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Sigma SD1 Merrill Review

  • Overview
  • Alternatives
  • Lenses
  • Sigma SD1 Merrill

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    Main Features

    • 15MP - APS-C CMOS (Foveon X3) Sensor
    • ISO 100 - 6400
    • 3" Fixed Type Screen
    • Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder
    • continuous shooting
    • No Video Mode
    • 790g. 146 x 113 x 80 mm
    • Weather Sealed Body
    • Replaced Sigma SD1
    CHECK PRICE
    CHECK PRICE

    Sigma SD1 Merrill Overview

    First introduced in April 2012 , Sigma SD1 Merrill is a 15.0MP Advanced DSLR camera with a APS-C (24 x 16 mm ) sized CMOS (Foveon X3) sensor and Sigma SA Bayonet lens mount. Sigma replaced the older SD1 with this model. Follow the link to read our detailed comparison of these models:
    Compare Sigma SD1 Merrill vs Sigma SD1

    Sigma SD1 Merrill Review - Click for Table of Contents

    1. Overview
    2. Pros and Cons
    3. Lens Mount and Lenses
    4. Sensor and Photography Features
    5. Physical Specs
    6. LCD and Viewfinder
    7. Connectivity, Storage and Battery
    8. Other Features
    9. Photography Type Scores
    10. Alternatives
    11. Popular Comparisons
    12. Frequently Asked Questions
    13. Detailed Specifications

    Sigma SD1 Merrill has an Overall Score of 39/100 and ranked #190 out of 206 in DSLR cameras (Top 10 DSLR), and ranked #780 out of 1220 in all Cameras (Top 10 Overall).

    Main Scores
    Imaging
    Features
    Value for Money
    Portability
    Overall Score
    Check our Smart Finder Tool to filter, sort and compare all digital cameras.



    Sigma SD1 Merrill Physical Specs
    Sigma SD1 Merrill weighs 790 g and has external dimensions of 146 x 113 x 80 mm (5.75 x 4.45 x 3.15″). Considering that the average weight of DSLR type cameras is 774g, its weight is about average in its class. With a thickness of 80mm, it also has an average thickness.
    Weight Comparison

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    Sigma SD1 Merrill
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    Thickness Comparison

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    Sigma SD1 Merrill
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    Here is the front and top view image of Sigma SD1 Merrill with the dimensions:

    Sigma SD1 Merrill Body Size Dimensions
    Front and Top View External Dimensions and Size of Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Body

    In order to give you a better idea about the real life size of Sigma SD1 Merrill, we have added an image of how it looks next to a credit card and an AA type battery.


    Sigma SD1 Merrill Body Size Compared to a Credit card and a Battery
    Physical size of the Sigma SD1 Merrill Body Compared to a Credit Card and an AA Battery

    Now lets compare the weight and thickness of Sigma SD1 Merrill with its main competitors:

    Sigma SD1 Merrill Size Compared to Main Competitors
    Model Weight vs SD1 Merrill Thickness vs SD1 Merrill
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Sigma Quattro
    Compare
    625g 165g lighter 91mm 11mm thicker
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Sigma SD1
    Compare
    g 790g lighter 80mm equal thickness
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Sigma SD15
    Compare
    750g 40g lighter 81mm 1mm thicker
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Sigma Quattro H
    Compare
    g 790g lighter 91mm 11mm thicker
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Sigma SD14
    Compare
    750g 40g lighter 81mm 1mm thicker
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Sigma DP2 Merrill
    Compare
    330g 460g lighter 59mm 21mm thinner
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Nikon D850
    Compare
    1015g 225g heavier 79mm 1mm thinner
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Nikon D800
    Compare
    900g 110g heavier 82mm 2mm thicker

    Weather Sealing

    Sigma SD1 Merrill has environmental sealings on its body which makes it a weather resistant camera, providing resistance against the water and dust getting in to the camera. If you like outdoors photography and want to be able to use your camera in extreme conditions, Sigma SD1 Merrill will serve you well. If you attach one of these Sigma SD1 Merrill weather Sealed lenses to your camera, you will have a great all weather kit.

    Sigma SD1 Merrill Sensor and Photography Features

    Sigma SD1 Merrill has a 15.0MP APS-C (24 x 16 mm ) sized CMOS (Foveon X3) sensor and features Dual True II processor. You can shoot at maximum resolution of 4800 x 3200 pixels. SD1 Merrill has a native ISO range of 100 - 6400 and it can save files in RAW format which gives you a wider room for post processing.

