Sigma SD10 review

2 months and 2000+ photos later I feel is a good time to rate this camera. This is my first digital so my comparisons are based on it's performance vs. years of using 35mm film.
BUY ONE! You will be happy.
This ia a masterful piece of engineering. It has far exceeded my expectations and, though perhaps blasphemous, has even out paced my beloved OM-1.
The image quality lives up to all of both Sigma and Foveon's claims. I have used it for fashion show, industrial macro, portraiture, and nature shoots. It has performed nearly perfectly (see below) in all environments.
It's lay out is identical to a film slr, just that it has a lcd on the back. I had no transitional lag in getting it into use.
The photo pro software is fantastic. It is simple and straight forward. There is no fancy photo shopesqe crap involved. You work with the image as you saw it. All of the control that is possible in a darkroom is right on the screen, plus no awful smell.
This is a very well conceived, designed, and executed camera. There is no bullshit about it or the Photo Pro software.

Problems:

1. Plastic body. Though it is very robust and workmanlike, I prefer the feel of a metal bodied camera.

2. Low light performance. I have never liked using flashes. In low light situations that could normally be overcome by controling exposure and during development on conventional film, the SD10 displays a good bit of noise in the higher iso ranges.

3. Battery usage. It is a pig for power. High dough rechargables keep it fed well. I added the 8 cell battery pack and that has kept it running well for long shoots.

4. Memory buffer. Having done a number of runway fashion and stage act shoots I have overloaded the memory buffer even with a 80x cf card. If you need to shoot in rapid succession, learning to pace one's self is tremendously important.

5. Availability. O.K., so it is kind of a rare bird. I couldn't find one in Atlanta, actually I had a hard time finding a photo store that had even heard of it. But mail order takes care of that with no worries.