The Beautiful Foolishness of Things

BF is the new camera from Sigma. 

The name BF, from Beautiful Foolishness, was inspired by The Book of Tea, A Japanese Harmony of Art, Culture, and the Simple Life, written by Okakura Kakuzō in 1906. 

Born in Yokohama in 1863, Okakura (Tenshin) Kakuzō studied in Japan, Europe and the United States. He was famous for the preservation of traditional Japanese art while also encouraging modern art during the Meiji era. He co-founded the Nihon Bijutsu-in (Art Institute of Japan) in 1898 and was appointed director of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1890. In 1910, Okakura Kakuzō became the Curator of Chinese and Japanese Art at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. 

At left: Okakura Kakuzō in 1905. At right: 1906 Fox Duffield & Company, First Edition. Photos courtesy of Tenshin Memorial Museum of Art in Ibaraki where the originals are stored. 

The following is edited from the original text. 

“Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage. In China, in the eighth century, it entered the realm of poetry as one of the polite amusements. The fifteenth century saw Japan ennoble it into a religion of aestheticism—Teaism. Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the Imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we know as life.

“The long isolation of Japan from the rest of the world, so conducive to introspection, has been highly favourable to the development of Teaism. Our home and habits, costume and cuisine, porcelain, lacquer, painting—our very literature—all have been subject to its influence. No student of Japanese culture could ever ignore its presence. 

“At the end of the sixteenth century the Hollanders brought the news that a pleasant drink was made in the East from the leaves of a bush. In 1610, ships of the Dutch East India Company brought the first tea into Europe. The beverage soon became a necessity of life—a taxable matter. We are reminded in this connection what an important part it plays in modern history. American independence dates from the throwing of tea-chests into Boston harbour. 

“There is a subtle charm in the taste of tea which makes it irresistible and capable of idealisation. It has not the arrogance of wine, the self-consciousness of coffee, nor the simpering innocence of cocoa.

“Teaism is the art of concealing beauty that you may discover it, of suggesting what you dare not reveal. It is the noble secret of laughing at yourself, calmly yet thoroughly, and is thus humour itself,—the smile of philosophy. Perhaps nowadays it is our demure contemplation of the Imperfect that the West and the East can meet in mutual consolation.

“Meanwhile, let us have a sip of tea. The afternoon glow is brightening the bamboos, the fountains are bubbling with delight, the soughing of the pines is heard in our kettle. Let us dream of evanescence, and linger in the beautiful foolishness of things.”

 

Camera for Art. Camera as Art.

Typically, cameras have served in the creation of art. This camera is a work of art. 

February 24, 2025. The new Sigma BF camera premieres at Sigma Corporation’s worldwide headquarters in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. It’s an hour ride from Roppongi Hills. Tokyo—west, in the direction of Mount Fuji.

Buckets of Ruinart champagne and strong coffee await. It is 9 am on a cool, crisp, cloudless morning. Guests arrive from around the world: photographers, filmmakers, influencers, press, Sigma global officers, distributors, resellers.

Kazuto Yamaki, CEO of Sigma, takes the stage in a giant tent. After a brief company history and unveiling of Sigma’s new logo and branding, he presents a new 16-300mm F3.5-6.7 DC OS | Contemporary (18.8x zoom ratio, the world’s largest for an APS-C format mirrorless lens) and 300-600mm F4 DG OS | Sports (lightweight and with enough image stabilization to use handheld). Next, Mr. Yamaki announces that the DN designation is no more (as Sigma plans to provide lenses only for mirrorless cameras). and then, the dramatic moment arrives. He holds aloft the new Sigma BF. The crowd goes wild.

The BF camera concept evolved as Mr. Yamaki asked how Sigma could contribute to the imaging industry in a era when smartphones were capturing so many images and most mirrorless cameras looked and felt the same—with lots of buttons, dials and complex menus.

It was time to streamline the act of photography with a new concept, with radical simplicity, celebrating the art of engineering and engineering for art, photography for happy moments, for memorable occasions…a modern day camera obscura.

