Sigma SD10 (and SD15) “Review” and Photos (in 2021!)

Hello everyone! Around the holidays I added another tool to the fleet, an ancient Sigma SD10! This camera was announced sometime in 2003, and I lucked out because it came with 3 lenses, a flash, battery grip, and a hard case! Plus the camera looked like it had barely been used! So here’s what I’ve been creating with it the last few weeks. Sorry, not too many portraits on here yet, since it’s been a really cold winter, and well, seems like 2021 might be a sequel of 2020… 🙁

(The Sigma SD10 came out during the early days of digital, when no one really knew who was going to win the camera and imaging battle: CCD’s vs CMOS, CF vs Smartmedia vs SD vs Memory Stick, and of course Foveon vs Bayer layer sensors. Fast forward to 2021, the smartphone pretty much beat all of them…but these early Sigma cameras still produce such sharp images that treat some scenes with the clarity of digital renders!)

Update 2022: Yep I still have this awesome camera! Some recent fall photos tacked on at the end of this long post.

Update 2024: Added a few out of camera portraits I forgot about. Yep I still have this camera and need to use it more.

Sigma SD10 photographed by a SD14

Sigma SD10 photographed by a SD14

Sigma SD10 photographed by a SD14

Sigma SD10 photographed by a SD14

Sigma SD10 photographed by a Nikon J1

Sigma SD10 photographed by a Nikon J1

Sigma SD10 photographed by a Nikon J1

The IR/Dust filter for the SD10 is a different shape than the SD14/15 and held down by a small screw

It takes 8 AA batteries to power this thing! Plus it only supports 2GB maximum CF cards. 300+ max is plenty for simple photo walks.

These Sigma cameras have a quirk where if there’s no battery in it, the clock resets to the factory date. Ah if only we could go back to the good ol days of 2001. 🙁

The previous owner still used this camera a good bit, if I’m guessing correctly from the filename/numbering. This is the first shot I managed after unpacking the camera and boy was I surprised at that wonky white balance on the tiny back LCD. That is definitely a green plant. I thought surely not another Sigma camera with awful color casts in every light?!

After using it and even letting Sigma Photo Pro do some autocorrecting, I would have to say the colors and white balance are spot on. Recalling the color palette of an early Canon DSLR imho. Here are a bunch of photos with minimal to no editing on my part:

Sigma SD10 + 50mm 2.8 EX, cropped to 5×7 but out of camera color and tones

Sigma SD10 + 50mm 2.8 EX, cropped to 4×5 with slight edits, but this camera is very muted in a pleasing way

Sigma SD10 + 50mm 2.8 EX, straight out of camera from .x3f RAW

Amanda with the “ancient” Sigma SD10! Taken with a GFX 50S

Sigma SD10 and 10-20mm (yes it backfocuses)

Left: Fuji GFX 50S Right: Sigma SD10

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX. The picnic area in the original raw is pretty deep in shadow. With SPP’s fill light feature, it really managed to bring out some very clean shadows and no noise like the Canon kind. Not bad for such an old and early digital camera.

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

I think I might have to go back and archive all of my artwork with these Sigmas. The camera’s resolution doesn’t matter as they give me such pixel clarity, enough for display on Macbook Retina screens and iPads.

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 55-200mm

Sigma SD10 and 10-20mm

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 55mm 1.4 M42

Sigma SD10 and 55mm 1.4 M42

Sigma SD10 and 55mm 1.4 M42

Sigma SD10 and 55mm 1.4 M42

Sigma SD10 and 55mm 1.4 M42

Sigma SD10 and 55mm 1.4 M42

Sigma SD10 and 55mm 1.4 M42

Sigma SD10 and 55mm 1.4 M42

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Bonus:

So I liked the image quality of the SD10 so much, that I also added a SD15 to the mix! The image quality and usability changes in this upgrade from my SD14’s is really drastic. I can’t believe I’ve been fighting with the SD14’s needlessly for so long, trying to get rid of the color casts, constant lockups and other quirky things. I guess those will now be my forever IR cameras, which are oddly enough, some of my most memorable images. Trying to get every bit out a difficult camera system can sometimes be a good thing! Anyways, here’s a few bonus photos from the Sigma SD15:

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD10 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD15 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD15 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD15 and 50mm 2.8 Macro EX

Sigma SD15 and 10-20mm

Sigma SD15 and 10-20mm

Sigma SD15 and 10-20mm

Sigma SD15 and 10-20mm

Sigma SD15 and 10-20mm

Sigma SD15 and 10-20mm

Sigma SD15 and 10-20mm

Sigma SD15 and 10-20mm

Sigma SD15 and 10-20mm

Sigma SD15 and 10-20mm

Sigma SD15 and 10-20mm

Sigma SD15 and 10-20mm

Isco Cinemascope Lens

Here are some more photos from a pretty cold morning. I wanted to test the Sigma SD10 with the anamorphic lens combo. Definitely a very slow and cumbersome shooting process.