Sigma’s BF is a minimalist full-frame camera with no memory card slot

Sigma has announced a new compact 24.6-megapixel full-frame camera called the BF with a clean, minimalist design featuring just four button controls and a dial. The BF’s body is milled from a single block of aluminum, its user interface has been redesigned with a “completely new information structure compared to conventional digital cameras,” according to a release from the company, and it trades a memory card slot for a built-in SSD. The Sigma BF will be available in black or silver finished for $1,999 and is expected to ship sometime in April 2025. That pricing doesn’t include a lens. The BF is compatible with the L-Mount lens standard initially developed by Leica but now used by Panasonic and Sigma as well. Sigma will be updating its I Series collection of prime lenses with a new silver color option to match the BF. [Image: The back of the Sigma BF features a fixed 3.2-inch touchscreen and simplified controls. https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/02/signmabf3.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] The BF’s minimalist design is most apparent on the back of the camera. Next to a 3.2-inch touchscreen display that doesn’t feature any articulation are three touch controls featuring haptic feedback so they feel like you’re touching real buttons. Above them are a dial for navigating menus with an additional haptic button in the center, and a smaller status monitor screen that shows settings options so the camera’s main display doesn’t get overly cluttered with information. You’ll find the shutter button on top of the camera, next to a couple of small microphone holes. The streamlined user-interface on the BF surrounds the live preview with shooting-related settings including shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and EV compensation. Secondary settings are hidden in an optional menu, while camera management functions are buried in a system menu. As is becoming more common with digital cameras, Sigma has included 13 different color modes with the BF, allowing photographers to achieve a specific look in-camera without the need for post-processing. These include options like standard and rich, as well as more creative modes like forest green, sunset red, warm gold, cinema, and monochrome. [Media: https://youtu.be/N3aWpngPnFI?feature=shared] You won’t find a memory card slot on the Sigma BF, but a USB-C port for charging and transferring files is included. Inside is a 230GB SSD which the company says is enough to store 14,000 JPEGs or 4,300 uncompressed RAW files. The camera can also capture 6K video at up to 29.97 frames per second, and can store up to 2.5 hours of video at its highest quality setting. At full resolution, the Sigma BF can capture images at up to eight frames per second and it relies on a hybrid autofocus system combining phase and contrast detection. Its AF system also uses what the company describes as “state of the art algorithms” to detect and quickly focus on specific subjects including people, dogs, and cats.