What's your Sigma Foveon workflow?

Lounge
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I am just curious, what’s your Sigma Foveon workflow?

I got a cheap 2nd hand Sigma SD Quattro, it became my favorite camera now.

Seems none of the FOSS does X3F RAWs. So what you do?

I shot always RAW+JPG. JPG is only used to see in Windows what the image is about. Next step is load the folder into the Sigma Photo software (SSP) - there I do nothing and save the images as 16bit TIFF (usual size ~130Mb). And then process with darktable.

Please let me know if you are Foveon shooter!

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did you figure out a foveon workflow? I’m considering getting the same camera

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Honestly, I haven’t used the camera in ages. It’s quite quirky. IMHO the Sony A7R2 I prefer.
This said, most programs here can’t handle X3F - except ART!

Would I buy the camera again? Probably not.

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does pixel shift on the A7R work well with foss software and is the pixel shift color fidelity comparable to the foveon sensor?

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I believe it also shoots DNG, which is supported by all raw editors.

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I’ve been shooting Sigmas for many, many years. I currently own an original raw-only SD9 DSLR.

For serious work:

Open the X3F in Sigma’s proprietary SPP 3.5.2. Do minimal editing to fix mistakes e.g. exposure, WB.

Export as 16-bit TIFF, ProPhoto to the GIMP or to RawTherapee for sophisticated editing. Save the output, dump the TIFF.

For quick work e.g. culling, illustration, open in FastStone Viewer, edit as required, save as JPEG 4:2:0 (2x2) at max quality.

For analytical work, open in RawDigger.

RawDigger can open but not edit Quattro X3F and save as TIFF: RGB, raw composite or any individual layer.

HTH

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I recall that ART can handle Quattro X3F files well (I am aware that SD9 might be totally different). I have SPP too, but try to avoid it. It’s quite slow. But I haven’t updated for ages.

@Donatzsky - you can find Quattro X3F files easily online and try it out. I can also donate some X3F from the Quattro - and remember, they must be from the SD Quattro.

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I forgot to mention that SPP handles stuff that other apps can miss. For example a DP2 Merrill X3F opened in RawTherapee or RawDigger can have a horrible green vignette but SPP 5.5.3 takes care of that and it doesn’t show.

And some apps don’t convert the raw, they just extract the embedded JPEG.

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