Form perspective of Windows 7 64-bit OS user, SPP6 is more stable, not a single crush so far, and faster than SPP5. SPP5 used to crush a lot when opening folders with 100+ RAW images. SPP6 utilizes more RAM memory, up to 1.5GB (only ), and loads i7 processor up to its limits during RAW developments. So having 16GB RAM is of little benefit, but faster CPU can make a big difference in your workflow speed.
I'm a fan of Foveon, but won't sugarcoat the DP M/Q's or SPP drawbacks Sigma let us deal with. Thank you for your reviews Michael and Kevin. Had you a little more patience and other than Mac machines, you'd learn some other bugs Sigma has to address for Monochrome processing
But I'm happy they still support Foveon technology and try to improve it. No one else does. It's good to have a choice.
What I like about my Merrill is that I take I change batteries (new in camera/old in charger), go outfor an hour in sunlight, and then it has AF that really works, just the right amount of DOF, and sharp pix @ F2.8 or F3.2. It's like a Hassy with a single roll of 220 loaded, except a Hassy needs F8 for the same DOF.
When I get home, Irident then allows me to browse the card, grab the 2 or 3 shots I want to keep, and those I dump on my hard drive and process with SPP, in a folder by themselves and then it doesn't crash. Oh, and yes, I don't reformat the card, I just fill it up and keep it as its own backup
The Foveon sensor works and makes good images, I don't understand why no one else especially MF uses it?
Edmund