REVIEW: Sigma BF - "Back to basic" for a more stripped-down photographic life
Sigma BF lives up to the vision of being both innovative and serving as a fusion between design and simplicity. For some, it's winning - for others, it's problematic. How it turns out for you depends on the purpose of your photography.
It's not very often that something new and different is released when it comes to cameras; most releases often follow many iterations of improvements from previous versions or models, or some specifications have been improved or fine-tuned to work even better.
Therefore, it is refreshing that someone - in this case, Sigma - took an approach to do something that was just different from what we who test cameras constantly see. Admittedly, at its core, it is still a conventional camera that takes pictures, but the way Sigma has ground down the photographic process by changing the handling has sparked some discussion among photographers worldwide.
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At the release of the camera, the expression "a modern Camera Obscura" was used, meaning a modern version of the most basic version of a camera - the pinhole camera where light passes through a small hole that functions as a lens. This was to demonstrate that Sigma has stripped everything down, returned to basics, and "back to basic," to see how the modern camera can be simplified at its core.
Stylishly matching silver-colored lenses to match Sigma BF.
Sigma BF is the camera that is essentially Sigma's CEO Kazuto Yamaki's own version of a useful camera - and born from the thoughts that many who photograph today use a smartphone as an image capture device - because they themselves can't find a better alternative. This is also the idea with Sigma BF - a stylistic camera that is easy to use, where the user interface should not intimidate the photographer but rather embrace simplicity and focus on the image.
And not the technology.
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That's also why it's gratifying that Sigma BF is also a camera where we can set aside specifications and technology, because it simply is about something other than just technology, for better or worse. The artistic approach is not unique - we have seen the same meaning in the thinking of, for example, Leica with cameras without distractions, without a screen, dedicated to black and white, and technology stripped of functions to give the photographer more sense of presence and focus on the image content rather than the technology.
The timeless design thinking
The idea with Kazuto is, besides the simplicity of being able to use the camera, that the design should be timeless and relevant even many, many years from now. Therefore, Sigma uses the minimalist expression as part of the camera's advantages.
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BF also stands for “Beautiful Foolishness”, taken from a hundred-year-old book - The Book of Tea - written by the Japanese scholar and art critic Okakura Tenshin. The focus is on the Japanese tea ceremony and how it permeates everything in Japanese culture, with one message: simplicity.
But the question then is: has Sigma succeeded with its design, and can it be linked to Japanese simplicity? The funny thing is that the answer is actually both yes and no, and much of which path you as a reader take after reading this test probably depends a lot on what type of photographer you are. Or - want to be.
Milling out a camera body over seven hours from a single piece of aluminum is something few would attempt to volume-produce a camera. The closest examples I can think of are Leica, or if Apple decided to release a dedicated camera. But the connection to both carries so much more, as thoughts from both sides exist in Sigma BF.
If we return to the design, the camera is minimalist, with few buttons and few controls. The idea is to reconnect to the simplicity of the tea ceremony where many actions can be performed with few components, which is the case with BF. The three buttons and the dial on the back are what we have to work with, which also leaves unusually little to the imagination about what you can do with the camera.
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Handling
But the fact is that there is still a lot that can be done. The streamlined interface can be hidden to provide a more "straightforward" experience with the world you see on the screen, rather than having to focus on all the numbers that blink, inform, and warn. For those who want to dedicate a day to photography, it is really nice, you can let go of the camera's settings and take your pictures, and they mostly turn out very well. It can actually be largely linked to mobile photography - point and shoot - so you have the picture quickly and smoothly. Here, I also believe Sigma themselves are quite pleased to have created a camera that works really well in auto mode - which they should be - just like with the mobile photographer who takes their picture and is satisfied.
As a photographer, you are also relegated to the screen, which means that any mobile photographer will feel at home, while the rangefinder crowd will complain that the camera has no viewfinder - either analog or digital - because that's how you photograph. We can probably assume that this type of photographer is less prioritized when it comes to this particular camera - there are simply other much better alternatives. Sure, it's an advantage to be able to look through a viewfinder when taking pictures, but it also depends on what kind of pictures you take and in what situations.
For those who don't require speed in adjusting settings, the Sigma BF is a really pleasant camera to photograph with.Foto: Calle Rosenqvist
The autofocus is fast - and can follow a bird without any problem.Foto: Calle Rosenqvist
What one might possibly ponder is why not simply settle for a mobile phone and its camera, if the similarities are so great between mobile photography and photography with the Sigma BF. One of the answers is precisely the buttons, the physical feeling of having a camera in your hand, and just there the psychological effect kicks in - you will take “better” pictures with the Sigma BF because a camera opens up more creativity when it comes to photography, rather than the point and shoot handling that you often end up in when holding a mobile phone in your hand.
