if this is genuine (and where it can be bought). Then we can all laugh apart from the ones with "exquisite" taste. If not don't forget to issue a retraction with an apology to Sigma AND your readers. Else how can we ever believe in any of your news?

Oct 17, 2011*permalink

Andrei Todea

If you really wanted to be absolutely clear you would have called Sigma instead of giving us another link where they say the same thing and include two links from Sigma where they... don't!
My initial reaction was to joke about it and say that I was saving for the Swarovski version. Then I realized that nobody can be that stupid to release such a horrible product and went to see for myself and I saw no official announcement from Sigma.
You are using this article to get more traffic to your website. If you really cared about the truth you would have called Sigma a week ago and you could have confirmed this stupidity or retracted the article.
Before you can provide any official link from Sigma or at least confirm that you talked to them and they confirmed it to you I will believe this is a lie.
Shame on you (if not for the lie, at least for your journalism)!

Oct 18, 2011permalink

(unknown member)

Hello Andrei, please not upsett beeing m we always nice checky gettin from company fro say nice things for Sigma.
Ich Liebe Sigma - Super !!!

Oct 25, 2011permalink

rude

stigma got it wrong this time...

Oct 16, 2011permalink

(unknown member)

They make camera soooo verrrry b e a u t f u l
with woooooood !!!

Oct 25, 2011permalink

QuentinUK

Maybe it's so expensive so that they don't actually have to make one.

Oct 16, 2011permalink

photograph18

Well, Just the Demo. Trees will still be saved.

Oct 19, 2011permalink

Oery

pathetic effort to try to stand out of the crowd

Oct 16, 2011permalink

Gionni Dorelli

LOL!

Oct 14, 2011permalink

Rickard Hansson

Oh my god, that is one ugly piece of accessory for the camera.

Oct 14, 2011permalink

Barry Nelson

Who would have thought of needing a bottle of furniture polish to make your camera gadget bag complete. BEWARE OF SPLINTERS and woodpeckers!!

Oct 14, 2011permalink

Khun_K

a really really cheap look on an already overpriced camera! Sometimes you wonder how such decision and investment got past the executive level!

Oct 14, 2011permalink

sproket1

I am waiting for a wood lens myself.....

Oct 14, 2011permalink

Paulo Ferreira

This is a really disingenueous and almost malicious news. Dpreview is just passing on some hear say from a German site called Photo Scala that is selling a casing for a Sigma SD1. There is no comment whatsoever on Sigma Germany site about this http://www.sigma-foto.de/ !!! I am pretty sure that there are really aesthetically discussable and expensive "pimp my" image capturing gadgets (A Swarowsky iphone???) from third party companies that were never mentioned here. Shame on you dpreview!!!

Oct 14, 2011permalink

notforcing

The news item says "Sigma Germany has announced..." I doubt if dpreview would say that if it wasn't true (otherwise indeed malicious), the news item is making Sigma Germany a laughing stock, and harming their reputation, so I'm sure there would have been a retraction by now if it wasn't true.

Oct 14, 2011permalink

Paulo Ferreira

The "news" item is second hand gossip from Photo Scala. Only Photo Scala (and Dpreview) says that "Sigma Germany has announced...". Photo Scala points to the Sigma Germany site (where there is nothing by the way!!!). Your "I doubts" are very doubtful.It looks more and more malicious as time goes by. How easily dpreview jumped on this is beyond belief. Sigma Germany has nothing to retract from, why would they??? Maybe they are talking to their solicitors as we speak. Dpreview has a lot of retracting to do but you must be used to their bias by now!

Oct 14, 2011permalink

schorscho

There was an official Sigma press release so relax!

Oct 14, 2011permalink

Paulo Ferreira

Where? Official? Where is it? Another say so? I am very relaxed by the way!

