Sigma SD1 Specs, Sensor Size & Crop Factor

Q: What is the crop factor of the Sigma SD1?

The Sigma SD1 has a crop factor of 1.53× relative to 35 mm full frame (diagonal 28.3 mm vs 43.3 mm).

1.53×

Crop factor

23.5×15.7 mm

Sensor size

369 mm²

Area · 43% of full frame

14.8 MP

Resolution

5.00 µm

Pixel pitch

f/7.4

Diffraction-limited aperture

Specifications#

Brand: Sigma
Model: SD1
Also known as: SD1 Merrill, SIGMA SD1 Merrill, Sigma SD1 Merrill
Camera type: DSLR
Lens mount: Sigma SA
Sensor size: 23.5 × 15.7 mm (APS-C)
Crop factor: 1.53×
Resolution: 14.8 MP (4,704 × 3,136 px)
Sensor: 23.5×15.7mm APS-C 1.5x crop (Foveon X3)
Storage: CompactFlash (CF) Type I (Not microdrive or CF Type II)
Viewfinder: Optical, pentaprism
AF points / area: 11-point twin-cross AF
Lens: Interchangeable (Sigma SA mount)
Launch price: 9799 USD

Specifications merged from Wikipedia, Wikidata, Lensfun and openMVG. Spot an error? Tell us.

Sensor size compared#

The Sigma SD1 sensor (highlighted) drawn to scale against common formats. Its area is 43% of a full-frame sensor, which collects about 1.2 stops less total light at the same exposure.

Focal length equivalents & field of view#

Multiply any focal length by 1.53 to get the full-frame field of view. Angles are for a rectilinear lens focused at infinity.

Lens on this camera	Full-frame equivalent	Horizontal	Vertical	Diagonal
8 mm	12 mm	111.5°	88.9°	121.0°
10 mm	15 mm	99.2°	76.3°	109.4°
12 mm	18 mm	88.8°	66.4°	99.3°
14 mm	21 mm	80.0°	58.6°	90.5°
16 mm	24 mm	72.6°	52.3°	82.9°
18 mm	28 mm	66.3°	47.1°	76.3°
20 mm	31 mm	60.9°	42.9°	70.5°
24 mm	37 mm	52.2°	36.2°	61.0°
28 mm	43 mm	45.5°	31.3°	53.6°
35 mm	54 mm	37.1°	25.3°	44.0°
40 mm	61 mm	32.7°	22.2°	38.9°
50 mm	77 mm	26.4°	17.8°	31.6°
56 mm	86 mm	23.7°	16.0°	28.3°
70 mm	107 mm	19.1°	12.8°	22.8°
85 mm	130 mm	15.7°	10.6°	18.9°
100 mm	153 mm	13.4°	9.0°	16.1°
135 mm	207 mm	9.9°	6.7°	12.0°
200 mm	306 mm	6.7°	4.5°	8.1°
300 mm	459 mm	4.5°	3.0°	5.4°
400 mm	612 mm	3.4°	2.2°	4.0°
600 mm	919 mm	2.2°	1.5°	2.7°
800 mm	1225 mm	1.7°	1.1°	2.0°

Depth of field table#

Total depth of field at each subject distance, using a circle of confusion of 19.6 µm (the 0.030 mm full-frame standard scaled by the crop factor). Detailed tables: 24 mm f/1.8, 24 mm f/2.8, 35 mm f/1.8, 35 mm f/2.8, 50 mm f/1.8, 50 mm f/2.8.