The screen is otherwise good with its 2.1 million pixels, but outdoors in daylight it becomes somewhat dim, or at least it is perceived as such, perhaps a combination of it being so close to the camera's edges that the eye simply has close access to the light in front of you without any black frame that can shade, together with the light silver color on the silver version. Perhaps the black version can contribute somewhat to improvement.
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The autofocus keeps up even in low light.Foto: Calle Rosenqvist
In auto mode, the camera pretty much understands how to set everything.Foto: Calle Rosenqvist
Not quick to work with
What becomes problematic, however, is for those who want to be more involved in the process and photograph on a deeper level, by participating more in the handling of the camera's settings. The simplicity in handling is actually both “foolish” and “beautiful” - here we can almost relate to the Apple mindset of being able to do several things with fewer buttons, and scale down to the most essential.
For example, the play button, as it sounds, provides a display of the photos you've taken, and a long press quickly shows the latest picture as long as you hold the button. This is an example of thoughtful use of a button, meaning that different types of button presses have different effects. Really good!
Another button shows photography info and some critical settings, as well as the ability to make direct adjustments with the scroll wheel. This handling is in a way also impressively simple, you can move through the menus and make adjustments relatively easily. The problematic part, however, is that simplicity is not synonymous with speed - something that also becomes a problem for the Sigma BF for those who love to quickly handle and adjust the camera to get the right settings for the picture. By then, the picture has already disappeared, unless we're talking about a still life.
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The images turn out really nice straight from the camera, and there are 13 different settings to adjust the character, to get tonality in different shades.Foto: Calle Rosenqvist
With a little tweaking, you can find an image setting that suits your style.Foto: Calle Rosenqvist
Colorful.
A third button handles all other settings that you don't need to use at the moment of photography, such as time, firmware, and other things that you essentially set once. Important to reach, of course, but imagine if the button could be used for something else, like quickly switching between a certain setting, something that would significantly enhance the camera's handling.
On the other hand, I also understand that the idea with the camera is to skip precisely these moments, but then Sigma could also have skipped the entire button - and let you as a photographer access this part of the menu by, for example, holding down the down button and pressing the shutter, or some other unusual combination.
The screen management is also not entirely consistent. In some situations, you can manage the settings and adjustments with your finger on the touchscreen, in others not. This mix complicates things a bit because you have to learn where and when you can use the screen and when you cannot, here the camera would probably have benefited from being able to stick to the similarity of a mobile phone: you can simply and quickly perform a lot by using just the screen.
Handling the camera's settings in manual mode is not so quick, which means you have to make sure to set everything before the picture appears.Foto: Calle Rosenqvist
A detail that impresses me is the feeling of the shutter button. One should not underestimate the importance of the physical feeling when taking a picture, and here I must say that Sigma has clearly succeeded extremely well. The button is distinct, has a good feel, and a minimal distance between half-press and full-press with resistance that is as optimal as it can be. That feeling, together with the fast built-in SSD storage - since the camera has no card slot - contributes to the image being displayed almost immediately when you take it. Together, these parts contribute to giving me the feeling of total control over exactly when the picture is taken, and that it happened at this moment. It's a feeling that cannot be overstated. To this, we can add that the camera starts up and becomes ready for shooting almost immediately from when you turn it on, something we are really not spoiled with. This also demonstrates how important speed is - something that Sigma BF really has.
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As a help to see the current selection of settings on the camera and what it is set to, there is also a small screen on the back that can display simpler information. That idea is really smart in several ways, partly because it simplifies handling somewhat, for example by showing the selected shutter speed, but also by showing battery percentage during charging.
Perhaps it can be a perfect combination of being minimalist but still providing important information to you as a photographer - without you really being distracted by all the information you need to keep track of.
What possibly still makes the camera quick to work with is that it is in many ways much of an auto-mode camera. If you are satisfied with this, the camera undoubtedly works really well.
Design and feel in practice
“It looks a bit angular, how does it feel?” was one of the first questions I got when the camera was released. Angular is almost just the first name - it is almost pointed in feel because its edges remain with only a small, small grinding, which makes it quite blocky. But the fact is that the design and blockiness also give a consistently serious and beautiful feel to the design, so I can personally say that I like it.
The camera also has a black and white mode for those who like monochrome.Foto: Calle Rosenqvist
Not caring about the technology is sometimes really nice.Foto: Calle Rosenqvist
Foto: Calle Rosenqvist
However, I can understand if that design doesn't work or appeal to everyone, after all, it's a camera meant to be used, but once again - then maybe the camera isn't created to function as a workhorse in your income-generating work, but rather as an everyday camera that's easy to carry to photograph your daily life with - while you can stroll with a stylish accessory that matches your personality.
