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Sigma has released two camera bodies based on the Foveon X3 chip: the SD-9 and the SD-10

I haven't seen any reviews of them either. The idea is great, and it seems to cut down on the moire patter.

Dynamic range is being solved by CMOS focal plane array processing, just like our retina does. Infact, CMOS sensors can probably have a much higher dynamic range than film.

Expect to see CMOS sensors like the Foveon in cameras soon.

For most purposes, yes, no contest. Until the first camera that uses an 11 megapixel foveon chip.

You'll be getting far better sharpness and color representation at that point. Only then will it simply be a megapixel race. We may have high megapixels nowadays but that isn't the whole battle. The interpolation algorithms are still sitting between reality and digital storage.

Foveon is solving that cheaply. Their sample images are amazing:

• All Images
• Boxer
• Cat
• Pool Table

For most purposes, yes, no contest. Until the first camera that uses an 11 megapixel foveon chip.

You'll be getting far better sharpness and color representation at that point. Only then will it simply be a megapixel race. We may have high megapixels nowadays but that isn't the whole battle. The interpolation algorithms are still sitting between reality and digital storage.

Foveon is solving that cheaply. Their sample images are amazing:

• All Images
• Boxer
• Cat
• Pool Table

For most purposes, yes, no contest. Until the first camera that uses an 11 megapixel foveon chip.

You'll be getting far better sharpness and color representation at that point. Only then will it simply be a megapixel race. We may have high megapixels nowadays but that isn't the whole battle. The interpolation algorithms are still sitting between reality and digital storage.

Foveon is solving that cheaply. Their sample images are amazing:

• All Images
• Boxer
• Cat
• Pool Table

For most purposes, yes, no contest. Until the first camera that uses an 11 megapixel foveon chip.

You'll be getting far better sharpness and color representation at that point. Only then will it simply be a megapixel race. We may have high megapixels nowadays but that isn't the whole battle. The interpolation algorithms are still sitting between reality and digital storage.

Foveon is solving that cheaply. Their sample images are amazing:

• All Images
• Boxer
• Cat
• Pool Table

You're incorrect. Check the Foveon web site. In conventinal sensors, as you say, the software has to guesstimate colors at boundaries because you can't sample the 'red' at the same point in the image that you sample the 'green'. With the X3 sensor, it appears that you get a simultanious reading of the color channels over the same parts of the image area. This means you avoid a lot of resolution-losing filtering in the color channel to avoid chroma aliasing, and at the same time perhaps improving light sensitivity.

I want one of these.

www.foveon.net has more info. They say the chip is a 22mm square. Now, that is much smaller than a 35mm piece of film. The actual pixel size is 0.18 microns. I'm not sure what the grain size of film is.

check out the demo picture at the foveon web site .
it does not look like there is a lot of strange artifacts there... in fact, it looks like a professional photograph. of course, it is kind of hard to judge from my 72 dpi screen here, but still... looks impressive.

I briefly worked as a tech for Carver Mead, the man behind Foveon

One of Carver's best known works are his books on VLSI (published in the early days before some of us were even born.) and analog VLSI and neural systems.

His research group did some really interesting technology including silicon retina which simulated the eye's tendency to detect motions and edges.

Foveon products probably won't show up in your handheld cameras anytime soon. But for professional environments, it takes beautiful images that minimize image artifcats that are typically associated with digital imagers.

I briefly worked as a tech for Carver Mead, the man behind Foveon

One of Carver's best known works are his books on VLSI (published in the early days before some of us were even born.) and analog VLSI and neural systems.

His research group did some really interesting technology including silicon retina which simulated the eye's tendency to detect motions and edges.

Foveon products probably won't show up in your handheld cameras anytime soon. But for professional environments, it takes beautiful images that minimize image artifcats that are typically associated with digital imagers.

At 22mm x 22mm it sounds like a contender for conventional 24 x 35mm film.

Here is Foveon's press release.