    Sigma SD1 Merrill is not the highest resolution APS-C camera. Canon M6 MII with its 33.0MP sensor is leading in this class. Check the comparison of Sigma SD1 Merrill vs Canon M6 MII or take a look at Highest resolution DSLR cameras list.

    Let's look at how the size of the Sigma SD1 Merrill's APS-C sensor compares with other standard sensor sizes.

    Sigma SD1 Merrill Sensor Size Comparison
    Comparison image of Sigma SD1 Merrill Sensor Size with other standard sensors

    Sigma SD1 Merrill Lens Mount and Lenses

    Sigma SD1 Merrill has a Sigma SA Bayonet lens mount and currently there are 76 native lenses available for this mount. SA has access to Sigma's full selection of lenses but the downside is no other manufacturer offers a lens for this mount.

    Sigma SD1 Merrill doesn't have a sensor based image stabilization system but 28 of these lenses already comes with Optical Image Stabilization. There are also 15 lenses with weather sealing for SD1 Merrill that you can couple with its weather sealed body.

    Here are some of the most popular Sigma SD1 Merrill Lenses on Camera Decision:

    Popular Sigma SA Bayonet Mount Lenses for Sigma SD1 Merrill
    Model Focal Length on SD1 Merrill Coverage Weight Focusing Street Price
    Sigma 50-100mm F1.8 DC HSM Art Lens Sigma 50-100mm F1.8 DC HSM Art
    75-150mm APS-C / DX 1490gr AF Amazon B&H Photo
    Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM A Lens Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM A
    36mm 35mm FF 665gr AF Amazon B&H Photo
    Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM Lens Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM
    25.5-75mm APS-C / DX 565gr AF Amazon B&H Photo
    Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM C Lens Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM C
    225-900mm 35mm FF 1930gr AF Amazon B&H Photo
    Sigma 20mm F1.8 EX DG Aspherical RF Lens Sigma 20mm F1.8 EX DG Aspherical RF
    30mm 35mm FF 520gr AF Amazon B&H Photo
    Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Lens Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM
    157.5mm 35mm FF 726gr AF Amazon B&H Photo
    Sigma 200-500mm F2.8 EX DG Lens Sigma 200-500mm F2.8 EX DG
    300-750mm 35mm FF 15700gr AF Amazon B&H Photo
    Sigma 150-500mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM Lens Sigma 150-500mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM
    225-750mm 35mm FF 1780gr AF Amazon B&H Photo

    Check our Sigma SD1 Merrill Lenses page for more detailed lens search.



    Sigma SD1 Merrill LCD and Viewfinder

    Sigma SD1 Merrill has a Fixed Type 3" LCD screen with a resolution of 460k dots. Both the screen size and the screen resolution is up to the standards of this class.



    Sigma SD1 Merrill back view and LCD

    SD1 Merrill has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder, making it easier to shoot in direct sunlight and in other situations where it might be difficult to view the LCD monitor. The viewfinder has a coverage of 96% and a magnification ratio of 0.64x. 96% coverage means that what you see in your viewfinder while shooting will slightly be different from the actual image.

    Sigma SD1 Merrill Connectivity, Storage and Battery

    Sigma SD1 Merrill has a USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) port to connect your camera to other devices.

    Sigma SD1 Merrill Features Compared to Main Competitors
    Model Max Video Battery Life Wi-fi Bluetooth NFC
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Sigma Quattro
    Compare
    shots No No No
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Sigma SD1
    Compare
    None shots No No No
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Sigma SD15
    Compare
    None shots No No No
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Sigma Quattro H
    Compare
    shots No No No
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Sigma SD14
    Compare
    None shots No No No
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Sigma DP2 Merrill
    Compare
    640 x 480 shots No No No
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Nikon D850
    Compare
    3840 x 2160 1840shots Yes Yes Yes
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Camera Nikon D800
    Compare
    1920 x 1080 900shots No No No

    Sigma SD1 Merrill Other Features

    Max Shutter speed

    Sigma SD1 Merrill can shoot continuously at max speed of and has max shutter speed of .

    Flash

    Unfortunately SD1 Merrill doesn't have a built-in flash but it has a flash shoe for mounting external flashes.

