"Zebedee" wrote:

Before you look for a Sigma DSLR, have a look at the scathing review on
www.dcresource.com about it.


There is nothing scathing about that review. It is a highly
complimentary review that expresses some reservations about the
quality of Sigma lenses. But we knew that anyway.

Some excerpts will show that the review is far from scathing:

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QUOTED FROM www.dcresource.com:

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You will, however, find that this 3.4 Megapixel image blows away
anything you've seen before in terms of image quality. I think you'll
agree after viewing the sample photos attached to this review.

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Included with the SD10 is the excellent Sigma Photo Pro 2.0 software.
This software should serve as an example to other camera
manufacturers, with its great user interface and robust performance.
You'll be spending a lot of time in Photo Pro, since the camera only
saves photos in RAW (X3F) format. At first glance, Photo Pro looks
like just another photo browser (see above photo). But select an image
and you'll find a lot more functionality.

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In general, I was pleased with the results I saw using the auto
correction feature. If you're not satisfied with how that looks, you
can tweak the settings until the image looks like what you were
expecting.

The manual included with the SD10 is pretty good for a camera manual.
I especially liked the lengthy explanations, and minimal fine print.

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The first thing you'll notice while looking at the back of the camera
is just how simple everything is. There are just a few buttons and no
dials, making it a welcome change from more complex D-SLRs.

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If you clicked on those images above, or if you know anything about
the X3 sensor, you won't be surprised to hear my assessment of the
image quality: it's awesome, especially after a trip through that auto
adjustment feature. The sharpness and resolution are truly stunning

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While the Sigma SD10 would be a nice D-SLR if it used a traditional
CCD or CMOS sensor, it's the SD10's Foveon X3 image sensor which
really makes it stand out from the crowd. Image quality is, in a word,
stunning.

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Another standout feature of the camera is the Sigma Photo Pro
software, which you'll learn to love. That's because you must
post-process every image, as they're all saved in RAW format.
Thankfully, the Photo Pro software is both capable and responsive. You
can let the camera make automatic adjustments to the image, or you can
tweak it yourself.

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What I liked:

Stunning image quality
Robust performance
FireWire and USB ports
Uses AA batteries (instead of lithium-ion)
Easy to use
All the benefits of a D-SLR: lenses, flashes, and full manual controls
Excellent Photo Pro software

What I didn't care for:

Poor low light focusing without external flash
Dust seems to be a problem
Some of Sigma's lenses are not so great
All images must be post-processed (this may be a good thing, depending
on your point of view)
Above average noise at high ISOs
Bulky

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So much for a "scathing review"!

;-)