excellent ergonomics, straight forward controls, shiftable program, aperture and shutter priority and manual, no nonsense or modes; excellent 8 segment evaluative metering, spot and center weighted also, mirror lock-up; diopter adjustment; well finished and produced

Nothing much comes to mind, perhaps a somewhat slower AF than other manufacturers' top-of-the-amateur cameras, due to just a single cross sensor, but I usually focus manually. A Sigma rep told me several yrs ago, just before I got my SA7 that the Japanese tend to be more inclined to share components than Americans; it made me wonder who really makes the shutters, exposure systems and lenses we tend to see as so different; it would be ironic if only a couple companies made them and then put different names on them wouldn't it; it's always instructive to read photo mags from other countries; in Britain, Sigma appears to have a reputation as good as any.

I started taking photos again after almost 20yrs; I bought an SA9 after I had used an SA7 for almost two yrs, and the cameras have a lot in common, though the SA9 has a higher shutter speed of 1/8000 second, and flash sync of 1/180 second; I use both primarily as cameras for both landscape and macro shots, almost always on a lightweight Manfrotto tripod; the SA9 seems most like a Nikon N-80 or a Canon Elan II, same niche, but it has nice capabilities, such as mirror lock-up, and a 2 second self timer; ergonomically the SA7 and SA9 are second to none; the SA9 has a good heft and grip, very easy to use, with thoughtful positioning of controls; the remote shutter release makes crisp macro shots easy, and operates mirror lock-up; both SA7 and SA9 seem quite rugged and I've used mine in everything from cloud forests to deserts with no casualties.

Customer Service

so far so good

Similar Products Used:

Olympus IS-30, Nikon EM, Zenit SLR

lightweight, mirror lock up, 180 flash sync speed, low price

weak autofocus (just like the SA-5), no PC Terminal for studio lights, can't manually dial 180 sync speed

This camera is a marked improvement over the SA-5, which, in my estimation, had a few weaknesses. I bought the SA-5 because of all the features crammed in that only much more pricey cameras would provide. Let's face it, if you really need a lot of these features (mirror lock-up, depth of field preview, etc.) and you really know photography, the only reason you would buy this camera (and the SA-9) is because of the low price. If you could afford to buy a Nikon, you would, plain and simple. I've taken many, many pictures with my SA-5 and it seemed to hold up well. The problems came with the sync speed (125) and the lack of a PC terminal jack. If you are like me and you want to handhold your camera while your subject is in strong backlighting, but you need a faster shutterspeed than 125 (for non-blurry pictures), then you were SOL with the SA-5. Same thing if you tried to hook up studio lights to your SA-5. First of all, if you tried to rig a setup with the hot shoe (like you can with every other brand of camera), you probably found that it didn't work with the Sigma hot shoe. You also found that if you tried to slave a flash from the built-in flash, that it would only work in near total darkness. The SA-9 corrected the sync speed problem by raising it to 180. However, you cannot manually dial the shutter speed to 180. If you want to take a flash picture (or any picture) at 180, you have to raise the built-in flash. However, if you have a hot shoe rigged light set up, you cannot have it synch up at 180 because a) you can only manually set it to 125 or below; or b) if you open the built-in flash to "trick" the camera into achieving 180 status, then the hot shoe rig won't fire. Believe it or not, Sigma actually makes a PC Terminal Adapter that is advertised for their digital SD-9 camera, but from what Sigma parts service has told me will actually work with the SA-9 (price $40). You have to order it from their parts department. When I asked them why they didn't have this information on their web site, or why any of their sales reps didn't know this information, they had no answer. They told me they would forward the info to the marketing department.

Customer Service

Is a joke. When I asked the PC adapter question, I went through no less than five people to get the answer. When I told them that everyone wants to know the information that I was asking about and that they should make the information available to the public, they didn't seem to care very much. I first e-mailed the question and I got back a generic response which didn't actually answer my question. Sigma actually seems intent on not selling these cameras because so little info is available on them. I've gone to the top camera shop in my area and regularly schooled the sales reps on the various aspects of these cameras. I've also been shocked at the lack of info the regional sales reps have on these cameras.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma SA-5

price

comletely useless in low light situations

good photos in daylight

Customer Service

don't know yet

Similar Products Used:

minolta

Love the feel and size. It has mirror lock up! and DOF preview, wireless remote flash and can run up to 3 flashes, motor drive that I'd rate at 3.5-4 fps faster than what is stated. Easy to learn and change setting without removing eye from the view finder. It has built in diopters! Lots of lenses and flash system. Excellent buy for the money.

No battery pack, AF a little slow but it the same speed as Canon's Elan 7 by all test no IF beam which would help in low light, but the external flash has a IF which work great when when flash is attached.

Great camera, EXCELLENT value for the money. Feels good in the hand, excellent spot metering, and overall metering. Lens removal botton in great location. Easy to work with in all modes, easy to learn. Steel lens mount. Light weight but well made and strong.

Customer Service

Very good over the phone and internet 1 or 2 response on the internet.

