We already know that Sigma, a pillar of the L-mount Alliance, will be releasing a 60.9MP full-frame mirrorless camera with a Foveon sensor in 2020. However, the company is also contemplating an APS-C version of an L-mount camera – and even a version that does not have a Foveon sensor.
When asked by LensTip about the company's plans for its line of cameras, and whether they would be full-frame, the answer was quite surprising. "That is the basic plan but everything is possible," said Kazuto Yamaki, Sigma CEO. "We might even use an APS-C sensor again."
An L-mount camera with an APS-C sensor would be an unorthodox move, though not entirely out of keeping with the Foveon sensor favored by Sigma. Traditional Foveon sensors have been slightly smaller than APS-C size, though the Sigma SD Quattro H used a larger APS-H 51MP sensor (with a spatial resolution of 25.5MP).
In other words, an APS-C Foveon sensor would make some sort of sense. However, Yamaki also stated that the company was considering making an L-mount camera with a non-Foveon sensor.
"If we find another very good sensor we might use it as well but Foveon belongs to Sigma so in the future we will continue to develop the Foveon sensor cameras. Maybe from time to time we may use another type of sensor but so far we haven't had such plans."
Could Sigma be hedging its full-frame bets, and keeping the door open for a piece of the pie that Fujifilm and Olympus currently have all to themselves? Fujifilm recently declared that only a third of the market is full-frame, while the majority consists of APS-C and Micro Four Thirds sales.
It will certainly be interesting to see if Sigma breaks faith with the Alliance's full-frame strategy after its first camera next year…
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