Panasonics, I brought the I series.
Black does look good. It's panda—pandas, everybody likes pandas. It just looks really bad.
Okay whatever, so the Panasonics—or you said the I series, you mean the Sigma I series? Even mixing the colors from those is bad.
I saw someone else had taken a Panasonic lens and put it on there and it didn't look good. But it might be the answer—I mean, there's no image stabilization in the I series or this camera.
Yes, we're getting too far. You're going to want to watch the review. This is not review stuff, this just simple facts. Those are things that are not in there. I'm not telling you how I feel about that, that's just factual.
All right, okay, did you guys know what BF stands for?
Put a Panasonic 50mm f/1.0 there, everybody make fun of you.
I was floored by this. I kind of stifled a giggle behind the camera.
On that note, that's an excellent thing. If you want to know what BF stands for, well Kazuto Yamaki is going to tell Chris about it in our interview, which we'll cut to now.
Yamaki-san, thank you so much for joining us. I know you're busy and you've made time for us, I really appreciate it.
Thank you very much for having me.
And you know, I think back about it, the last time we were together in person was 10 years ago. Photokina 2014, I interviewed you at that time as well, so it's great to come back full circle to have you in front of me again.
It does, it does. You look fantastic.
Thank you so much, although I have lots of gray hair.
Mine too, we have that in common. But thank you for making time. Congratulations again on the product launch, very exciting products.
If I may, I would love to ask you some questions about those. So first off, this camera is quite unique, right? A very different direction. Can you tell us about the development of this camera? What was special about it, and what direction Sigma is going to go now with this new venture?
Well, on the market today there are many fantastic cameras. I love those cameras and I use some of them. But at the same time, with the improvement in image quality of smartphones, people are using more and more smartphones, and digital cameras are becoming kind of special devices for certain occasions, like sports photography or wildlife. The significance of the camera as a daily use camera is a little bit declining, I felt. But I also knew that many people are interested in cameras, but some of them can't find the right camera for them. So we tried to develop the camera for those who are looking for that kind of...
Do you think that there's a market for new photographers that want an alternative to the more advanced cameras that we normally use?
I hope the existing camera enthusiasts love this camera. They may not use this camera for wildlife or sports, but they also use cameras, for example, on their downtime or on weekends, taking pictures casually. I hope they like this camera on those occasions. Of course, I also expect some new types of customers who are interested in photography but haven't had a camera yet. So the kind of camera that you can carry around with you all the time.
It's beautiful. I think the first thing that people notice, it's a very beautiful design, very sleek design, but very different from what you've normally made.
Yeah, right, different, yeah.
I noticed the font is a return to a classic style. Can you talk about why you decided to do that?
Well, I thought we need to show our serious commitment to the brand's direction moving forward. We always appreciate that photographers and image makers support us, and in order to survive in this industry, we have to express our sincere appreciation to our customers. And just to show our commitment, we decided to renew our brand, even including the logo.
Yeah, the new logo is beautiful. Very exciting, very classy. This camera market that we're in today, it's exceptionally competitive, right? Many different options, as you mentioned. What about your new camera do you think is really going to stand out to a prospective buyer, and why should somebody pick a Sigma in 2025?
First of all, I like those who are looking for the simplest, easiest camera to use, like this camera. I know there are many people who are looking for that kind of camera—simple, minimal, and easy to use. But this is just one type of product. We will also make cameras and lenses which are in line with the mainstream, the typical cameras for serious users. We have really big engineering teams and they are working on different types of projects.
How much does the new BF camera—first off, what does BF stand for?
BF stands for Beautiful Foolishness. This is a word taken from a very old book, probably over 100 years. The title of the book is called Book of Tea, written by Okakura Tenshin, a Japanese researcher at that time. He wanted to convey the spirit of Japanese culture, and we have the tea ceremony. Through the tea ceremony, he tried to convey the essence of Japanese culture. And in the book, he said, 'Let's enjoy the time and the beautiful foolishness with a cup of tea.' So this camera is for daily use. Daily life is full of joy and nice times, so he calls it the beautiful foolishness.
Wow, it's a beautiful story. How does this differentiate from the fp series? How much does it borrow from the fp series, and how do you see those two lines coexisting going forward?
From a form factor point of view, it's similar—very compact, simple. But the fp is quite configurable; you can put many accessories to form your own style. BF is... that's it, very, very simple.
We hope this camera has a kind of timeless value.
Why does Sigma continue to make cameras that are very different in design? For many years now, your cameras have always been different from the mainstream. Is that something you want to keep continuing going forward? Do you ever see Sigma making a very mainstream camera as well?
