Much of my adult life has been spent staring at pixels, the fine details. If you're in the market for a high-quality sub-$300 camera, the Polaroid X530 featuring the Foveon X3 image sensor is the one to get. That is, if you can find one. Most modern digital imaging technology is based on fundamental assumptions developed for NTSC analog television - the idea that the eye is less sensitive to color (or in the case of still image cameras, less sensititive to red/blue). Not so with the Foveon imaging sensor. [
UPDATE: I finally was able find one. As expected, it takes amazing photos in RAW format.

Since corporate white collar thieves have systematically gutted Polaroid corporation since the death of the founder, you'll be lucky if you can buy any Polaroid based photography products in 3 years, let alone a groundbreaking camera based on an innovative technology like the Foveon X3.

While you're at it, pick up a Polaroid OneStep 600, and you'll be reminded how much fun taking pictures can be - that is, when you leave behind the SD cards, USB cables, ink-jet printers, ink-jet printer cartridges, and computers just to print out a photo to give to your friends. Having trouble printing from your digital camera? Why, didn't they tell you to enable the DHCP on your WIFI printer?

Labels: foveon, polaroid

If you're looking for a trouble-free camera that is small, easy to hold, and convenient, there are a wide variety of cameras to choose from, including the Nikon S3 ($200-$350) (etc) series, the Casio Exilim ($200-$400) and the Sony Cybershot (Pink; $300-). I will say this: for hurried photographs, anti-shake is a very useful feature.

On the other hand, if you're looking to take unbelievable, photographic-quality pictures in RAW format, for just about $100 you can find yourself a Polaroid x530 with the foveon image sensor.

Labels: foveon

Personally, I am holding out for the Sigma SD-14, which was announced at Photokina and will be shipping sometime this spring.

The reasons for this I covered in my post about image quality.

Labels: dslr, foveon, sigma

Foveon is a company trying to bring the world of digital cameras to the level of analog film ("kodachrome"). Currently digital still photography is held prisoner by an ageing, obsolete approach to capturing ("image sensor") light in the camera. Foveon has, over a period of some 20 years, produced a remarkable digital technology which rivals analog film in it's ability to capture light in the photographic process.

Currently, this technology is available in the following digital cameras that I am aware of: Polaroid X530 (also the least expensive RAW camera on the market), Sigma SD9 (digital SLR "pro camera"), Sigma SD10. Sigma has also recently announced two new cameras based on new image sensors from Foveon, the SD-14 and the Sigma DP1.

So prevalant is the use of "video camcorder imaging-style" image sensors in professional digital still cameras (by this I mean YCrCb image capture using a CCD and pixels captured with some kind of bayer mosaic arrangement), that Adobe refers only only to this arrangement of pixels in it's DNG (digital negative) specification.

The photographs taken with cameras featuring the Foveon sensor are, in a word, stunning in their clarity and detail. Here's some quick links I dug up:
http://www.pbase.com/mjmorrison/sigma_sd10
http://www.pbase.com/cameras/sigma/sd10

If you are interested in picture quality, and ESPECIALLY if you like to manipulate photos with Photoshop and want to get the state of the art, get a camera with a Foveon image sensor.

There is a great book about Foveon's quest. Along the lines of "Soul of a New Machine", "The Silicon Eye" - I found it a fascinating read. I can't wait to try the video capabilities of the Sigma DP1 (30fps 640x480). We're looking at a camera that captures RGB at the sensor level.

Labels: foveon, lightzone, photoshop, sigma