I've spent the past couple of days at Sigma headquarters and the Sigma factory in Japan, getting intimately acquainted with the new Sigma BF – perhaps the most beautiful camera I've ever seen, and one that challenges the way we approach photography.
Some people have compared the Sigma BF to the Panasonic Lumix S9, based entirely on the fact that they're both teeny tiny full-frame cameras with a 24MP sensor and no electronic viewfinder. But this misses the point completely.
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ABOVE: Watch my TikTok overview of the Sigma BF
If you're going to compare the BF to anything, it should be the iconic Leica TL – a similarly breathtaking camera, similarly machined from a single ingot of aluminum and similarly "smooth" to shoot with. Because make no mistake, whatever else this camera promises, the way it looks and the way it operates will always come first.
The former, you can see for yourself – and hey, maybe the way a camera looks means nothing to you. But I think the market has more than enough soulless black boxes with a fancy sensor inside that are merely a means to an end – they take a picture, but they don't inspire you to take one.
The BF is a camera that doesn't just sit on your shelf until there's call for you to use it – it's a camera that sits on your shelf and calls you to use it. Screams at you, in fact.
Not many cameras do this. Leicas do. The OM System OM-3 does. The Nikon ZF and Hasselblad X2D do. All cameras that might (and, indeed, have) been accused of being "style over substance". But, if you're a visual artist, then surely you understand that style is substance.
The BF's beauty isn't just skin deep, though; there is an experiential philosophy that complements the aesthetic one.
Sigma's CEO, Mr Yamaki, told me two key things: his belief that technology is an art in and of itself, and that the rise of smartphones made him seriously consider the relevance of digital cameras in today's day and age.
The Sigma BF marries these principles perfectly; the camera, in Yamaki's words, is "radically minimalist" – not just in looks, but in use. Gone is the clutter of buttons and dials and switches and hatches. This is a camera stripped of all the fat, bloat and excess. A camera that gives you exactly what you need to take pictures and gets rid of absolutely everything else.
With only a shutter, three buttons and a single wheel, I've seen people complain that there is only one "control dial". But many photographers only shoot in a priority mode anyway – and this is, I dare say, part of the point of the BF. Not to take options away, but to strip what may not be necessary.
The BF sets out to bridge the gap between smartphone convenience and dedicated camera performance. In other words, the experience is supposed to be streamlined.
And, once you get your head around that experience – of shooting without constant settings and icons and numbers and distractions plastered all over the rear screen – you understand that you don't need all this stuff. Just as you don't need it when you use a camera phone; you just use the damn thing and take the damn picture.
In support of that, the BF packs in a host of JPEG shooting modes – a selection of beautiful smashmouth and subtle styles, from crunchy monochrome to soft serene colors. That's how this camera is supposed to be used; shoot what you see, not shoot to edit later.
And, like the looks, that's something you either buy into or you don't. If you want a camera where you agonize over your ISO and you always want to check your metering and you can't possibly take a picture without a spirit level… yeah, this camera probably isn't for you.
But if you want a camera that keeps you in the moment, that enables you to capture exactly what's in front of you, a camera that you could just as happily take photos of as well as take photos with… you might just have found your new next camera.
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