Mr. Yamaki explained that the name BF was inspired by the Beautiful Foolishness in Okakura Kakuzo’s The Book of Tea: “Let us dream of evanescence, and linger in the beautiful foolishness of things.”

The context of “foolishness” here is not negative. In juxtaposing Beautiful with Foolishness, both Kakuzo and Kazuto elevate something that is normally functional to a level that is artistic, stylish and interesting—while perhaps seeking perfection in imperfection.

This is not your father’s mirrorless camera. The Sigma BF has only four buttons and a dial. You operate these with your thumb to control the five things that matter the most: shutter speed, aperture, ISO, exposure compensation and color modes. The shutter release / record start-stop button is on top. 

It takes seven hours for machinists in the Sigma Aizu factory to mill each Sigma BF unibody part from a solid block of aluminum. Sculpt would be the more appropriate word. This is a camera to hold comfortably in your hand. Its distinct edges and milled aluminum body call for careful handling. Slim, stylish, lightweight—it is a constant companion camera to take everywhere. 

It is fun to use, a camera that commands attention with its style and ease of use. It has been described as a fashion icon, a work of art, a camera to capture happy moments and a beautifully fun tool to create art. 

Of course, the BF takes beautiful still and moving images. 

I took a pre-release BF on a street photography walk around Tokyo the day after its launch. I was stopped everywhere. Everyone wanted to try it. The consensus was: wow, cool, stylish,  intuitive. You don’t need an FDTimes in-depth tutorial. You don’t have to dive deep into menus. It takes less than two minutes to figure it all out. Beautifully Fast.

The Sigma BF is narrower than the average smartphone and about twice as thick. Its L-Mount pairs beautifully with Sigma Art, Sports and Contemporary lenses or any L-Mount Alliance lens (Sigma, Leica, Panasonic, etc). Or, add an L-Mount to PL or LPL adapter to look through the world of cine lenses.

BF has a Full Frame (35.9 x 23.9 mm) 24.6 MP back-illuminated CMOS sensor. 

It is a Beautifully Functional camera for stills, with choices of composition in 1:1, 6×7, 4:3, A size, 3:2, 16:9 and 21:9 formats. 

Video is 16:9 with choices of additional 1.33:1, 1.85:1, and 2.39:1 framelines. There’s 6K L-Log, as well as H.264 and 265. 

It is a new way to think differently about photography and cine. It relinquishes the multitude of modes, buttons and dials dedicated to singular functions. 

Mr. Yamaki said, “these were holdovers from the analog film days. The BF camera’s most important thing is its simplicity. 

“We wanted to create the easiest camera to use. While the lens remains the soul of photography, the camera still profoundly shapes the images we take — directly, indirectly, even subconsciously. 

“Without compromising on features or performance, the BF has a design that removes everything that distracts from your interactions with the image. The BF presents a pure photographic experience free of frustration.”

BF: Banishing Frustration.

 

Kazuto Yamaki on the Sigma BF

Jon Fauer: When did you first come up with the concept for the BF? How did it evolve?

Kazuto Yamaki: With the improvement in the image quality of smartphones, they have become important photographic devices. At the same time, the significance of dedicated camera has gradually been questioned. I thought it was a serious threat for us. So over the past few years, I have been asking myself how we can contribute to the development of the imaging industry or what we can do for photography in order to survive in this rapidly changing industry.

We started the project in the 2020 timeframe. In the beginning, the engineering team was researching several underlying technologies such as sensor, ISP (processor), LCD, battery, etc. During this time, I had been thinking about the product concept and came up with the idea in 2022.

The BF is radically different from the Sigma fp L camera, but shares some similar design elements and style.

Holding a camera in our hands allows us to find beauty in our daily lives, making them more meaningful and delightful. I believed we needed a dedicated camera for those everyday lives. The problem is that many modern digital cameras are not compatible with frequent day-to-day use. So we wanted to create a camera that is small, simple and highly usable for everyday photography. The concept of our new camera is an everyday system camera for creative minds. We call it the Sigma BF.

How would you describe the design of this camera?

