D60 or better?

[dougsturgess]

Just curious to hear if Canon has any new cameras planned to come out anytime soon that incorporate the Foveon X3 technology or anything else.

Also, I have a G2 and have become more interested in photography since. I'm curious to get some recommendations for lenses for the D60. Can anyone recommend what telephoto lens they would buy for it to shoot wildlife and what other basic lenes are a must?

Thanks for your opinions.

[gsrossano]

Wouldn't that be interesting!

Does anyone know what the buzz is on the Sigma DS9 that uses a 3.4MP Foveon? Also, is the Sigma bayonette mount the same as the Canon EF (I though they used to be) - that is, will Canon lenses work on Sigma bodies? Currently it looks like Foveon only has the 3.4MP sensor and a square 4MP sensor at 9um pixel. They would have to increase the pixel count and it would have to read out at 3-8 frames per second to compete with CMOS. Also, I notice that Sigma now only claims a max sensitivity of 400 which also doesn't compete with CMOS.

[dougsturgess]

www.dpreview.com has a review of the new Sigma. Sounds like there are too many problems to mess with now.

[usul]

gsrossano wrote
Also, is the Sigma bayonette mount the same as the Canon EF (I though they used to be) - that is, will Canon lenses work on Sigma bodies?

No, it will not work.

[usul]

dougsturgess wrote:
www.dpreview.com has a review of the new Sigma. Sounds like there are too many problems to mess with now.
There are SOME problems, but I think, the chip itself is great, if you have a look at the resolution comparison (and do not forget that it is only 3.4 MPixel).
I think, nobody else will use the 3.4MPixel Foveon, but they have anounces higher resolutions - lets see how these will work. The potential of the chip is great !

[petiot]

"The potential of the chip is great !"

No doubt, but the body definitely have to be improved to face concurrent such as canon.

[usul]

petiot wrote:
"The potential of the chip is great !"

No doubt, but the body definitely have to be improved to face concurrent such as canon.


Your right. The most crazy thing is the RAW-only output. Another problem with the Sigma body is, that you can ONLY use Sigma lenses. No other vendor makes lenses for Sigma.
Therefore I would not buy a body with a Sigma mount. (That does NOT mean, that Sigma lense are bad)

[gsrossano]

This thread motivated me to do a little research on the sensor and its possible use in other applications.

The readout for this sensor is really slow. 2fps for the 3.4MP. That means for a 6 or 12MP sensor the readout will be 1 fps or less. Far too slow for most uses. Also the sensitivity is rather low, probably due to light losses as the photons penetrate the three layers of silicon. For low light applications, there appears to be an even greater loss in sensitivity. The pixel size a wee bit large at 9 um and probably can't be reduced much more, so to get more pixels they will have to go to a larger area sensor. Even so, I was intrigued enough to look at trying to get one to test in our lab. Sensors are only available through a third party. I got a quote of $56,000 for a "development" system, and $10,000 to $15,000 for stripped down test cameras. At those prices might as well buy a Sigma and rip it apart to experiment on it! I think it will be a long time before we see a sensor/camera combination that meets performance expectations. I do hope Foveon keeps at it. At lot can happen in a couple of years - if they don't run out of development money first.