I took 2,000 photos with the new Sigma BF — and it made me fall in love with photography again
It is not typically that I take a look at one thing I’m testing and go, “Man, that is lovely.” I check plenty of cameras, from instantaneous and mirrorless ones to drones. And let’s not beat round the bush: most mirrorless cameras look the similar, sporting a tried and examined look. There’s nothing incorrect with that, in fact, however I like it when producers take dangers — and that is precisely what they did with the Sigma BF.
The Sigma BF has been my most anticipated digicam of 2025. It is carved out of a single ingot of aluminum, which suggests the firm can solely make seven items a day, which provides to its luxurious enchantment.
It is the most minimalist mirrorless digicam on the market, with zero overwhelming dials on the prime plate, no viewfinder, no ports (barring a USB-C port for charging and information switch) — and not even a slot for an SD card. It did not take lengthy for the Sigma BF to turn into considered one of my favourite cameras, so let me take you thru what makes it an absolute winner.
Lovely appears, lovely photographs
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I’ve been photographing for so long as I can keep in mind, and no lie, a few of the greatest photos I’ve ever taken are with the Sigma BF. You possibly can see a number of examples above. The digicam takes ridiculously lovely photographs with its 24.6MP 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor — and the new Sigma Up to date 35mm F2 DG DN lens holds its personal too.
The photos are sharp, detailed, in focus and colour replica is devoted. I cannot cease watching the first shot of the cliffs and the sea, to be sincere. I virtually need to body it and dangle it up in my house!
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Having a quick autofocus system is essential. You want a digicam that may quickly observe topics, particularly for those who’re capturing in unpredictable conditions. And boy is the Sigma BF as much as the activity. Its hybrid AF makes use of a mix of 1,215 factors of phase-detection AF for pace and 345 factors of contrast-detection AF for accuracy.
It is also outfitted with auto topic detection, which suggests all you might want to do is level at a topic and the digicam will immediately know whether or not you are pointing at a human, animal or chook.
As you may see in the photos above, the Sigma BF shortly locked onto my companion’s eyes and face, no matter the lighting circumstances, and allowed me to seize her magnificence.
I bought so hooked on utilizing the Sigma BF to {photograph} my companion throughout a weekend getaway that I’d take any probability to level the digicam in her route. She’ll by no means admit it, however I’m pretty sure she was sick of me doing so — I haven’t any regrets, although.
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If you already know me or are acquainted with my work, you already know I love all that nature has to supply and I love photographing birds and animals. The Sigma BF has an 8fps digital shutter which is not speedy, per se, however it’s greater than sufficient to seize birds in flight, as you may see above.
In your viewing pleasure…
In case you’ve been wanting a break from doom-scrolling and have stumbled throughout this text, you’ve got come to the proper place. Sit again, calm down and watch the video above. I shot this in 4K/30fps in Torquay, U.Okay.
Not solely are the colours gorgeous and actions mesmerizing, I love the sounds the Sigma BF has recorded. I significantly like the sound of the sea foam receding down the sand as it’s possible you’ll not all the time hear it when recorded on, say, a smartphone.
The Sigma BF doubles an excellent videography instrument, providing you with the capacity to shoot 6K/30fps, 4K/30fps and FHD/120fps video. It additionally options 10-bit colour so it’s able to capturing a complete of 1.07 billion particular person hues.
Simplicity at its most interesting
Pretty picture high quality apart, have you learnt why the Sigma BF has made me get pleasure from photography again? Due to its minimalist design, which is its most hanging function (alongside 230GB of inner storage).
It does not overwhelm you with separate dials for ISO, shutter pace, publicity, and many others. On the again and subsequent to the monitor lies a dial that allows you to change all these settings. As somebody who’s used to capturing on cameras which have devoted dials for the whole lot, I love that it simplifies the capturing course of.
I do have plenty of ideas on this digicam’s poor ergonomics and lack of a sculpted grip, although, which you’ll examine in my full Sigma BF assessment. Besides, I shortly bought accustomed to the dealing with and did not discover myself complaining as typically.
I’ve actually loved the Sigma BF. It is a few of the most enjoyable I’ve had testing a product, and it’s made me fall again in love with photography. If anybody is ever feeling beneficiant and has $1,999 / £1,969 to spare, my birthday is in October. Simply sayin’.
Jokes apart, it is a digicam I imagine each photographer must strive not less than as soon as. Sigma’s taken a danger and finished one thing completely different, and it has paid off. The Sigma BF impresses on plenty of fronts, and alongside the Fujifilm X-T50, it’s turn into my favourite digicam.
Extra from Tom’s Information