    Focusing

    Sigma SD1 Merrill features a Phase Detection autofocusing system.

    Sigma SD1 Merrill PROs and CONs Review

    Now let's get in to more details of our Sigma SD1 Merrill review by analysing its specs and features and listing out its pros and cons compared to average competitor cameras in its class.

    PROs
    Optical Built-in Viewfinder
    Environmental Sealing
    Flash Sync Port
    AF Micro Adjustment (Fine Tune)
    Report a correction

    Buy Sigma SD1 Merrill from AMAZON or B&H PHOTO


    CONs
    No Wireless Connection
    No Image Stabilization
    No Articulating Screen
    No Full HD Video
    No Touch Screen
    No Face Detection Focusing
    Low Resolution Sensor: 15.0MP
    Low Screen Resolution ( 460kdots )
    Low Max Shutter Speed: 1/s
    Heavy Body: 790g
    Report a correction
    What type of Photography is Sigma SD1 Merrill Good for?
    In this section, we review and score Sigma SD1 Merrill in 5 different photography areas.

    Sigma SD1 Merrill for Portrait Photography

    Sigma SD1 Merrill has a score of 45 for Portrait Photography which makes it an AVERAGE candidate for this type of photography. If Portrait is important for you, we recommend you to check our Top DSLR Cameras for Portrait Photography list.
    Large APS-C (24 x 16 mm) sensor
    Optical Built-in Viewfinder
    Good Ergonomics&Handling
    Average Resolution Sensor: 15.0MP
    No Image Stabilization

    Read the details of how we scored Sigma SD1 Merrill for Portrait Photography

    Sigma SD1 Merrill for Street Photography

    Sigma SD1 Merrill has a score of 42 for Street Photography which makes it an AVERAGE candidate for this type of photography. If Street is important for you, we recommend you to check our Top DSLR Cameras for Street Photography list.
    Optical Built-in Viewfinder
    Large APS-C (24 x 16 mm) sensor
    No Live-view
    No Image Stabilization
    Large Body

    Read the details of how we scored Sigma SD1 Merrill for Street Photography

    Sigma SD1 Merrill for Sports Photography

    Sigma SD1 Merrill has a score of 64 for Sports Photography which makes it a GOOD candidate for this type of photography. If you are looking for a camera that is better suited to Sports Photography, we recommend you to check our Top 10 DSLR Cameras for Sports Photography list.
    Environmental Sealings
    Good Ergonomics&Handling
    Optical Built-in Viewfinder
    Slow Max shutter speed: 1/s
    Focus Points
    No Image Stabilization

    Read the details of how we scored Sigma SD1 Merrill for Sports Photography

    Sigma SD1 Merrill for Daily Photography

    Sigma SD1 Merrill has a score of 49 for Daily Photography which makes it an AVERAGE candidate for this type of photography. If Daily is important for you, we recommend you to check our Top DSLR Cameras for Daily Photography list.
    Environmental Sealings
    Large APS-C (24 x 16 mm) sensor
    Large Body
    790g
    Body Thickness 80mm

    Read the details of how we scored Sigma SD1 Merrill for Daily Photography

    Sigma SD1 Merrill for Landscape Photography

    Sigma SD1 Merrill has a score of 35 for Landscape Photography which makes it a POOR candidate for this type of photography. If Landscape We strongly recommend you to check our Top DSLR Cameras for Landscape Photography list and consider these alternatives over theSD1 Merrill.
    Large APS-C (24 x 16 mm) sensor
    Environmental Sealings
    Average Resolution Sensor: 15.0MP
    No Live-view

    Read the details of how we scored Sigma SD1 Merrill for Landscape Photography
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Alternatives
    In this section, we analyse how Sigma SD1 Merrill compares with other DSLR cameras within a similar price range.
    Read a more detailed analysis of Sigma SD1 Merrill alternatives.

    Popular Comparisons of Sigma SD1 Merrill

    Here is the eight most popular comparisons of Sigma SD1 Merrill amongst Camera Decision readers.