Similar Products Used:

Elan 7, Minolta 9xi, Nikon N90,

*MLU *1/8000sec top shutter speed *1/180sec top sync speed *Dateback *Good battery life *DOFP

*No real release priority-read above *Poor AF performance *No vertical grip available *Sigma has no fast 50mm primes *Low resale value *No AF assist light *No real spotmetering *Penta-mirror instead of pentaprism *Auto-film rewind-read above *Doesn''''t leave film tag out

Good camera to give tons of features at an attractive price. It offers a nice grip, not too small like Rebel 2000, Maxxum 5, Nikon N55. The button placement and layout is very logical and allows you to concentrate on taking pictures, not fiddling with program modes and multi-button presses to select what you would like. The mirror lock up is a nice feature, and the high 1/8000sec top shutter speed, along with the 1/180sec sync speed are very handy. It has built in diopter correction, a 3 frame autoexposure bracketing mode, exp. compensation & a dateback. The 3fps continuous speed is good for a camera in this price range and it also includes an electronic DOFP button, which I learned also doubles as a secondary exposure lock button, didn''''t see that in the manual. The battery life is also very good. While this camera has many pro features, it does fall short of a pro body in quite a few areas. I would prefer it had a real pentaprism over the penta-mirror, and the center area metering mode is a bit wide for spotmetering. I found myself really missing a tight spotmeter. The camera does offer mid-roll rewind, which is nice for changing film, but doesn''''t offer an option to leave the film tag out. I also wish you had the option to turn off auto-rewind. The camera doesn''''t auto-rewind at the end of a roll of film, it always rewinds after the pre-determined number of shots the roll is designed for, ie - if it''''s a 36exp roll of film, you will always get 36 pictures. On cameras I''''ve used where you don''''t use auto-rewind, you can sometimes squeak out an extra 2 or 3 exposures per roll. I was sorely dissapointed with this cameras low-light autofocus. The autofocus speed with a non-HSM lens is adequate, about as good as other cameras in this price range, but probably not as fast as a Canon with a USM lens. The camera only has a single autofocus cross sensor, and it almost never seemed sensitive enough to lock onto a subject in low light, and even moderately low light, such as average indoor lighting. Outdoors, the thing would lock on very fast. I would highly recommend immediately purchasing an external flash, such as the Sigma EF-500 Super which includes a much needed near-red AF assist beam. My biggest irritation with the camera is its release priority, or should I say lack there of. Popular Photography''''s review, along with Sigma''''s website bo

Customer Service

Slow to respond to emails, if they even decide to answer them at all, tend to send alot of generic responses to specific questions. Phone support is better, I would use that.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta Maxxum, Canon Rebel 2000, Nikon N70, Nikon N80, Nikon N90s

Features, Ergonomics, Quality, Price, etc...

Lenses limited to Sigma, which may not be a bad thing in my opinion.

To say this camera is loaded with features would be an understatement. It has all of the standard features included in the big four SLR cameras. It also has a few only included in their top-of-the-line (pricey) cameras. Other features not found on every camera include mirror lockup - for increased sharpness in macro photography or when using long lenses. A depth of field preview button, MIA from a number of cameras for a while, but I''m glad to see it making a comeback. Also found on the SA-9 and making a general comeback is a multiple exposure setting that allows you to expose a single frame multiple times -up to 9 separate times on the SA-9. A viewfinder diopter adjustment that allows you to adjust the viewfinder for your vision. The self timer has setting for either a two or ten second delay - useful for long exposures if you''re not using a remote cable. Speaking of remote cables, forget about it with this camera. You can get an optional...3-channel wireless remote control. Metering is via an 8 segment evaluative meter and you are given a choice of 8 segment metering, average metering (center weighted), and center area metering (spot metering). The metering mode is controlled via a button on the left side of the camera and the control dial which surrounds the shutter release button. I did have to really do some digging to get more information on this camera, but most of the major camera magazines and several websites have reviewed this camera very positively. It is definitely worth a little research time to save several hundred dollars on a quality camera. This camera feels great in the hand and takes great pictures! What more could someone ask for? Okay, a couple of negatives. Autofocus is not super-fast, but since I am not taking magazine cover shots, no problem. Another issue I considered was lens availability since the Sigma SA-9 only uses Sigma lenses. Well, I decided since they make quite good lenses, I could live with this limitation. Not to mention, it keeps me off the auction sites buying a lens every other day

Customer Service

N/A

Similar Products Used:

Olympus, Pentax, Nikon, Canon

Control layout is excellent, sparse but very good LCD panel giving just the info you need to know about exposure, very good exposure meter, great mirror lock up, 1/8000 sec. shutter and 3fps., multi-exposure, wireless release, very versatile external flash that is also TTL wireless, + - 3 bracketing/compensation,stainless steel mount, nice, effective built in flash, very comfortable in the hand.

Polycarbonate body (though not necessarily lightweight), single(although decently sensitive for those who don''t rely on it)autofocus cross sensor, somewhat loud mirror slap.

A well engineered, well laid out, no nonsense picture taking tool with a decent auto focus system that can work well for all except the most discriminating, picky photographer who must have the latest gimmicks/gadgetry. The most impressive thing about this camera is the layout of controls, which allows for very quick response to rapid changes that may occur when taking pictures. No searching through menus, pushing multiple switches, or guessing your way through a zillion custom functions to set basic settings. It seems to be caught between a high level camera (multiple unlimited exposures, true mirror lock up, wireless selections)and a basic camera (polycarbonate body, very useful built in flash, simplified autfocus system)and can''t seem to make up its mind. Despite the reluctance of some to "invest" (if you want to call it that, the price is so low)in it due to the quality of its lenses, from personal experience and heavy use I can tell you that I have had NO problems with their lenses as long as you keep it in thier EX series. They are also quite sharp (they REALLY are) and perform well, compared to their competition, for the price. You can only select lenses in the SA mount but so what? If you get a Canon or Nikon you should only be selecting Canon/Nikon lenses in order to get the greatest benefits of their systems, too. Besides, Sigmas lineup is quite extensive now and growing. I know there are some who consider it nuts to get a Sigma system but for those who want to concentrate on taking quality pictures without all the fuss of titanium shelled, bomb proof,feature laden "custom funtionless" cameras that can do all except make your coffee in the morning, this camera would do well.

Customer Service

Excellent, sent my lens in once, solid ever since (after heavy use).

Similar Products Used:

Sigma SA-5, Canon Elan, Pentax PZ-1P, ZM.