Oct 14, 2011permalink

gabeb1946

Paulo where does Dpreview show bias? No one is perfect - but - they didn't make fun of this - just reported on it in a very non-biased way. We, the readers, took it on ourselves to make fun of it. We call it freedom of speech - and frankly I love it. Unity instead of rancor - we all have a common target and a good laugh. Creative jokes - it's been great. Remember all the gold Leicas (the real ones), the Leicas made for the Jaguar sales force, the lizard covered Rolleis, etc. etc. We even make fun of photographic gods -and "relax" basically meant you needn't be so outraged at our humble laughter in the face of gross gaudiness - I'm sure some folk with more money than brains or taste will snap up this useless overpriced wood cover for an overpriced camera. Gaudiness deserves ridicule - and if Sigma is consulting their solicitors I'd be very surprised - I rather think they're looking at ways to drop the camera price without looking more foolish.

Oct 14, 2011permalink

globethrottle

I clearly says "Sigma Germany has....", if not true, they really shouldn't to put this up here . At least when I first saw it I thought it was a woody body, not a condom.

Oct 15, 2011permalink

Paulo Ferreira

@gabeb1946... Dpreview shows bias when quotes news from Photo Scala that are not confirmed anywhere else.Photo Scala quotes Sigma Germany as a source and there is NOTHING on Sigma (Germany or not). There is nowhere else stating where you can buy this contraption, who is actually building it, who to contact to purchase. NOTHING again. So... dpreview is biased as they jumped too eagerly on a say so news of a bad Photoshoped SD1 casing. Have you ever heard of News of The World and Rebekah Wade? Same style of "journalism" with the difference that Dpreview did not even use the word "allegedly"!!! They just new it would be gaudy at Sigma's expense, hence this can be only classified as biased and malicious. So... shame you dpreview, again!

Oct 15, 2011*permalink

HowaboutRAW

Paulo Ferreira:

You've confused the word "biased" with "sloppy". DPReview was sloppy to omit a link to the purported SigmaGermany announcement of this wooden casing for the SD1.

DPReview is not commenting here on the qualities of the SD1, wood or otherwise.

You'd have a point about bias if DPReview had consistently made fun of and denigrated Sigma cameras and lenses, but DPReview has not engaged in such behavior, here today or in the past.

FYI, there's a real review of the SD1, sans wood, at Luminous Landscape.

Oct 15, 2011permalink

Paulo Ferreira

To @HowaboutRAW. Still biased and not sloppy. Dpreview could not omit a link that DOES NOT EXIST!!!. For Christ sake stop talking about links that DO NOT EXIST!!! The Sigma "announcement" is nowhere to be found!! So... it is still biased and malicious!. Shame on you Dpreview... again!!! and that review of LL?? Don't get me started!

Oct 15, 2011permalink

HowaboutRAW

Paulo Ferreira:

No, it is you who has made up a new definition of the word "biased", please stop acting like various Murdoch entities.

Your insistence of bias, just proves your bias against DPReview. Again DPReview was sloppy not to provide the Sigma link, or if the link doesn't exist, DPReview was sloppy not to mention that fact.

In fact, DPReview didn't mention any qualifiers about this Sigma wood body, and that itself shows a unbiased approach.

Oct 15, 2011permalink

Paulo Ferreira

No @HowaboutRAW! you are missing the point completely. Dpreview related news as fact qualified or not without checking its source. That is not journalism! It is gossip, hearsay. It is biased because it is about the SD1 and they willingly jumped into the "joke" on a day that is too far from 1st April. Any other camera and they would have kept quiet! More... they would have checked their sources. So... shame on you dpreview, again!

Oct 15, 2011permalink

HowaboutRAW

Paulo Ferreira:

Gossip is not bias, and DPReview has certainly reported gossip about other cameras. (In fact, all of those jpg samples posted for every camera capable of raw ever previewed or reviewed are very much a form of gossip.)

Nor, as I already pointed out, has DPReview engaged in a pattern of bias against Sigma cameras, or lenses for that matter.

Oct 16, 2011permalink

Andrei Todea

@Paulo Ferreira
I agree with you. It must be a lie. I hope hope Sigma doesn't let them get away so easy (anyway they will still be rich and if they are not... well, they will just post another iPhone article)

Oct 16, 2011*permalink

harrisoncac

INSANE!

Oct 14, 2011permalink

Rob Rossington

got to be a joke surely?
They can't be serious?
Lipstick on a pig indeed!!

lololololololol

Oct 14, 2011permalink

tony brown

I hope this is just a simulation because I don't think they will ever have to make one!

