Actually, its not a personal pref problem if you have the ability
to switch lenses. Thats why changable lenses is an enormous
benefit to anyone.
Well it is if I ALSO want to conserve money.
Right, if you want interchangable lenses you have to buy the cheaper SD-9.
http://www.sigmaphoto.com/html/pages/8_ex.htm
Thats 14mm when used with the SD-9. Cost is $450. EX is their pro
line. How do to get 14mm without a DSLR?
Eh... does the 1.6 factor avoid the circular image?
"I'd be interested in like a 15mm fisheye"
Sound familiar?
I didn't think
it did, so I always consider the 15mm (17 equivalent after
defished). Anyways, see that's the rub for me... I want to get the
wide angle cheaply. I don't consider $450 to be cheap.
Right, $1200-1500 without that option is not a good deal for you. A DSLR is your only choice, the SD-9 is the only one significantly cheaper than the F828, though the 10D might be too by the time the 828 is released.
13.6mm on the SD-9, but whatever.
for $330 is nice, but I would like a more standard basic zoom like
the 300D's 18-55mm to start off with. I'm not sure if the image
quality on this lens is that great, but for a mere $100 I would be
willing to accept mediocre performance just to start off.
The $550 Sigma 15-30 EX (pro line) has a pretty unbeatable reputation in pro lens showdowns. So does the $450 17-35 EX. But again, there is no need for those to outclass prosumer lenses.
Image quality - major over-deliver.
Versatily - minor under-deliver.
But thats compared to other DSLRs, not prosumer.
Agreed. I'll be watching Sigma in the future to see how it
addresses these minor issues (take it as a sign of there commitment
to dSLRs)
Understandable, I've heard others say the same. Given the Sigma glass req, I suppose its a perfectly valid concern. My take was that the prosumer pricetag with better image quality than 6MP DSLRs, even the lower versatility wasn't reason to wait. To each his own.
Hehe... well we know your opinion. Actually I dropped by the Sigma
forums and noted that many of your fellow SD-9 owners don't plug
for the SD-9 with your... uh... "zeal"
For me I'm no expert, but
I would say that the SD-9 definitely performs well under ideal
conditions, however my experience has show me that I usually don't
shoot in ideal conditions.
In ideal conditions its only competition is the 14n and 1Ds. In good conditions its better than the 6MP crop, though they are competitive. In poor conditions its last place in the DSLR class.
In all cases mentioned above, the comparison is dead wrong, since it is a prosumer priced camera.
I don't think so... at least I've never seen a camera clip due to a
single channel like this. Do you have any examples of any cameras
that do something like this - this SHOULD be an embedded image of
that closeup of Big Ben
(
)
If this actually does occur in other cameras... then ok, but Phil
makes it sounds like it doesn't happen. And I've never seen that
weird whiting out of colors like that.
What is really interesting is that you saw something that isn't there, simply because you thought an expert told you it was there. The Big Ben pic looks like it is listed under the "Color Clipping" heading, but if you read the article carefully, you'll see that the Big Ben pic you linked is there to show that ISO 400 is ever so slightly softer than ISO 100 (both dramatically sharper than Bayer DSLRs, btw).
There is no color clipping in the image. Nor did he claim there was.
Huh? Please elaborate. I mean that say I want to take a 2 minute
exposure of the a bridge (with a heavy ND filter) so that you don't
see any of the cars anymore. From what I remember Canon just does a
dark frame subtraction and maybe some blurring to clear up noise.
It stacks in-camera. Granted, its a nice feature.
Are you saying I could take four 30 second exposures and average
them together to get the same effect? Even if this is true... this
isn't a great work around. I don't want to have to take 4 photos
just to mimic something most other dSLRs can do with one photo.
Stacking isn't averaging (though in a simple sense, I suppose averaging qualifies as a form of stacking). Just do a web search, there are lots of sophisticated stackers available.
Does the SD-9 have the BULB exposure feature?
Yes.
You just have to know how to use the SD-9. That's not a hit on Mr.
Askey, its camera-specific knowledge developed over time not
available during a review.
Explain how "knowing" how to use the SD-9 avoids those weird light
points in the night exposures he takes.
You have to be careul not to overexpose. SPP allows this. If you haven't downloaded and used SPP, you should start there--no need for an SD-9 just d/l a few .x3f files and you are on your way.
A follow-on would be even better.
Yea... for me, the SD-9 itself sounds a little too rough on the
edges. You counter-arguments are a little cryptic, maybe if you
elaborate on the color clipping, over 30s exposure, and night
exposure issues a little more.
Color clipping I think is self explantory--there was none where you saw some.
Exposures over 15 secs are rare, but if you want it you can stack. If that's more important than plain image quality--don't buy an SD-9.
Night exposures can be tricky, and that is a legit weakness. This boils down to a matter of weighing priorities, price-point, value.