Focal	Aperture	50.0 cm	1.00 m	2.00 m	3.00 m	5.00 m	10.0 m	Hyperfocal
14 mm	f/1.8	8.8 cm	36.6 cm	1.64 m	4.53 m	46.1 m	∞	5.57 m
14 mm	f/2.8	13.9 cm	59.8 cm	3.22 m	16.6 m	∞	∞	3.59 m
14 mm	f/4	20.2 cm	93.4 cm	8.61 m	∞	∞	∞	2.51 m
14 mm	f/8	45.8 cm	4.17 m	∞	∞	∞	∞	1.26 m
28 mm	f/1.8	2.1 cm	8.8 cm	35.8 cm	81.7 cm	2.35 m	11.2 m	22.3 m
28 mm	f/2.8	3.3 cm	13.7 cm	56.3 cm	1.30 m	3.96 m	27.2 m	14.3 m
28 mm	f/4	4.7 cm	19.6 cm	82.1 cm	1.96 m	6.60 m	3.3 km	10.0 m
28 mm	f/8	9.5 cm	40.4 cm	1.87 m	5.51 m	860 m	∞	5.03 m
48 mm	f/1.8	0.7 cm	2.9 cm	12.0 cm	27.2 cm	76.3 cm	3.12 m	65.4 m
48 mm	f/2.8	1.1 cm	4.5 cm	18.6 cm	42.4 cm	1.20 m	5.02 m	42.0 m
48 mm	f/4	1.5 cm	6.5 cm	26.7 cm	60.9 cm	1.73 m	7.65 m	29.4 m
48 mm	f/8	3.1 cm	13.0 cm	54.1 cm	1.26 m	3.80 m	25.0 m	14.7 m
78 mm	f/1.8	0.2 cm	1.1 cm	4.5 cm	10.2 cm	28.6 cm	1.15 m	173 m
78 mm	f/2.8	0.4 cm	1.7 cm	6.9 cm	15.8 cm	44.5 cm	1.80 m	111 m
78 mm	f/4	0.5 cm	2.4 cm	9.9 cm	22.6 cm	63.7 cm	2.60 m	77.7 m
78 mm	f/8	1.1 cm	4.8 cm	19.9 cm	45.4 cm	1.29 m	5.47 m	38.9 m

Equivalent aperture#

Exposure is identical at the same f-number on any format; equivalence only describes depth of field and total light.

Aperture on this camera	Full-frame equivalent (depth of field)	Hyperfocal at 28 mm
f/1.2	f/1.8	33.4 m
f/1.4	f/2.1	28.6 m
f/1.8	f/2.8	22.3 m
f/2	f/3.1	20.0 m
f/2.8	f/4.3	14.3 m
f/4	f/6.1	10.0 m
f/5.6	f/8.6	7.17 m
f/8	f/12.2	5.03 m

Diffraction & pixel pitch#

With 5.00 µm pixels, diffraction starts to soften pixel-level detail around f/7.4. For maximum sharpness keep landscapes between f/4.1 and f/7; stopping down further trades detail for depth of field.

Aperture	Airy disk diameter	Spread over	At 100% view
f/2.8	3.8 µm	0.8 px	sharp
f/4	5.4 µm	1.1 px	sharp
f/5.6	7.5 µm	1.5 px	sharp
f/8	10.7 µm	2.1 px	slight softening
f/11	14.8 µm	3.0 px	slight softening
f/16	21.5 µm	4.3 px	visibly soft
f/22	29.5 µm	5.9 px	visibly soft

Maximum print sizes#

At 14.8 MP the Sigma SD1 produces 4,704 × 3,136 pixel images. See the 14 megapixel guide or the print size calculator.

Resolution	Typical use	Inches	Centimetres
300 DPI	Photo-lab quality	15.7 × 10.5 in	40 × 27 cm
240 DPI	Fine-art inkjet	19.6 × 13.1 in	50 × 33 cm
200 DPI	Wall print	23.5 × 15.7 in	60 × 40 cm
150 DPI	Poster, viewed from 1 m+	31.4 × 20.9 in	80 × 53 cm

Night-sky exposure limits#

Longest exposure before stars trail. The NPF rule accounts for pixel pitch and is stricter than the classic 500 rule — use it for pin-sharp stars on high-resolution sensors.

