Sigma SD9: Samples at DPReview (UPDATED) By
Michael R. Tomkins, The Imaging Resource (Thursday, September 26, 2002 - 02:49 EDT)The folks over at the Digital Photography Review website have posted a number of sample photos from a pre-production SD9 digital camera.
A caveat: as always with a pre-production camera, the sample images may not full represent what a production camera will be capable of; firmware in digital cameras is often being tweaked almost until the first batch is shipped to retailers. Phil also notes that thanks to poor weather, the photos were taken in far from ideal conditions.
That said, we think they make very interesting viewing. There are 10 images, of which two are manufacturer-supplied, and 8 were taken by Phil. All of Phil's photos were taken at a focal length of 50mm; ISO ratings range from 100 to 400, shutter speeds from 1/8th to 1/45th second, apertures from f/4.0 to f/8.0. Two TIFF files are available, and there's also a comparison showing the post-exposure compensation latitude available in the SD9 RAW files.
We likewise have a number of sample images captured on the SD9 which we will be bringing to you shortly. Unfortunately, the press facilities at Photokina seem to be below-par (a handful of computers on ISDN lines), but Dave is endeavouring to get the images uploaded as soon as possible.
UPDATED 2002-09-26 17:02ET: We've now posted our own SD9 sample photos, including a direct comparison with Sony's 5 megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-F717 digital camera, along with a number of photos of the camera's interface and desktop software. Check it out! UPDATED 2002-10-06 12:36ET: Removed the link to Phil's images as he has pulled them from his server.
Sigma SD9: Samples at DPReview (UPDATED)