The Most Radical New Camera in Years Is a Tour de Force of Design

The one-piece aluminum body looks more like a Mac Mini than a traditional camera.

closeup body shot of sigma bf cameraRichard Butler

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One glance at the Sigma BF tells you how much thought has gone into its design: its one-piece aluminum body looks more like a Mac Mini than a traditional camera.

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But its appeal is more than skin deep, with Sigma seemingly taking a blank-page approach to every aspect of its interface and operation.

sigma bf camera on top of a moleskine notebookRichard Butler

The manufacturer says it wanted to build a desirable object for creative people who don’t necessarily think of themselves as photographers, resulting in a camera that questions convention more than anything since the earliest days of digital photography.

interface of sigma bf cameraRichard Butler

Whether it’s the buttons, which give haptic feedback, or the fact that it’s the first camera to capture Ultra HDR JPEGs, the BF is fizzing with ideas.

It may be built around familiar (or perhaps even dated) components, but the sum of the parts is nothing short of radical.