Focal length	500 rule	NPF f/1.8	NPF f/2.8	NPF f/4
9 mm (14 mm eq.)	36.3 s	23.7 s	27.5 s	32.2 s
13 mm (20 mm eq.)	25.1 s	16.4 s	19.1 s	22.3 s
16 mm (24 mm eq.)	20.4 s	13.3 s	15.5 s	18.1 s
23 mm (35 mm eq.)	14.2 s	9.3 s	10.8 s	12.6 s
33 mm (51 mm eq.)	9.9 s	6.5 s	7.5 s	8.8 s

Open the NPF / 500 rule calculator →

Handheld shutter speed guide#

The reciprocal rule uses the equivalent focal length. High-resolution sensors may need one stop faster than this for pixel-sharp results.

Focal length	No stabilisation (1/equiv. focal)	With 3-stop IS	With 5-stop IBIS
16 mm	1/25 s	0.3 s	1.3 s
33 mm	1/50 s	1/6 s	0.6 s
65 mm	1/100 s	1/13 s	0.3 s
131 mm	1/200 s	1/25 s	1/6 s

Lenses for the Sigma SD1#

Native Sigma SA lenses in our database (74 total). Also adaptable: T-mount (T2), M39 / LTM (Leica thread), M42 screw mount, Deckel (DKL).

Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM | A 14 mm
Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM | A 24 mm
Sigma 28mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art 28 mm
Sigma 40mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art 40 mm
Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 DG OS HSM | S 70–200 mm
Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | C 100–400 mm
Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM | C +1.4x ext. 100–400 mm
Sigma 105 mm F1.4 DG HSM Art 105 mm
Sigma 4.5mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM circular fisheye 4.5 mm
Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM 8–16 mm
Sigma 8mm f/3.5 EX DG circular fisheye 8 mm
Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM 10–20 mm
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC 10–20 mm
Sigma 10mm f/2.8 EX DC Fisheye HSM 10 mm
Sigma 12-24mm F4 DG HSM | A 12–24 mm
Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 II DG HSM 12–24 mm
Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DG Aspherical HSM 12–24 mm
Sigma 14mm f/2.8 EX 14 mm
Sigma 14mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical HSM 14 mm
Sigma 14mm f/3.5 EX 14 mm
Sigma 15-30mm f/3.5-4.5 EX DG Aspherical 15–30 mm
Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye 15 mm
Sigma 17-35mm F2.8-4 EX DG Aspherical HSM 17–35 mm
Sigma 17-35mm f/2.8-4 EX DG 17–35 mm
Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM 17–50 mm
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM | C 17–70 mm
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM | Contemporary 013 17–70 mm
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro 17–70 mm
Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC 18–125 mm
Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC 18–200 mm
Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM 18–200 mm
Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS Macro HSM 18–250 mm
Sigma 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro HSM 18–300 mm
Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM [A] 18–35 mm
Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 EX DC 18–50 mm
Sigma 18-50mm f/3.5-5.6 DC 18–50 mm

Similar cameras#

Other APS-C cameras from around the same time.

Frequently asked questions#

What is the crop factor of the Sigma SD1?

The Sigma SD1 has a crop factor of 1.53× relative to 35 mm full frame (diagonal 28.3 mm vs 43.3 mm).

What size is the Sigma SD1 sensor?

23.5 × 15.7 mm (APS-C), an area of 369 mm² — 43% of full frame.

Is the Sigma SD1 full frame?

No — its sensor is APS-C, which is 2.3× smaller in area than full frame.

How many megapixels does the Sigma SD1 have?

14.8 megapixels (4,704 × 3,136 pixels), enough for a 16 × 10 inch print at 300 DPI.

What lens mount does the Sigma SD1 use?

The Sigma SD1 uses the Sigma SA (flange distance 44.00 mm).

How long can I expose the night sky with the Sigma SD1?

With a 13 mm lens (20 mm equivalent) the 500 rule gives 25 s and the stricter NPF rule at f/2.8 gives 19 s.

Sources & licences#

Last updated October 03, 2026 · How we calculate · Sources