The next Foveon camera?

tarmov wrote:

Doppler9000 wrote:

Couldn’t one look at resolution directly to see if resolution was superior?

Yes, but the compression ratio measure is easier as a crude measure.

How is comparing a camera’s resolution to an arbitrary jpeg easier than just looking at the resolution?

If Canons and Sonys have a compression ratio of 3.7, while Sigma DPm has a compression ratio of 2.2 AND a person also visually prefers Sigma Foveons then I'd say there is a strong case FOR THAT PERSON to prefer Sigma Foveons.

I don't fully understand why some feel the need to persuade others NOT to buy Sigma Foveons.

I thought the discussion was about the upcoming Foveon. The debate is whether or not people thought the development was a sensible investment for Sigma or not.

There seems to be one such thread every month or every other month.

If there are only a few thousand buyers anyway, then why bother persuading them?

This rather makes the point. Sigma is investing in a potentially fruitless project where the best-case upside seems pretty limited.

What gives?

5k and 16k are rather different. The latter is 132.7MP, the former 14.7.

Yes, I understand that. Which is why I hope for an 8k Sigma Foveon.

If camera models with production volumes at a few thousand were economical in the early days of digital photography, then it could also be economical in the future.

The competitive landscape is rather different today. Profit margins are squeezed by phones, and the remaining camera makers vying for the shrinking market.

I don't see how mobile phones would be squeezing Sigma Foveon cameras.

Okay.

I also doubt that the profit margins are much different from the past when digital cameras were in its infancy and production volumes were small.

Based on what?

If anything, longer design and production experience should enable to reduce production volumes if necessary, because much of the research and design has already been done.

Have you not been following the FFF saga? Year after year goes by, Sigma makes more announcements hopeful that future developments will pay off. That’s the point. They sink more and more new money into a project that will, at best, result in a niche camera of moderate resolution that will work only in bright light.

And as to increased competition among remaining camera makers, should I interpret that in a way that such depressing threads like this one are deliberate attempts by competition to shut down Sigma's Foveon business?

Of course you should - it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? Nothing keeps the heads of Sony and Canon awake at night more than the prospect of a ISO 100 full frame Foveon camera potentially coming to market, perhaps at some unspecified date in the future. This thread proves just how frightened and desperate they are.