Gold plated, crocodile-skinned, 35mm Leicas may well be 'gilding the lily' but where's the 'lily' here?

Oct 14, 2011permalink

NPPhoto

Look out for Chinese knock off body kits on ebay for $13.99. Just slip your body in one and enjoy the "wood".

Oct 14, 2011permalink

NPPhoto

Looks fugly. Please, could we just keep burl wood to cars?

Oct 14, 2011permalink

gabeb1946

What better way to spend TEN THOUSAND EUROS!
Be the first one on your continent to own one! You'll NEVER see another poser carrying the same camera.
Of course it's German and German hands don't work cheap.
(Thank you Mr. Weir for the conversion - $13,782.)
For that much money you could actually buy a camera - a super high quality camera that works, and the greatest prize of all - not being confined to only Sigma lenses.
Mr. Bird says - "you are not the target group, you can't afford it". I believe the "target group" has never heard of Sigma - the camera jewelry boys are heavily invested in M9s and the "real" photographers are rolling their own Tri-X.
Nice diversion Sigma!

Oct 14, 2011permalink

IZO100

lame and now, ugly... Way to go Sigma !

Oct 14, 2011permalink

bborowski000

hahahahahahahahahaha why would you have todo that to a camera unless it was "all show and no go"

Oct 14, 2011permalink

Nathaniel George Weir

Why buy a 16 Megapixel €9999 ($13781.62) Sigma camera, when you could buy a
Hasselblad H4D-31 DSLR Camera with 80mm f/2.8 HC Lens for $111 more? The Hasselblad destroys the Sigma in every aspect... plus you get a lens thats better than any lens Sigma makes.

Oct 13, 2011permalink

HowaboutRAW

Of course with a mount tweak one can mount Leica R lenses on Sigma SLRs, get back to me when those Fuji lenses for Hasselblad can match a Leica R.

Oct 16, 2011*permalink

Jiayue4art

LOL........ a sexy body.........
so this camera itself wants to be a model, but not photograph a model.....

Oct 13, 2011permalink

cactusgeorge

made of wood, for those knotty photos...

Oct 14, 2011permalink

Drew Conway

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why the DP-x cameras still suck...

Oct 13, 2011permalink

icexe

This is the camera equivalent of lipstick on a pig.

If you're going to spend all that time making a custom body cover out of exotic wood, why not go all the way and also upgrade the black plastic top and buttons with something like titanium or stainless steel, and put a bit more effort into making the SD1 logo look less boring?

Oct 13, 2011permalink

talidkh

this thing is designed for people who say: "look how beautiful my camera is".. rather that "look how beautiful may photos are".. and I think that there are a lot of them.. I do respect sigma a lot.. but come on!! additional 5k$ over the standard SD1 just because u put a wooden thingy around it?? too much..

Oct 13, 2011permalink

bob-one

Oh man thats perfect ! I'm ordering two no three so it will match all my pipe collection! LOL. I'm sorry but this is absurd and or someone at sigma is smoking crystal draino on a regular basis wow weird marketing LOL

Oct 13, 2011*permalink

Markcalumet

Is this a joke? 9999 for a crapy woodencamera.

Oct 13, 2011permalink

KAllen

It ain't that bad, quirky to say the least. I don't think the over saturated images here help it. Wood is never glowing like this.
I reckon in a shop it might look really nice.
When Pentax brought out that bright red vajazzle of a camera everyone here thought it wondefull.
I think if it was Canikon many more would be drooling over it. But 'caus it says Sigma it's free to take a pop at it.
No I don't want one, lots of cameras I would rather collect than a digital anything.

Kevin.

Oct 13, 2011permalink

unlearny

This wood camera is the perfect metaphor of Sigma's luddite and backwards approach to firmware and software solutions. The SD1 is the APS-C camera with the highest quality images, which are nearly inaccessible due to the crappy software.

Oct 13, 2011permalink

Chuck Lantz

unlearny: What problems have you had accessing the SD1 images? Using the latest version of SPP, I had no problems opening and processing SD1 images, though I noticed that having no more than approximately 70 to 80 X3f images in a folder really made a difference in processing speed. This is the same for both the SD1 and earlier versions when using the latest SPP.