A nice saving grace is the design language with the two thoughtful bevels, one on the front as a relief for the left hand and the other on the back as a relief for the right hand's grip. Without the two, the feeling would have been completely different. Once again: think about how such a simple detail as a bevel can contribute to much better ergonomics. Engineering, clearly. As a finishing touch, there's also a sort of minimalist grip that helps provide stability for the right hand so you don't drop the camera.
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Perhaps it's a sense of leisure or the earlier expression “accessory” that makes Sigma choose to give BF only one place for strap mounting, which means the camera will either hang from your wrist in a sort of wrist strap, or on the shoulder in a longer strap whose ends go down to the same attachment point. This makes the camera hang in a special way with a sense of leisure.
What is somewhat problematic for those who still want a compact camera that hangs nicely, is compact and maintains the same design language, is that Sigma currently does not have a matching pancake lens. Even though you can switch lenses to any L Mount lens, it would have been extra nice with a matching silver-colored compact and flat lens that goes hand in hand with the design and contributes to the somewhat slimmer and sleeker design.
As it stands now, for example, the 35mm lens extends a bit, and if you add the lens hood, it becomes even longer - something that affects both the convenience of carrying the camera, how it hangs around the shoulder, and how it is handled. Besides that it would fit the design fantastically well with a pancake, handling would also be simplified with a lighter and simpler lens - as it is now, I prefer to use both hands when photographing, due to weight and grip.
Foto: Calle Rosenqvist
Foto: Calle Rosenqvist
Autofocus & other technology
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As I mentioned, the built-in flash storage of 230 gigabytes contributes to the speed you experience with the camera. The same goes for when you connect a phone or computer to transfer images and manage memory, as it goes so quickly. With USB 3.2, you reach 10 gigabits in transfer speed, as well as the ability to use both UVC, external image feeding, charging, and microphone or headphones.
The autofocus is both phase-detecting and contrast-detecting, and works really well. It is fast, finds focus in low light, and does a good job of tracking objects. For example, it follows people moving quickly towards the camera without issue, and even though it's not exactly a sports camera, it would likely handle faster movements well; it worked well on both birds and cars moving relatively quickly.
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For those who want to film, the Sigma BF can do this too - in 6K/30p in L-Log H.265, 4K/30p, and 1080/120p, you can create the essentials and the result is really good for those who are particularly interested in video. Among the features, we find L-Log, false color, and zebra warning, along with electronic image stabilization dedicated specifically for video.
The image quality delivers at the top with the backlit full-frame sensor. The crispness and detail sharpness contribute to my perception of the image quality as very fine, as well as how the JPEG images come out directly from the camera. With the right settings and suitable choice of color settings, the images are fantastic straight from the camera, which I also see as a strength of the camera, that is, to minimize even the handling of the image itself and get as clear an image as possible without having to spend extra time afterward.
On the creative side, we find 13 different types of color modes, including Sunset Red, Cinema, Monochrome, and Teal & Orange, to name a few. Overall, one can say that all settings and fine-tuning of these are quite sparse - which is precisely the idea with the whole concept - you should take pictures, not bury yourself in technicalities and get stuck in various settings. If it doesn't work for you, you can always rely on the raw format and make all adjustments or image processing afterward.
Sigma BF delivers really good image quality.Foto: Calle Rosenqvist
Foto: Calle Rosenqvist
Conclusion
You can go far with 24.6 megapixels. But you can go much further if you actually engage in photography. As a mobile photographer, I can personally find the handling problematic for being especially creative, especially since I am used to handling a camera whose sole purpose is to take pictures at my command. When I use the Sigma BF, the feeling is still different; the design contributes to me thinking more about the image than the technology, even though it also entails some limitations.
But sometimes it is also the limitations that contribute to simplicity and as a kind of liberation for the photographic process, something that can harmonize in the different parts of “art,” “culture,” and “simplicity,” the elements that contributed to the creation of the camera from the Book of Tea.
This is also where the interesting part comes in: Sigma BF is a camera that is both competent and dumb at the same time. If you can reconcile with its handling - as a hybrid or extension of a mobile camera in the direction of simplicity, but with the latest technology - then the camera has a lot to offer. If you are looking for a stylish design camera with great possibilities but stripped of quick handling and solid setting options, then the camera can very well be a talking point at the party, providing beautiful memories from both celebrations and walks or weekend trips.
If you are an advanced photographer who cannot handle the limitations the camera has, feels the need for a viewfinder, or does not like photographing with the screen - well, then Sigma BF is not your cup of tea.
But for those who skip the chatter, focus on the image rather than the technology and perfect handling - there are all the possibilities to make photography a ceremonial experience with Sigma BF through its Spartan expression.
