Sigma opened a new page. Of course, we are human beings. AI is just a tool. Shoot as many pictures as possible. Production. I really like to create something new. First of all, that's my motivation. The more you shoot, the more you learn. Photography never dies. I hope so.
Welcome to Turkey. Thank you very much. It's a great honor to meet you. I represent Kadashka YouTube channel, one of the most dedicated photography and cinematography communities in Turkey. I see our audience doesn't just buy lens. They study the art of engineering behind them. We are here to bridge between Sigma's vision and the creative soul of Turkish audiences, Turkish artists. Thank you. Before I start, what do you think about Turkish market, Turkish photography market? I think you visit Hayam Pas here. Yes, I did. Yes. What do you think?
They are very professional and very enthusiastic about the products and the brand, and I understand that they are so supportive for Sigma, which I really appreciate. Yeah, we are so happy with Sigma. Thank you.
There's a strong prejudice in photography. Your lens should be the same brand as camera. Do you see this as a myth or what real and measurable advantages does using Sigma lenses bring users?
We are expertise in optics. Sigma was founded in 1961 and since then we've been just focusing on improving our technology and making the best quality products by ourselves. So we have many engineers and the factory workers who've been just dedicated for making the best lenses. There are many such expertise in the industry in each industry, right? For example, some brand only make cleaners, they become the expertise for cleaners. Some brand only make air condition, they are the expert for the air conditioning machine. Likewise, Sigma is a lens expert. So why not Sigma? Sigma can provide the best quality products among the many companies.
I got your point. You're saying that we are just producing most expertise lenses, isn't it? Yes. Making a great lens is our great passion. Fortunately, we have many talented engineers. They are very smart and very passionate. But they come to Sigma and they would like to work for Sigma because they know Sigma only work on the imaging product camera lenses. They don't, if they work for the big company they are not sure if they are assigned for different products, so they come to Sigma just to work on the imaging products. So we have many talented engineers and workers in Sigma. That's an advantage for us. Sigma lens are often criticized for being heavy. Is this a design choice or conscious tradeoff made in favor of optical quality?
Actually, it's some kind of misunderstanding about our camera lenses. Sorry. Yes, it was true that our lenses are heavier and bigger when we were making the lenses for DSLR. When we launched the first art lens 35mm f1.4, it was much heavier and bigger than existing 35mm f1.4, but because we prioritize optical performance, optical quality, and it was well accepted by customers because DSLR was much bigger than today. So it was a good balance with a big body and a big lens, and we can also implement the best quality. But today the mirrorless camera is much more compact and lighter. So the customer's demand is for the compact lightweight lens while achieving very high optical quality. So the lenses from Sigma in these days are compact, lightweight, but super high quality.
That is always you are in L-Mount alliance. Yes. Is the L-Mount Alliance a strategic balance against industry giants or just a temporary safe zone for Sigma? Has building a proprietary closed system ever been considered for Sigma's future?
Well, L-Mount is a very attractive system from customers' point of view. On the L-Mount platform, customers have a choice for Sigma camera, Leica camera, and Panasonic cameras. And for example, for our BF camera users, they can of course choose Sigma lenses, but also Leica lenses and Panasonic lenses. And we have some more lens manufacturers. So each company has slightly different philosophy or concept in their product lineup. So L-Mount users can enjoy the wide variety of products, not only cameras but also lenses. So I think that's a very attractive point for the L-Mount system. So I think it means a lot for us to stay in the system. I think we should be hopeful for the future of the L-Mount and digital imaging categories. Maybe some giants decide to share. Yeah, I don't know.
The world has been waiting for full frame for your Foveon sensor for a long time. Is perfectionism causing Sigma to miss market opportunities, or is this delay a sign of historic breakthrough, and should we expect a surprise on Sigma's side about Foveon full-frame sensor?
We are still working on the newer Foveon sensor project. We are still working on the full-frame Foveon sensor project. It started, if I remember correctly, it was 2018. So it's already 7 years. In the beginning we had some ideas and the design, but we found it didn't work. So we scrap that design and we restart the project from scratch. And we've been making progress very slowly, but every time we run wafer and make a prototype sensor, very small one, but we make the pixel architecture that we use for the future full-frame sensor. Every time we run the wafer, we find some technical issues. So it takes much longer time than we expected, but we are making progress, and I hope we can announce good news to the customers who've been waiting for the full-frame sensor. We hope so. Yes. These days it's becoming difficult for many companies to differentiate the cameras from technical aspects because it seems that the digital imaging technology has already saturated, but the Foveon sensor still has a potential to change the perception of image quality.
Smartphones have largely replaced entry-level cameras. Has Sigma deliberately chosen to focus on the niche and high-end market, or do you still see a future for beginners and hobbyists?
My ambition is to satisfy all kinds of people, not only the professionals or high-end customers, but also I really wanted to satisfy the entry-class users. Long time ago, let's say in 1970s, 80s, Sigma provided the lowest price products, and most of our customers were high school students or college students. They did not have much money, but they wanted to enjoy photography. So we could satisfy such young people who had very limited budget, and we were so proud of ourselves because we satisfied the people who had a limited budget. So those people saved money little by little and bought camera and lenses. It was their dream. So I really wanted to satisfy some of those people. But we make all products including the parts in Japan, and the production cost in Japan is quite high, while most of the cameras and lenses today are made outside Japan. So in order to survive while making the product in Japan, it's quite challenging for us to provide the products with a very low price. But I like to continue our challenge to satisfy every type of customers.
Thank you. Let me ask this very directly. Is photography dying, or is it simply changing its form?
Photography never dies. It already has over 200 years history, and people are still interested in photography. Either it's a way of communication, family history, family record, or also as a form of fine art, and people are still interested in photography. I guess you are talking about AI-generated imaging. I'm going to ask you as well. Next question, right? But AI is just a tool, likewise like camera lenses. So you can use AI in a good way or bad way. So it's a matter of the creativity of the people. So camera and lenses help people to shoot images and create very beautiful images. AI is similar. So it's a matter of the human being how to use AI.
My AI question is coming. How does Sigma view artificial intelligence? Is AI a threat, a tool, or an inevitable evolution to you? But you said it's just a tool.
