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Author Topic: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences  (Read 615071 times)

lainer

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Re: Dog Photo with Sigma DP2M
« Reply #880 on: March 23, 2013, 11:16:30 pm »

I thought you guys would appreciate this. I received my Sigma DP2M a week ago. I'm trying to figure it all out. Well, I thought I'd show you a picture I took the today. I was experimenting indoors, taking shots of my French Bulldog "Ozzy". I use ISO 200, but at 1/10th sec and F/2.8. What do you think?


I photoshopped the big hair coming out of Ozzy's side. It was too distracting. You can see the original file here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lainer/8584927930/in/photostream
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lainer

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #881 on: March 23, 2013, 11:22:57 pm »

I wear reading glasses too. I have the VF-21 on order. Not in stock right now. My glasses are 1.75, and approaching 2.0 soon. Yuck! I saw the Richard Frenic grip somewhere and thoguht it was pretty cool. I wonder if it would allow a bottom plate or similar to be added with it on though. Not knowing enough about tripods, and never buying one, I want something that can easily attach to the Sigma, and figured the L from RRS was it. (Without the grip though.) I don't use a tripod yet. I've been just carrying the camera around on walks. Who makes the JTEC? When I get something like this, is it easily attached to any tripod system? (I told you I know NOTHING about tripods. LOL!)

My next venture is to find a good LCD screen protector that actually is fitted, and stays on, oh, and is easily applied.

After that, a better strap and maybe a case?

Lainer, I use a DP2M with the Vf21. I need glasses to read,-250 to 275, and have no problem with the viewfinder. The viewfinder is so small I don't even know its there but it's great in bright sun. The Voitlander finder is a better optic, but is a bit bigger. My 2 cents on the L bracket and grip is this....I love the merrill because it is small and light, so why put a big heavy RRS bracket and grip on it. Richard Feneric makes a grip that is small ,light and works great. I walk around all day with the Merrill just hanging on my finger, and even with bad arthritis I don't even feel it. I have his grip on all my cameras. For an L bracket I use the fabulous JTEC bracket. Again small and light. Just some other options for you to Google and check out......Max
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lainer

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #882 on: March 23, 2013, 11:23:51 pm »

Thanks for the information. I thought it had a shutter timer as well.


Lainer & maxgruzen:

The remote is not necessary, as there are delay shutter settings on the Merrill.  And, the RRS grip is (to me...) not at all heavy, but a bit larger than the Franiec grip alone. This provides extra grip, at the trade off of slightly larger size.
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lainer

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Another shot
« Reply #883 on: March 23, 2013, 11:28:44 pm »

I have been experimenting with taking shots that have some detail in them around my neighborhood.
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lainer

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #884 on: March 23, 2013, 11:30:54 pm »

Here is one with some detail.

Zoom in on original here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lainer/8583625845/in/photostream
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Aguirre

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #885 on: March 24, 2013, 05:04:07 pm »

I'd say, you have pretty steady hands... and a fine looking hound! The B&W cacti shot on your flickr set is really good; the rendering of the cacti themselves is surreal.
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lainer

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #886 on: March 26, 2013, 02:43:38 pm »

Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate the kind comments. :) It's a learning curve for me what this camera can and cannot do. I think it can do much more than people think it can.
\Now I have to prove it.

I'd say, you have pretty steady hands... and a fine looking hound! The B&W cacti shot on your flickr set is really good; the rendering of the cacti themselves is surreal.
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lainer

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #887 on: March 26, 2013, 02:47:43 pm »

Here is another shot of my French Bulldog Ozzy taken with the Sigma DP2M at 1/10th of a second, F/2.8  at ISO 200. I think I have a shot of him at 1/5hth of a second too. Will have to post when I find it. So, I guess it would look better if I had the camera on a tripod, but until I buy one, it's handheld for me.

I'd say, you have pretty steady hands... and a fine looking hound! The B&W cacti shot on your flickr set is really good; the rendering of the cacti themselves is surreal.
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lainer

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #888 on: March 26, 2013, 02:52:37 pm »

Here is the shot I took of Ozzy at 1/5th of a second. It's at ISO 200 F/2.8. I converted to B&W. Handheld. I don't have a tripod yet.  :-[ I hope you like it. Thankfully I have a lazy dog that doesn't move much. He has been posing for me since he has been 5 months old. I have photographed him daily since then. Yes, daily. You can see it on my sets on Flickr. It's an ongoing project and I sue different cameras each day.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lainer/
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Rand47

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #889 on: March 26, 2013, 05:20:18 pm »

OK, too much sharpness happening here!   ;D   I'm tossing in this image that has 100% negative clarity in LR 4.4rc.
We don't want to hurt our eyes.  Tripod mounted, ISO 200, in the dark - more or less. 

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Rand Scott Adams

Rob C

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #890 on: March 26, 2013, 05:26:00 pm »

OK, too much sharpness happening here!   ;D   I'm tossing in this image that has 100% negative clarity in LR 4.4rc.
We don't want to hurt our eyes.  Tripod mounted, ISO 200, in the dark - more or less. 