Well, this camera uses the regular BSI sensor. There are many cameras that use a BSI sensor, and I think that's almost enough for people to choose. So I think it's Sigma's mission to provide something different from others. Of course, my dream in the future is to make a very serious camera...
...which can be used with these camera lenses. But right now, probably people expect Sigma to do something different from others. So this is just one of the ideas we have. But in the future, I'd like to make a very serious camera.
Many people are talking about the future of Foveon. I know that was rumored quite highly. Can you speak a little bit about how you see that?
Yes, we are still working on it. We have the project team who's been working on this project. Unfortunately, it's been taking much more time than we expected. It's delayed, delayed, delayed, because every time we make a prototype, we find some technical issues. But we are making progress little by little. Because we already promised to deliver the product with a Foveon sensor, we're committed to that. We will do our best to build the best.
So this is of course a gorgeous lens, the 300 to 600, clearly made for professional work. I think it's going to put a lot of pressure on companies like Sony. So I want to ask you, how do you first off feel about the limiting that Sony puts on the frame rates? Because this is going to be used for sports, action, wildlife. Is that something that you can change, or something that they have to change?
Well, it's difficult for me to make comment, but I know that the customers are truly wishing for us to implement it. So we'd like to do our best.
How about the difficulty, or the nature, of Canon and their full-frame limitation—that they don't want to have any third-party support? And Nikon Z mount? Can you speak about that? Because I think a lot of Nikon users, a lot of Canon users, would love to have a lens like this for their camera bodies.
Yes, if I were a Canon user or a Nikon user, I'd love to try this. It's difficult for me to make comment today, but in the future, I hope this lens can be delivered to all camera enthusiasts—especially wildlife, sports, aviation. They'd love it.
We also have this lens here. This is beautiful. I know Jordan, he saw this lens and he was very excited about it. There's a demand for cinema-optimized versions of your lenses. Can you speak about this? This current cinema lens here, the 28 to 45mm f/2. Can you tell us a little bit about this?
Yes, this is a dehoused cinema lens. We have the 28 to 45mm f/1.8 zoom. Of course, it has an autofocus function. It's for E-mount and Sony E-mount. But there are two things. First of all, I noticed that many videographers or cinematographers are starting to use the E-mount. Of course, L-mount too—that means the short flange-back mirrorless system. We saw there is an opportunity. Also, these days many filmmakers and creators shoot with a single operator, so autofocus is very important. But of course, depending on location, they can use this lens as a serious cinema lens.
So we can expect to see something like this quite soon?
Yep. This is just a prototype which we announced at the last IBC in Amsterdam in 2024. We're now working on the final version of this lens, and we will release it sometime this year.
Oh, I know Jordan will be very excited about that. Of course, analog photography is very popular right now. There's a big craze. Does that influence the way that you design cameras? Is the BF borrowing some of that heritage or design for photographers that want that more analog style of photography?
Well, we will probably not make a film camera. But such customer demand or trends inspire us a lot. Customers are looking for something new or exciting which is different from the mainstream. Customers and users are quite inspiring to us.
Very important, yeah. Is there a lens design that you personally would like to see Sigma make that you have not made yet?
Okay, so something is coming.
Of course, we are preparing some more new lenses this year, so I'm truly excited to announce those lenses.
Maybe I'll ask a different question then. What kind of lens do you find very interesting yourself, personally?
Personally, actually, I like prime lenses. I'm a prime lens guy. Today I only use 50mm, and I try to frame the subject with that composition. That's the reason why it took time for us to introduce the zoom lenses we announced today. It was just my personal idea. But I know that many people need those zoom lenses, so I'm very happy and confident that this lens will be well received by our customers.
Absolutely. I'm very excited to try both the telephoto zoom and the telephoto. Is the BF then a similar idea of being very simple—maybe a limitation that you accept as a way to be more creative when you're shooting? Does that make sense?
I personally like something simple, minimal, that has a limitation but stimulates our creativity.
Absolutely. So with all the volatility of the market, many places you could produce lenses, Sigma's still committed to making everything here in Aizu, Japan. Is that correct? Because this lens looks very beautiful, very well designed, it should be very expensive. How do you keep the cost so reasonable? That $6,000 price tag is very appealing and grabs a lot of attention. How is that possible?
We have the philosophy of 'big factory, small office.' We make it a very simple organization. We have a very small sales team, marketing team, and administration team. They're always complaining they need more people, but we try to keep the organization small. And we have a relatively big engineering team in the factory. That way, we try to reduce the total cost and deliver high-quality products as reasonably as possible.
