Sigma dp compact cameras with new Foveon X3 sensor

With the also newly developed TRUE (Three-layer Responsive Ultimate Engine) III image processor, the camera is capable of creating images that match the quality of medium format cameras, Sigma said, highlighting the exceptional color rendition and ultra-fine detail.

Leveraging the light absorption characteristics of silicon, the Foveon X3 sensor comprises three layers of photodiodes, each at a different depth within the silicon and each corresponding to a different RGB color, recording hue, value, and chroma accurately and completely for each pixel. In contrast, conventional image sensors feature a mosaic pattern, and use an array of RGB color filters in a single horizontal plane to capture color information. Each pixel is assigned to only one of the three colors and cannot capture all three colors at once.

In the Foveon direct image sensor, there are no color filters needed, neither a low-pass filter that corrects the interference caused by a color filter array. Finally, unlike the data from other sensors, which requires artificial interpolation to “fill in” missing colors, the data from the Foveon direct image sensor is complete for every single pixel and requires no interpolation.

The new Sigma dp series comprises three fixed focal length cameras: the wide-angle dp1 Quattro F2.8 19mm (28mm in 35mm terms), the standard dp2 Quattro F2.8 30mm (45mm in 35mm terms), and the telephoto dp3 Quattro F2.8 50mm (75mm in 35mm terms).

All three cameras offer the possibility to store RAW files (14bit) and are equipped with a 3-inch (7.6 cm) display with 920,000 dots.

Information about delivery times and sales prices are not yet available.