It isn't often that I look at something I'm testing and go, "Man, that's beautiful." I test a lot of cameras, from instant and mirrorless ones to drones. And let's not beat around the bush: most mirrorless cameras look the same, sporting a tried and tested look. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but I like it when manufacturers take risks — and that's exactly what they did with the Sigma BF.
The Sigma BF has been my most anticipated camera of 2025. It's carved out of a single ingot of aluminum, which means the company can only make seven units a day, which adds to its luxurious appeal.
It's the most minimalist mirrorless camera out there, with zero overwhelming dials on the top plate, no viewfinder, no ports (barring a USB-C port for charging and data transfer) — and not even a slot for an SD card. It didn't take long for the Sigma BF to become one of my favorite cameras, so let me take you through what makes it an absolute winner.
Beautiful looks, beautiful shots
I've been photographing for as long as I can remember, and no lie, some of the best photos I've ever taken are with the Sigma BF. You can see a few examples above. The camera takes ridiculously beautiful shots with its 24.6MP 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor — and the new Sigma Contemporary 35mm F2 DG DN lens holds its own too.
The photos are sharp, detailed, in focus and color reproduction is faithful. I can't stop staring at the first shot of the cliffs and the sea, to be honest. I almost want to frame it and hang it up in my apartment!
Having a fast autofocus system is very important. You need a camera that can rapidly track subjects, especially if you're shooting in unpredictable situations. And boy is the Sigma BF up to the task. Its hybrid AF uses a combination of 1,215 points of phase-detection AF for speed and 345 points of contrast-detection AF for accuracy.
It's also equipped with auto subject detection, which means all you need to do is point at a subject and the camera will instantly know whether you're pointing at a human, animal or bird.
As you can see in the photos above, the Sigma BF quickly locked onto my partner's eyes and face, regardless of the lighting conditions, and allowed me to capture her beauty.
I got so addicted to using the Sigma BF to photograph my partner during a weekend getaway that I'd take any chance to point the camera in her direction. She'll never admit it, but I'm fairly certain she was sick of me doing so — I have no regrets, though.
If you know me or are familiar with my work, you know I love all that nature has to offer and I love photographing birds and animals. The Sigma BF has an 8fps electronic shutter which isn't rapid, per se, but it's more than enough to capture birds in flight, as you can see above.
For your viewing pleasure...
If you've been wanting a break from doom-scrolling and have stumbled across this article, you've come to the right place. Sit back, relax and watch the video above. I shot this in 4K/30fps in Torquay, U.K.
Not only are the colors stunning and movements mesmerizing, I love the sounds the Sigma BF has recorded. I particularly like the sound of the sea foam receding down the sand as you may not always hear it when recorded on, say, a smartphone.
The Sigma BF doubles a good videography tool, giving you the ability to shoot 6K/30fps, 4K/30fps and FHD/120fps video. It also features 10-bit color so it's capable of capturing a total of 1.07 billion individual hues.
Simplicity at its finest
Lovely image quality aside, do you know why the Sigma BF has made me enjoy photography again? Because of its minimalist design, which is its most striking feature (alongside 230GB of internal storage).
It doesn't overwhelm you with separate dials for ISO, shutter speed, exposure, etc. On the back and next to the monitor lies a dial that lets you change all these settings. As someone who’s used to shooting on cameras that have dedicated dials for everything, I love that it simplifies the shooting process.
I do have a lot of thoughts on this camera's poor ergonomics and lack of a sculpted grip, though, which you can read about in my full Sigma BF review. But even so, I quickly got accustomed to the handling and didn't find myself complaining as often.
I've really enjoyed the Sigma BF. It's some of the most fun I've had testing a product, and it's made me fall back in love with photography. If anyone is ever feeling generous and has $1,999 / £1,969 to spare, my birthday is in October. Just sayin'.
Jokes aside, this is a camera I believe every photographer needs to try at least once. Sigma's taken a risk and done something different, and it has paid off. The Sigma BF impresses on a lot of fronts, and alongside the Fujifilm X-T50, it's become my favorite camera.
More from Tom's Guide
- The Sigma BF has made photography fun for me again — here’s my verdict after a week of testing
- I swapped digital cameras for film photography for 2 weeks and the Pentax 17 blew me away — here's why
- Fujifilm just released a $5,000 version of the X100VI that nobody asked for — here are my first impressions
