Two days ago, I attended the Sigma BF launch event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as a guest. I wanted to see the much hyped new camera in person, Sigma being bold and daring in creating something radically different from what the other big boys in the market were doing. The event was held inside a restaurant, housing about 40 guests. Since I was just a guest I did not go overzealous with my shutter clicking, and only captured a few moments during the event. I had with me the Panasonic GM1, which was perfect since it was tiny and did not draw much attention. The Sigma BF definitely was quite a refreshing new product in the current camera industry overcrowded with everyone trying to fight the paper specifications war. Being minimalist and stripping away the features bloat, I thought the BF can appeal to those who don't necessarily need to shoot 120fps, or have the highest pixel count, or the most advanced computational features. As the saying goes, less is more. Maybe, if Sigma Malaysia loaned me a review unit (I'd probably have a higher chance of winning a lottery at this point), I may say more about the BF. For now, let's just dump the images I have taken at the event here.
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| Sigma BF - it is bigger than what I imagined/expected from the images published online |
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| Director of APDM, the official distributor for Sigma Malaysia, giving a speech |
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| Wesley Wong, Sigma Ambassador Malaysia, giving a speech |
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| Wesley Wong, talking about his experience with the Sigma BF |
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| Full house at a restaurant |
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| Is Sigma BF for you? |
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| Ming Thein, whom I have not seen in a while, made a surprise appearance. He was the first in Malaysia to pre-order the Sigma BF, and got the unit. |
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| Ming Thein was asked to unbox his Sigma BF in front of the live audience |
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| I miss the old days of reading Ming Thein's regularly updated photography blog! |
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| More unboxing action on stage |
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| Staying true to the minimalism spirit, the box had no markings or stickers on it, and there are not even any cables included in the box |
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| The sleeve is coming off, is it silver, or black? |
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| Of course, it is silver! |
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| The pre-order numbers are increasing and the soonest anyone would get their units if pre-order today, is September! |
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| Camera looking super pretty. Lens, not so much. |
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| I think Sigma (or Panasonic or Leica) should start making smaller lenses to match these smaller cameras like the BF |
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| Yes, that is a dust on sensor |
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| Very unusual and unique approach to UI and camera controls. Mostly touch operated, assisted with a few buttons and dials. |
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| Borrowed Jon Low's hand for scale |
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| Thanks Jon for being such a sport |
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| Again, lens too big and ugly |
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| And then there was the silver version |
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| So, which do you like, black or silver? I'd pick silver. |
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it's so minimalist that it's already bland specially when you attach a lens. i'd still prefer oly's pen.
ReplyDeleteWe miss Ming Thein's blog, too, including your own valuable contributions. Those were the days! Maybe Ming can blog about the Sigma BF...
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