As has been well documented in this space I adore Foveon sensors. This day the tool of choice is the SIGMA sd Quattro,
and the impressive SIGMA 30mm f/1.4 Art lens.
Ok. So that covers Foveon, the camera, and the lens mentioned in the post title. So what is the question? I am glad that I imagined that you asked. It is a question that crosses my mind every single time I truck out one of these Foveon cameras.
And that question is this:
Why am I still messing with film cameras?
Sure modern digital cameras offer speed, efficiency, and whatnot while lacking that “something special” I look to film and Foveon for. But film cameras fall into the same general category as Foveon sensor cameras. I even wrote two posts about this comparing Foveon to Instatwitface darlings. Here and here.
And Foveon even shares some of the same froo froo artsy fartsy justifications of film also. Namely:
- Limited ISO.
- Color should never pass 800 and B&W can stretch to 1600 in a pinch.
- Committing.
- A B&W DNG file shows up B&W in Lightroom and when you choose a crop in RAW there is no going back.
- Something special.
- If you get color pics in the Foveon’s sweet spot they are amazing.
- Monochrome produces some of the best B&W images I have ever seen.
On a recent evening I used monochrome Foveon, which I put in the realm of dedicated monochrome cameras for IQ, right next to a favorite black and white film of mine. Rollei RPX 400 run through a recent favorite SLR.
Result?
Unlike the previous comparisons the sd Quattro absolutely slaughtered film. Sure, some of this may be attributable to some tired Cinestill df96 developer. But it was not even close. So much so that I am not even going to post any of the film pics here. Would have been better served concentrating on using the sd Quattro.
For the record, this brings me joy. But I did remember later on why I still use film. I will get to that. Now to the Foveon pics.
Then I spent a few moments capturing some images after taking in the artwork.
Ok. Then I got home. And this is where I remembered why I like film. Ahem…
I like developing film.
As fun as Foveon is to use and as much as I like the resulting images I thoroughly enjoy developing film… What is that you say? You may be saying that this does not make sense?
Oh. I did not say my reasoning, if you could call it that, would make sense.
But it is what it is. So Foveon and film it has been and Foveon and film it will continue to be.
Another successful Foveon therapy session.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 