    Sigma Quattro
    Sigma Quattro
    Compare
    Sigma SD1
    Sigma SD1
    Compare
    Sigma SD15
    Sigma SD15
    Compare
    Sigma Quattro H
    Sigma Quattro H
    Compare
    Sigma SD14
    Sigma SD14
    Compare
    Sigma DP2 Merrill
    Sigma DP2 Merrill
    Compare
    Nikon D850
    Nikon D850
    Compare
    Nikon D800
    Nikon D800
    Compare

    Sigma SD1 Merrill Alternatives in Mirrorless Cameras

    It would also be interesting to compare Sigma SD1 Merrill with Mirrorless Cameras. Below we have listed 4 highest ranked Mirrorless cameras in Sigma SD1 Merrill's price range.

    Sony A7R II
    Sony A7R II
    Compare
    Nikon Z5
    Nikon Z5
    Compare
    Olympus E-M1 II
    Olympus E-M1 II
    Compare
    Sony A7R
    Sony A7R
    Compare
    Panasonic G95
    Panasonic G95
    Compare
    Canon RP
    Canon RP
    Compare
    Canon M50 II
    Canon M50 II
    Compare
    Panasonic G9
    Panasonic G9
    Compare
    Frequently Asked Questions about Sigma SD1 Merrill
    Does the Sigma SD1 Merrill have Image Stabilization?
    Does the Sigma SD1 Merrill have RAW support?
    Does the Sigma SD1 Merrill have Weather Sealing?
    Does the Sigma SD1 Merrill have built-in GPS?
    What is the Max ISO of Sigma SD1 Merrill?
    What is the Sensor Size of Sigma SD1 Merrill?
    is the Sigma SD1 Merrill a Full Frame (FF) camera?
    Does the Sigma SD1 Merrill have Touch Screen?
    Does the Sigma SD1 Merrill have built-in Wireless?
    What is the Max Continuous Shooting Speed (fps) of Sigma SD1 Merrill?
    What is the Weight of Sigma SD1 Merrill?
    What are the Dimensions of Sigma SD1 Merrill?
    Sigma SD1 Merrill Detailed Specifications

    General
    Brand Sigma
    Model Sigma SD1 Merrill
    Announced 2012-04-10
    Body Type Mid-size SLR
    Lens
    Manual Focus
    Lens Mount Sigma SA Bayonet
    Number of Lenses 76
    Focal Length Multiplier 1.5×
    Macro Focus Range n/a
    Screen
    Screen Type Fixed Type
    Screen Size 3"
    Screen Resolution 460k dots
    Live View
    Touch Screen
    Viewfinder
    Viewfinder Optical (pentaprism)
    Viewfinder Resolution no electronic viewfinder
    Viewfinder Coverage 96%
    Viewfinder Magnification 0.64x
    Photography Features
    Min Shutter Speed n/a
    Max Mechanical Shutter Speed n/a
    Continuous Shooting n/a
    Shutter Priority
    Aperture Priority
    Manual Exposure Mode
    Exposure Compensation Yes
    Custom White Balance
    Image Stabilization
    Built-in Flash
    Flash Range no built-in flash
    Max Flash Sync s
    Flash Modes no built-in flash
    External Flash
    AE Bracketing
    WB Bracketing
    Exposure Modes
    Multi-Segment
    Average
    Spot
    Partial
    AF-Area
    Center Weighted
    DxO Sensor Scores
    DxO Overall Score not tested
    DxO Color Depth not tested
    DxO Dynamic Range not tested
    DxO Low Light ISO not tested
    Report a correction

    Sensor
    Sensor Type CMOS (Foveon X3)
    Sensor Size APS-C
    Sensor Dimensions 24 x 16 mm
    Sensor Area 384.00mm2
    Sensor Resolution 15 megapixels
    Max Image Resolution 4800 x 3200
    Max Native ISO 6,400
    Min Native ISO 100
    RAW Support
    Autofocus
    AF Touch
    AF Continuous
    AF Single
    AF Tracking
    AF Selective
    AF Center
    AF Multi Area
    AF Live View
    AF Face Detection
    AF Contrast Detection
    AF Phase Detection
    Video Features
    Max Video Resolution None
    Microphone Port
    Headphone Port
    Connectivity
    Wireless Connectivity None
    HDMI
    USB USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
    Physical
    Environmental Sealing
    Water Proof
    Dust Proof
    Shock Proof
    Crush Proof
    Freeze Proof
    Weight 790g
    Physical Dimensions 146 x 113 x 80mm
    Other Features
    Self Timer Yes
    Timelapse Recording
    GPS None
    Storage Type Compact Flash (Type I, UDMA compatible)
    Storage Slots 1


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