Sigma BF ZDNET's key takeaways Sigma's BF is a $2,200, 35mm full-frame, mirrorless digital camera that radically changes the mode of operation by replacing the gaggle of buttons with an elegant click-wheel.
It's a great first camera but also has tons of pro features
A future upgrade to a higher-resolution 60-megapixel sensor would be a welcome enhancement. View now at Adorama View now at B&H more buying choices
Taking pictures with a digital camera hasn't changed much in thirty years. The electronics have improved, but the basic act of operating a digital camera has remained mostly the same. Cameras are a gaggle of buttons that are a cryptic arrangement to anyone but the initiated.
The real innovation in the picture-taking experience has been the smartphone, which has made picture-taking an always-available tool for documenting everything with relative ease.
There is still an audience, however, for innovation beyond what smartphones offer. Young consumers keep buying digital cameras, and a new generation is always interested to learn more about photography as an art.
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Into the void steps lens and camera maker Sigma Corp., based in Kanagawa, Japan, just outside Tokyo. The company this spring introduced a radical redesign of the digital camera's basic mode of use.
The Sigma BF, as it's called, reduces the mass of buttons to a small set of touch-sensitive controls. All the functions of digital photography are still there to be experimented with and exploited -- shutter speed, lens aperture, or "f-stop," and "ISO," the level of light that can be recovered from a scene -- but they are under your command in a radically simplified user interface.
I've been testing the BF for some weeks now, and I'm smitten with the changes. The hardware's design is beautiful, and the new user interface is very thoughtful. The name "BF" stands for "beautiful foolishness," and you could say this kind of redesign is crazy, but I love it.
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