A late April Fools day joke made by our reader Goson:

Sigma announces the launch of Sigma DP camera and 18 mm F2.8 DG DN (C) lens

Sigma chief Kazuto Yamaki was interviewed by Dpreview:

Focus on lens design for mirrorless system:

It’s simply because we’ve had higher demand for mirrorless lenses. The mirrorless camera market is stable compared to DSLR. If you look at the market statistics you’ll see that the decline in DSLR sales is quite significant. This decline gets steeper every month.
We’re also seeing a decline in sales of our DSLR lenses, so naturally we have to focus our efforts on the development of mirrorless lenses.

Strong DN Full Frame lens sales:

They’re doing very well, especially our 24-70mm F2.8. It’s been very well-received. We’re still catching up to demand for that lens. We’ve been enhancing our manufacturing capacity, continuously, but we still can’t meet demand. Even in the current difficult situation, demand for that lens is still very strong.

About the Sigma FP sales:

It sold quite well at the beginning. Early adopters were very interested, and purchased the camera immediately. We’ve received a lot of emails from customers, which I’ve read, and we have a lot of customers who are very happy and satisfied with the fp. We’ve also been monitoring feedback online, through Facebook and Twitter; things like that.
To be honest though, sales have declined considerably [since launch], especially in Europe and America. It’s still selling well in Japan, but overall sales have been lower than expected.

Development of small FF lenses:

Going forward, we will still try to deliver the highest-possible quality products. But we will have two main streams of products. One is for very serious photographers, like our existing ‘Art’ series. But another line will be high quality, premium lenses, but much more compact. And very stylish, like our 45mm F2.8, with metal housings, and high quality aperture and focus rings. We will expand that kind of range for street photographers, or those who need smaller, stylish, high-quality products.

About the Sigma Foveon L-mount camera:

The development of the sensor has been significantly delayed. We are still working on it, but there are still several technical problems we need to overcome. If everything goes well, we should be able to release the camera next year. But if we continue to face technical problems the camera may be delayed further. We haven’t stopped developing the camera, but without the sensor we can’t move very fast.

I damn hope to see this new Foveon camera next year!!! 🙂

Give your Sigma fp a grip with the DLX Grip from Fotodiox!

Plenty of L-rumors readers images on our L-mount Facebook Group.
Sad news: Full-frame Foveon-based camera from Sigma no longer close to market (Imaging Resource).
Das neue Standard-Objektiv für L-Mount? Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 vs. Lumix Pro 24-70mm f2.8 (Krolop&Gerst).
Rachel & Ashley | Winters Barns Wedding Film Teaser [Panasonic S1, Sigma 35mm f/1.2]

Links:
Panasonic S1R at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto. In Europe at Calumet DE, ParkCameras, Jessops.
Panasonic S1 at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto. In Europe at Calumet DE, ParkCameras, Jessops.
Panasonic S1H at Amazon, BHphoto. Adorama. FocusCamera. Park UK.
Panasonic 24-70mm f/2.8 S lens at Amazon, BHphoto. Adorama. FocusCamera. Park UK.
Panasonic 50mm f/1.4 S at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto. In Europe at Calumet DE, ParkCameras, Jessops.
Panasonic 24-105mm f/4.0 S at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto. In Europe at Calumet DE, ParkCameras, Jessops.
Panasonic 70-200mm f/4.0 S at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto. In Europe at Calumet DE, ParkCameras, Jessops.

We are likely going to have five new L-mount Full Frame cameras by 2021.

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Is the Panasonic S1H autofocus terrible? | S PRO 50mm 1.4 vs. Sigma 50mm 1.4

Plenty of L-rumors readers images on our L-mount Facebook Group.
SmallRig cage configuration for the S1H (PhotoJoseph).
8K vs 4K TVs: Double-blind study by Warner Bros. et al reveals most consumers can’t tell the difference (TechHive).
24-70mm zoom super comparison at Mobile01.

Links:
Panasonic S1R at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto. In Europe at Calumet DE, ParkCameras, Jessops.
Panasonic S1 at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto. In Europe at Calumet DE, ParkCameras, Jessops.
Panasonic S1H at Amazon, BHphoto. Adorama. FocusCamera. Park UK.
Panasonic 24-70mm f/2.8 S lens at Amazon, BHphoto. Adorama. FocusCamera. Park UK.
Panasonic 50mm f/1.4 S at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto. In Europe at Calumet DE, ParkCameras, Jessops.
Panasonic 24-105mm f/4.0 S at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto. In Europe at Calumet DE, ParkCameras, Jessops.
Panasonic 70-200mm f/4.0 S at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto. In Europe at Calumet DE, ParkCameras, Jessops.

Skylum launched the new free Luminar 4.2 update ($10 discount with our code “SAR”). There are three BIG improvements you can “live test” on their interactive press release page. Here they are:

1) New AI Augmented Sky

Inside the Creative tab of Luminar 4.2, you’ll find a new tool called AI Augmented Sky. This tool lets artists choose objects from the curated Luminar collection or upload their own, and blend them seamlessly with the photograph’s sky.

Here’s how it works. AI Augmented Sky detects your photo’s sky automatically and then places the chosen element directly into the sky area. Using content-aware technologies, foreground objects are recognized and taken into account, making the object blend naturally with your existing scene. You can drag the new element around the sky for ultimate control, yet retain those realistic qualities.

2) New Portrait tools:

When Luminar 4 launched, we announced some new, groundbreaking tools to help you optimize your portraits. And so far, photographers have loved the enhanced controls and adjustments they can make to their portraits!

With today’s update, we’re introducing a new Face Features Detection Network, which enables us to give you even more accurate and realistic automation when it comes to enhancing portraits. This technology is trained to detect different faces no matter what position, angle or tilt they might be in. It even recognizes those badly lit or partially hidden faces, as well as those with heavy makeup. No matter what the skin color or age of the person, Luminar 4.2 will recognize faces — even if it’s a group photograph. Check out the example below to see the power of the new Face Features Detection Network:

In the AI Skin Enhancement tool, you’ll find a new Shine Removal Technology. It lets you reduce shine on a person’s forehead or cheeks, making for a more evenly-lit portrait. In the example below, you’ll see that this technology restores the skin on the patches of the face where it was hit by excessive light, and automatically generates realistic-looking skin that blends in perfectly.

AI Portrait Enhancer has also received improved slimming capabilities through its Slim Face 2.0 Technology. Prior to today’s update, Slim Face only worked with the lower portion of a person’s face, sometimes making for unrealistic results. As you can see below, with Slim Face 2.0, the tool now recognizes the entire face and makes changes proportionally.

3) Improved Relight Scene in AI Sky Replacement

In addition to AI Augmented Sky and the enhancements to our portrait tools, you’ll also see a few other updates in Luminar 4.2.

We’re constantly improving one of our Luminar artists’ most-loved features — AI Sky Replacement. Relight Scene technology improvement lets you retain colors as you originally captured them in-camera. In previous versions, you might have seen a yellow and unrealistic glow on white objects. Improvement of the Relight Scene technology lets you avoid this problem.

You save $10 on the new Luminar 4.2 using our coupon code “SAR” at checkout!