The Sigma BF has quite a distinctive style. You may call it an act of radical simplicity. This design philosophy, radical simplicity, runs through every aspect of the BF, but it’s mainly represented by three elements. They are unibody construction, single finger operation user interface, and dual layer menu system. 

How did The Book of Tea inspire the name and the design? 

The name of “Beautiful Foolishness” came to my mind after I had developed the BF’s product concept. I liked these words for several years and it always stayed somewhere in my mind. I thought the idea of Beautiful Foolishness would be the best name for the camera, which has been designed to help make your daily photography more meaningful and enjoyable. 

But this is not a foolish camera. Please discuss your meaning of foolish — something fun but not frivolous?

It takes over seven hours to machine one camera body. I think that’s crazy. But it’s quite difficult to explain because I intended  several meanings. It has double or triple meanings. First of all, Okakura compared everything in the world, including some good things, bad things, beautiful things, ugly things, appropriate or inappropriate… with a cup of tea. I wished for users to enjoy their  daily life with a camera, in the manner that Okakura suggested. Also, a camera with radical simplicity, and which is quite different from other cameras, can be called Beautiful Foolishness. And for a company such as Sigma to make such ambitious camera can also be called Beautiful Foolishness.

Please discuss the Sigma re-branding campaign. 

I was struggling to find an answer to the challenge of smartphones as cameras. After careful consideration, I concluded that we should return to the spirit of the company’s founding. I remembered how my father often said that technological innovation is an art in itself. We can contribute to the art of visual expression by defining our technology to the level of an art form and supplying the very best products to photographers and image makers. 

We are fully dedicated in excelling at the art of engineering, engineering for art, commitment to technology, craftsmanship and art. That is our mission statement going forward. To make this commitment even clearer, we are renewing part of our brand visual identity. It reflects our commitment to unleash creative potential in photography. 

So, now we have introduced a new look and a new logo. We worked with Stockholm Design Lab (SDL). They have been quite helpful to develop our new visual identity. Some people asked whether SDL was involved in the BF camera project. No, they were not involved with the camera development or the product design. It’s purely a Sigma project. 

You quoted your father: “People take photos when they’re happy.” And you said, “We are motivated to work for people’s happy moments with our high quality products and services.” 

Happy moments is our corporate mission. 

The BF camera launch in Japan was carefully planned, with hundreds of people from around the world.

We wanted to invite those guests to our headquarters in Tokyo and our factory in Aizu. That’s why we decided to have the launch event in Japan. Initially, we had an idea to do it in New York or London, but we thought it best to do it in Tokyo because we could then take them to Aizu, about 5 hours north by bus.

Beautiful Foolishness as well as Beauty and Function…

With the Sigma BF, we present an uncompromising new vision for the digital camera. It represents a more intuitive way, streamlined to make the act of photography as effortless as possible. The BF’s most important feature is its simplicity. We wanted to create the easiest camera to use, innovative yet inspired by the humble origins of photography. This camera is designed to accompany you throughout your day and to capture the spontaneous beauty of everyday life. The BF balances performance with simplicity and returns the focus to what matters most: your photographs.

BF Worldwide Launch at Sigma Head Office in Kawasaki

 

Sigma BF L-Mount

The BF comes in silver or black. 

Its L-Mount accepts the ever growing family of L-Mount lenses not only from Sigma, but also from Leica, Panasonic and others.

Of course, the Sigma DG Contemporary I series lenses that previously came in black now are also available in matching silver. 

Sigma DG Contemporary I Series L-Mount Lenses

 

BF: Beauty and Function

At L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Roppongi Hills, you sit at a counter enjoying the art of modern French cuisine with local twists. Chef Robuchon once wrote, “As in the case of paintings, films and all other arts which move people’s hearts, cooking is also accompanied by setbacks in the creative processes. We sometimes come up against a wall of concerns and are totally at a loss. We are, however, supported by the brilliant smiles of our guests when we see them enjoying our dishes. We wish that a dish prepared by us would present you with a happy moment.” Happy moments—taken by this very happy BF photographer.