Agreed. There's also the Fujifilm X-Trans sensors which try to recapture some of the magic of film. However I really wish more people knew about Sigma and their Foveon sensors[1].
The fact is that there is a completely different technology on the market which produces very different – and arguably far superior – image quality and colour reproduction compared to 99% of digital cameras on the market. The Sigma system can be clunky and the sensor tech has its drawbacks (eg almost unusable above 200 iso), however given the right conditions the images they produce can be stunning.
Unfortunately, real Foveon is a thing of the past, Sigma switched to a Bayer sensor in their latest "fp" camera and their last Foveon-based Quattro had 3 layers but a 4:2:2 pixel mosaic, making it no longer a "true Foveon". I owned SD1 Merrill and it was the sharpest camera I've ever used, but there is nothing comparable on the market these days.
All true. I do hold out hope for a “true” foveon return. And you can still grab Merrill models second hand, like I did about a year ago.
I mainly use an Olympus em5 mkII so I’m saddened by the OP news, although I will wait to see how it plays out before switching to Ricoh and/or Pentax. Guess I have a thing for the underdogs.
I own and still use a DP2X. When things go right, the result is truly breathtaking. 80 to 90% of the photos I take with this are junk, but the remaining 10-20%, boy-oh-boy, truly memorable results!
I was under the impression that the Foveon sensor had been overtaken by events. Kind of like the Lisp Machines: When it was first introduced its dedicated "no compromises" approach was great, but then the more pedestrian technologies were able to outscale them and they lost their edge.
The fact is that there is a completely different technology on the market which produces very different – and arguably far superior – image quality and colour reproduction compared to 99% of digital cameras on the market. The Sigma system can be clunky and the sensor tech has its drawbacks (eg almost unusable above 200 iso), however given the right conditions the images they produce can be stunning.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foveon_X3_sensor