The SD10 had problems. The battery charge system was just weird. The camera was not up to the hype when light was poor. But the images with good light were stunning. So it was with some angst, sustained by a delayed product release, that I opened my camera SD14. Very early on I knew I had a problem in that the camera hung... motion? But I got off some really spectacular images before sending it to NY repairs. They got it back quickly. I suspect something loose.
Well the images are simply wonderful. Just so you know, I have cameras at 5 & 6 times the price considered high end professional. I can get lots more pixels, but the color quality is not better.
The real test was low light. All the digital cameras fail in low light. So just a matter of how bad. OK, something is new here. This camera is far better in dim light than the SD10. When it starts to fail to low light the images become blotchy like camoflage rather than sandy as the GRGB cameras tend.
The SD14 X3F RAW images do well in Adobe's new Lightroom, and interestingly with the many controls for image modification in that program, there are none that set this camera aside (for punishment for being different).
The SD10 used a 1 GByte card but did not take larger. I tested the SD14 on 1 Gig (mechanical IBM type) and on 2 Gig, and 4 Gig, and 8 Gig CFII cards. Though, beware, some cards do badly with certain cameras across the board. So, I cannot say that ALL CFII's are OK. But I was able to find cards that worked a large range of memory capacity.
The camera saves images as RAW or JPEG. You can select two "color spaces", sRGB or AdobeRGB. I found that odd. Why not a 16 bit option? I suspect that is simply understood for RAW.
The booklet that comes with the camera may be the clearest such booklet of any camera. There were a few minor areas where referring the user to other sources seemed lazy(C1----v C2----v C3----v for camera strobes might be obvious to those who have these but ought to be explained to those who don't and maybe might want to).
Also the SD14 can shoot "tethered" a huge fact that gets barely any mention other than an arrow pointing at the port. Those who do that, know, but maybe some need to learn how?
The camera body is nicely shaped, the controls are very logical, and shooting is easy.
There is something about the color. The SD10 drove me nuts because I had to charge batteries in shifts (they didn't all fit in the charger at once... grrrr). I almost dismissed this camera from that experience alone. The low light limits of the SD10 were also hard to take. But, that color. Seems even better in the SD14. It is not like other cameras. Just isn't. Very pleasing rich deep textural color.
So, down side? Well Sigma is not a magnet for lenses made by other manufacturers. So you will probably be a Sigma all the way person. But the Sigma lenses I used were quite good and cost way way less than other brands. There is a specific flash kind for the flash shoe. So, maybe your current flash might not work? The built-in flash, does what built in flashes do.
The SD14 battery system is quite nice. There is a built-in dust protector to assist lens swaps very nice.
Want to do very high end photography with a wide array of lenses without going broke? Look at this model.
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