Fujifilm vs Sigma: Niche Strategies

I decided to buy a new digital camera. Technology moves fast ahead and my current Minolta A2 is ageing. I have been quite happy with the A2, but it starts showing its wear... And there are some general capabilities of the camera it just does not have. I went through my albums and among things I would like to have improved are white skies. Indeed on most of my pictures the sky is white. This means the dynamic range of the sensor was not high enough. The bright portions of the image saturated the image sensor, most of the time resulting in a white sky. I do not complain about other aspects of the images that much. Resolution of 8 megapixels is fine for the moment. 28-200 lens are OK too. So I started some research to find a camera equipped with a high dynamic range sensor. On one hand there is a cornucopia of new models from the market leaders, namely Canon and Nikon, followed by Panasonic and Sony. On the other hand two designs have attracted my attention: Sigma SD-14 and Fujifilm S5 Pro.

Sigma is known for probably the best sensor on the Planet: the latest X3 from Foveon. But unfortunately the rest of the camera lags a little behind what is currently on the market. Things like the autofocus, live view screens, overall speed and in-camera JPEG quality are just not there... Fujifilm S5 Pro attacks the very problem I want to solve - the dynamic range - by using a very special sensor with two photo diodes per pixel (one capturing the dark range, the other capturing the bright range of the pixel). Both cameras have very radical sensor designs, something I really value (not wanting to settle for what everybody else would go for :) ). But there are two different approaches by Sigma and Fujifilm to be a special niche player. Sigma locks you in with their own lens mount. So buying the SD-14, you somehow agree to buy all the future lens and other accessories from them. Fujifilm is much smarter here. They use a standard Nikon D200 body. Just furnish it with their own sensor and image processor. The rest is simply a Nikon. So choosing the S5 Pro, you are not locked in. Every Nikon accessory fits. Even Sigma lens with Nikon mount. This way the decision to buy the Fujifilm S5 pro is much less risky. Even if you do not like the body, the lens and other accessories you invest in can be used with a standard Nikon body later on.

Sigma wants it all. They give you the special sensor, but only when you commit to buy the entire rest of equipment from them. Fujifilm understands they will not conquer the world alone. Nikon partnership is very smart here. It even works the other way. The S5 Pro may be an easy choice for current Nikon users. I bet Fujifilm outsells Sigma, even as personally I would probably pick the Foveon - based body, provided it was a more standard design. For now, I decided to go the Fujifilm way. It's promise of high dynamic range is attractive and Nikon compatibility prevails over the superior X3 technology the Sigma offers. So far the product strategy has made the difference. May be one day Sigma learns their lessons and chooses the way Fujifilm has taken. It would definitely be beneficial for them...