"Sigma SD1 Merrill not good for scanning negatives/slides"

DrTebi wrote:

digi2ap wrote:

I think these are very good, detailed and I like the colour in the first one. The main reason I can think of that some would say the SD1M isn't good for scanning slides is ease of operation - focussing and no live view etc.

I think I must have confused everyone with the subject line of this post. If you read the body of my post, you will see that I tend to disagree...

In other words, I think the Sigma SD1 Merrill is ideal for DSLR scanning. At least on a technical level—the Foveon sensor really brings out the best of film.

I too was afraid that focusing and not having live view could be an issue. Now, after a number of test scans (including some stitched ones), I am happy to report that the 70mm Macro lens auto focus is spot on. So if that works... live view is not really needed anymore.

The SD-1 is slow, and It's a bit cumbersome to convert the files with Sigma Photo Pro, switching to another editor for further post processing etc., but in the end I like the results much better than what I got with the Nikon D810 or Pentax K-1, or even my Minolta Dimage Multi Pro film scanner.

That seems likely.

But putting twenty thousand or more files through SPP is simply not practical. One reason I went for the sdQH was the DNG output, which is fine for monochrome. Also the luminance resolution is probably as high as that of any Bayer FF camera, except perhaps the Canon 50 Megapixel model.

And the sdQH is within my budget. The alternative was the Sony A7r2, at more than twice the price. I've seen some excellent results posted by people using that camera with the Sony 90mm macro lens. That lens again is too expensive.

But I wouldn't use the sdQH for 35mm colour slides, as you have to shoot in SFD mode to deal with the contrast. This would be OK for perhaps a couple of hundred slides, but not for thousands.

Negatives have a lower contrast and single exposures are fine.

Resolution-wise, as I mentioned, it depends on your goals. If every last bit of detail is your goal, then stitching is necessary with the SD-1. The Pentax and Nikon have a little advantage here due to the higher resolution, but these will not give the same clarity as the SD-1 with its Foveon sensor.

Are you stitching 35mm? I couldn't see any improvement over single images with the sdQH. Medium format film is a different matter and certainly needs stitching to get crisp grain on silver negs.

Your mileage may vary, but I am quite satisfied with this setup, even if it takes a bit of effort to get great results.