Sigma SD10 review

I've been using my SD10 for a year now and taken roughly 3000 images. This is my first (serious) digital cam after several film cameras (135 and 120 film). With the camera I use the EX 2,8/18-50 & 4..5,6/55-200 lenses. I also bought the EF500 SUPER flash.

The camera produces very good images in good light conditions. It is vital to have a fast lens, since the noise behaviour becomes a problem with 400 ASA and above.

The whole set has performed in a solid way and so far there has been no need for any repairs.

Would I buy it again? I don't think so - see below:

Problems:

Dust on the image sensor. It is not true that dust on the protector glass cannot be seen on the image. Instead it appears as a blurry circle. This is an issue since day one of ownership. I regularly clean the glass and sensor. Any other dust will be removed 'digitally'. After taking the camera onto a flight I had a very big black spot on the sensor itself. Apparently it came out of the shutter. Cleaning solved the problem, which did not reoccur so far.

The autofocus repeatedly delivers pictures which are not perfectly sharp (especially under bad lighting). The viewfinder is too small to be of much help and does not offer any indicators that would help in manual focusing.

The power consumption was an issue in the beginning. I dropped the idea of using rechargable NIMH AAs. They would only work for a few charging cycles, although using an 'intelligent' charger. After changing to 'use n throw' Lithium AAs this is considered solved.

The flashlight offers many functions but annoys me in its operation due to the small buttons. It took me some time to get used to the controls. In TTL mode the camera always uses the widest aperture (i. e. 2,8) that the lens allows. There is seemingly no way to control the aperture in TTL on the flash and 'P' on the camera. The flash is not metered in 'A' or 'S" either. The option 'M' is my choice as it allows you to control the aperture (corrections +/-3 can be done on flash).

I am not too pleased with SIGMA support. Technical questions are not being answered.