Oct 13, 2011permalink

Simon Zeev

While I don't like the look of the wood camera, I can see that there are people that
can love it and afford it. This don't make them bad photographers.

Oct 13, 2011permalink

gail

Don't put it on the floor if you have a pet; he may think it's a tree. ;)

Oct 13, 2011permalink

Paul_B Midlands UK

The 'marketing man' at Sigma that dreamt this up is going to be having sleepless nights when he see's the feedback on this post. Its not looking good is it ... but I suppose they only need 10 Muppets to buy them.

Oct 13, 2011permalink

Paul_B Midlands UK

Very excellent nature photographers dream camera: now disguised as a TREE so you can stand behind it, finger on shutter, invisable ready for that opportunity of a lunchtime catch.
Or not.

Oct 13, 2011permalink

Simon Zeev

If the camera looks like a tree - beware of dogs. LOL

Oct 13, 2011permalink

aliasretro

Beautiful, a must have! ;)

Oct 13, 2011*permalink

burnymeister

That is truly a horrible, horrible thing. :D

Oct 13, 2011permalink

mike kobal

Oct 13, 2011permalink

bdcolen

Oct 13, 2011permalink

ClickBoom

Come on the rest of it should be gold plated and Sigma in diamonds.
Finally a camera that matches my leopard skin suit

Oct 13, 2011permalink

SteB

All that's missing is a retractable flying lady on the pentaprism. Also with a camera like this Sigma clearly needs some badge engineering. A fancy moniker to appeal to those with more money than sense.

Oct 13, 2011permalink

Tom Bird

works with Leice special editions, amg special editions, urwerk special editions. will work with sigma as well. you are not the target group, you can't afford it.

Oct 13, 2011permalink

bdcolen

The question isn't whether one can afford it, the question is whether one is enough of an A$$h@*%@ to buy it. Like Leica's "collectors' editions," it is intended for those who do not have to count their money, and who have so little taste and judgement they cannot be counted. And, in most cases, for individuals with less than no real photographic ability to are foolish enough to believe that owning an exclusive "edition" camera will make them excellent photographers. Pathetic.

Oct 13, 2011permalink

DaSigmaGuy

Even the target group cant afford it!

Oct 15, 2011permalink

gonzalu

It is just a wrapper... this is the most ridiculous thing since diamond studded iPhones!! ROTFL. Thank goodness it was Sigma and not Nikon doing this. Come to think of it, it is just a cover, someone can start makign these for any camera Muahaha!

Oct 13, 2011permalink

Cameron R Hood

Not only is that ridiculously expensive, but it's it absolutely garish and ugly to boot.

Beautiful wood - hideous use of it. And almost $14,000.00 for a Sigma...they'll be lining up, I'm sure.

I still remember when they were TAPING the front elements of the 300 F=2.8's on with double sided tape, which is STILL why I will never buy ANYTHING from that company.

Oct 13, 2011permalink

Andrew Higgins

Says a lot about German taste....

Oct 13, 2011permalink

grafli

You don't like Leica (german stuff) etc.?

Oct 13, 2011*permalink

DaSigmaGuy

Are'nt Leicas made in Canada, like Leitz lenses?

Oct 15, 2011permalink

Tim Robson

Not for many years. The M4-2 and M4-P and a lot of M and R series Leitz lenses were designed and/or manufactured in Midland, ON between the '50s and the '90s, and a few of the more esoteric lenses (ie the Noctilux) were made there more recently, but ELCAN was sold a number of years ago and is primarily a defence contractor now.

Of course, "special editions" like this Sigma are right up Leica's alley. There's nothing the folks in Solms like more nowadays than slapping an exotic skin and an exclusive engraving on a titanium top cover and doubling the asking price.

Oct 18, 2011permalink

magneto shot

sing the chorus folks "Don't hate me cause i'm beautiful"

Oct 13, 2011permalink

raylob

whoever in German Sigma thought of this dumb idea should have his face slapped with a sausage and his head crowned with sauerkraut!

Oct 13, 2011permalink


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