Sigma's New BF Mirrorless Camera Body Exemplifies Radical Simplicity

A Radically Simple Camera

Sigma designed the Sigma BF as an intuitive tool that takes the complexity out of image-making. Obviously, complexity is in the eye of the beholder, but Sigma feels that a primary problem facing modern cameras is that there are too many buttons, too many menus, and too many on-screen elements that get in the way of simply taking a photo.

This is a high-end digital camera reimagined to emphasize ease of use. In that vein, the design of the camera is pretty straightforward: It’s an L-mount, hybrid-AF body with 6K video capabilities and high-quality imagery.

Its design is more than its compact, brick-like form factor. Sigma has reimagined every user interface point, from its body to its screen, to streamline the creation process better.

With this design Sigma is also arguing that support for external storage, such as memory cards, is part of the clutter it has removed from the photography experience the BF offers. There is no support for SD or CFexpress cards inside this camera. Instead there is only an internal 230GB SSD. That's not a lot of storage! Oddly enough, Sigma isn't even selling higher storage configurations of the camera, which already costs $2,000. This is by far the weirdest and most controversial decision Sigma made with this camera and is an immediate turn off for a lot of professionals who need swappable memory.

The end result is a truly unique, very...uncluttered...digital mirrorless camera that aims to offer unprecedented access to the beauty unfolding in front of the lens rather than a focus on all of the nuts and bolts on the backside.

Streamlined UI and Physical Design

As with many digital cameras today, the Sigma BF's rear-facing touchscreen is the main interface for all operations. But the BF takes a new approach by aiming for distraction-free shooting through a simplified UI that splits typical exposure measures—settings like shutter speed, aperture, ISO sensitivity, EV compensation, and color mode—from the main display and displays them in a smaller screen located above the camera's circular dial.

Besides this small status monitor above the rear dial pad clearly displaying your active settings, all other shooting options and settings will be accessible through three simple-to-use menu screens on the main display.

The rear dial pad allows for further navigational control; otherwise, three pressure-sensitive, haptic-driven buttons will be the key drivers for this “unibody” design, machined from a single block of aluminum.

Performance and Specs

Outside of its unique design, the BF will be quite capable. Its 24.6MP full-frame, backside-illuminated CMOS sensor will power the camera's high-end imagery. The camera will feature a wide dynamic range, a native ISO sensitivity of 100-102400, and an expanded ISO range to ISO 6 on the low end. Sigma reports that the large sensor will benefit both low-light performance and low depth-of-field effects.

The camera can record video at up to 6K 30 fps and 120 fps when shot in Full HD. It will also support L-Log color grading and HVEC encoding.

Sigma says the BF's internal storage can hold over 14,000 JPEG files, 4,300 uncompressed RAW files, or 2.5 hours of video.

Here are the full specs and price for this exciting new camera so you can order a unit or learn more about the Sigma BF.

• 24.6MP Full-Frame BSI CMOS Sensor

• Radically Simple, Unibody Camera

• Hybrid Phase & Contrast Detection AF

• ISO 100-102400

• 6K30, Full HD 120p Video

• 230GB Internal Memory

• Haptic-Responsive Controls

• 13 Color Modes

• 3.15" 2.1m-Dot Rear Touchscreen

• L-Mount Compatibility

Price: $1,999