Sigma SD9
Encyclopedia
Digital photography
Digital photography is a form of photography that uses an array of light sensitive sensors to capture the image focused by the lens, as opposed to an exposure on light sensitive film...
SLR camera
Single-lens reflex camera
A single-lens reflex camera is a camera that typically uses a semi-automatic moving mirror system that permits the photographer to see exactly what will be captured by the film or digital imaging system, as opposed to pre-SLR cameras where the view through the viewfinder could be significantly...
produced by the Sigma Corporation
Sigma Corporation
is a Japanese company founded in 1961, manufacturing cameras, lenses, flashes and other photographic accessories. All Sigma products are produced in the company's own Aizu factory in Bandai, Fukushima, Japan...
of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The camera was launched at the Photo Marketing Association Annual Show on February 18, 2002. It was Sigma's first digital camera
Digital camera
A digital camera is a camera that takes video or still photographs, or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor. It is the main device used in the field of digital photography...
, and was the first production camera to use the unique Foveon X3 image sensor, which reads full color at each pixel site. Other sensors detect only one color at each site and interpolate to produce a full-color image.
The SD9 had two separate power systems; one set of CR-123A lithium batteries in the handgrip powered the camera functions, while another pair of CR-V3 batteries or four AA size rechargeables in a battery tray in the base powered the digital functions. This split power system showed that the camera functions (inherited from Sigma's SA-9 film SLR) were not integrated at all with the digital half.
Another unusual feature of the SD9 was its "dust cover" filter right behind the lens mount, to prevent dust getting into the chamber and onto the sensor when changing lenses.
Reviewers and users reported good results in good lighting, but poorer ones in low light using either high ISO sensitivity or longer exposures.
The SD9 was succeeded by an updated model, the SD10
Sigma SD10
The Sigma SD10 is a digital SLR camera produced by the Sigma Corporation of Japan. It was announced on October 27, 2003 and is an evolution of the previous SD9 model, addressing many of the shortcomings of that camera...
, which addressed the power and low-light issues.http://vividlight.com/articles/3212.htmhttp://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/SSD10/SD10P.HTM