After quite the film bender recently I wanted to use something a bit different. Specifically Foveon Monochrome DNG.
I did this before when two monochrome only camera announcements were made last year. One for Leica and another from Pentax. I welcomed both in a 2023 post and will be re-sharing some of that text below.
Some scoff at such additions and I get it. Technically both take away features and hardware and charge more.
I welcome them because I get it. Plus having an allegiance to arguably even less sensible image capturing devices…
…I am not one to judge. In both cases color gathering sensors are removed which:
- Allows more light to fall on the B&W sensor which improves light gathering capabilities.
- Allows light to have a straight path to the B&W sensor rather than being partially obstructed by the color arrays which means the true image is captured with no interpolation needed to reconstruct the blocked bits.
So as I said above, I get it. Clean B&W DNG files is one of the reasons I enjoy using the Quattro twins above.
If I ever locate my money tree I might buy both the Leica and the Pentax. But… What if you had no interest in or ability to purchase these specialized devices?
This is where I check back into this updated post. The bottom line is that I decided to take the sd Quattro out for a spin. To ring in the new year I decided to do the same today.
While not a dedicated monochrome solution this setup does keep me sufficiently amused.
Nothing Earth shattering. Just captures taken before, during, and after chorus rehearsal earlier this week. There were quite a few repeat captures so I almost did not post this. But I still like them so I decided to go ahead. Some suffer some low light maladies under close inspection. Common with Foveon. Unfortunately SIGMA dng files do not benefit from Lightroom’s AI denoise hat trick. But… I still like them so I decided to go ahead.
As stated in that earlier post as far as dedicated monochrome cameras go… I am good. Mark me safe from monochrome only cameras. Will the monochrome Leica and Pentax create even cleaner images? Likely, yes. But when I look at the results above, I am good. Another perk? Not only are you able to create impressive monochrome images with that fantastic Foveon sensor. Not only that, but that same sensor creates some fantastic color images. Some of the best colors I have ever seen.
Impressed by a monochrome only sensor? Think that is risky, or unique? SIGMA engineers would kindly ask you to hold their beer. With the sd Quattro SIGMA engineers also included a removable IR cut filter.
I am not aware of another camera where you can do this. There is a whole company dedicated to removing IR cut filters from your camera and they sell cameras already modified. SIGMA? Take it out when you want. Put it back any time you want. As a result, non-destructive IR photography is available to you at no additional cost any time you wish. Pick up an available light filter, place it out front, and you have B&W IR capabilities.
Want some color with your IR photography? Get yourself to Kolari’s website, or another retailer, and get one of those Kolari IR Chrome Filters.
So what has happened here is the SIGMA has out special purposed both Leica and Pentax.
Now understand that I am not saying that one should not purchase the new Leica or Pentax. I would still like to have both… But I am good.
Do I have a recommendation? Nope. Govern yourself accordingly. Get whatever floats your boat and I will applaud whatever you do or do not purchase.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 