Okay, the set's great, but you should have waited until the model arrived.

Rob C

Rand47

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #891 on: March 26, 2013, 05:29:44 pm »



Okay, the set's great, but you should have waited until the model arrived.

Rob C

I don't put no stinking humans in my photos . .  .  ;D   Or, at least very rarely.
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Rand Scott Adams

Hulyss

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #892 on: March 26, 2013, 07:12:41 pm »



Okay, the set's great, but you should have waited until the model arrived.

Rob C

I was peacefully reading the thread when I felt on this picture and though EXACTLY the same !! Perfect scene to put a model in, even an academic nude.

I don't put no stinking humans in my photos . .  .  ;D   Or, at least very rarely.

PLEASE !! try. I'm sure you will love it and I'm sure observers will love it too. With this kind of staging and a well managed expressive model ... you can output some nice pieces of art Imho. Or at least try with lainer's dog  ;D
« Last Edit: March 26, 2013, 07:16:19 pm by Hulyss »
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Kind Regards -  Hulyss Bowman | hulyssbowman.com |

Rand47

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #893 on: March 26, 2013, 07:35:57 pm »

I was peacefully reading the thread when I felt on this picture and though EXACTLY the same !! Perfect scene to put a model in, even an academic nude.

PLEASE !! try. I'm sure you will love it and I'm sure observers will love it too. With this kind of staging and a well managed expressive model ... you can output some nice pieces of art Imho. Or at least try with lainer's dog  ;D

 ;D  You know what they say, "To a hammer everything looks like a nail."   A human in this shot would ruin it for me.  It is the light, the serenity and the sense of mystery that does it for me.  Putting someone "in there" would indeed, turn it into a mere "set."  I guess that's why there are different styles of expression!  LOL
Thanks for the semi-appreciation anyway.  :D
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Rand Scott Adams

paul_o

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #894 on: March 26, 2013, 11:00:25 pm »

Hello everyone.  I just joined the club as my DP2M arrived yesterday! I owe thanks to Quentin Bargate and Lloyd Chanbers for making me pull the trigger.  I've spent a many hours reading forum threads about the camera. Impressive images posted online by both Quentin and Lloyd show the capabilities of the sensor and lens. Also, thanks to Uwe for some great images and interesting comments and to Michiel for the wonderful Cuba images as well as the facades. I'm going to Italy for a month in June and facades and street scenes are one of the reasons I bought the DP2M. 

While reading this thread, I've been taking notes on recommended camera settings and usage of SPP. I have the following shooting tips: exposure: +.3 to +.7 (I have yet to blow out highlights using +.7), ISO: 100 or 200 (400 in a pinch).  I believe that, since I'm shooting RAW only, camera settings (white balance, color, sharpening, contrast, saturation) affect only the settings when SPP is entered and can be changed in SPP (although it certainly helps to have a good starting state). I'm hoping someone can verify this. 
I'm planning to use SPP minimally and do most adjustments in ACR and PS (similar to how I process files from my Canon 5DII).  I've downloaded the latest camera firmware and release of SPP.
I believe I've learned from various posts that the following are best done in SPP prior to saving the file as a 16bit TIFF:
- Set the white balance in SPP; make only minimal changes in ACR.  I've found this part of the interface difficult, although AWB gets me close.
- Set the clipping points for highlights & shadows in SPP.
- Set the working color space in SPP to ProPhoto.
- Do some capture sharpening in SPP. Recommended setting?
- Do some noise reduction in SPP. Recommended setting?
Ideally I'd like to do these settings in a batch mode but I'm not sure it can be done, particularly for the clipping points.   
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BarbaraArmstrong

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #895 on: March 27, 2013, 01:55:14 am »

I would take extra batteries (and an extra charger) for an Italy trip!  This camera does plow through batteries. --Barbara
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palpman

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #896 on: March 27, 2013, 04:22:13 am »

You can actually do a lot using SPP. The software isn't that bad, I actually don't understand all the criticism. It's the best (any the only one I believe) to process sigma files anyway... I try to do as much as I can with SPP and then if I want to use filters or so, I export the pics and rework the tifs using Color Efex Pro or Silver Efex Pro.
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uvl

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #897 on: March 27, 2013, 06:31:08 am »

I lately started using custom modes with my DP2M.
My starting points are those:

C1: Monochrome low light mode, automatic ISO from 100 ... 1600
C2: High quality handheld mode, ISO 200 (125?), neutral color, automatic white balance
C3: Tripod mode, ISO 125, 2 sec timer, neutral color, automatic white balance

What do you think?
Uwe 8-)
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uvl

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #898 on: March 27, 2013, 11:59:53 am »

Mezzo,
thanks for the comments.
Yes, coming from the SD15  I was using daylight for almost everything too. But in the last weeks I found myself using AWB with SPP more and more. I'm still going back to daylight or other WB quite often but AWB seems to be a good starting point for the quite limited topics I shoot.
Uwe 8-)
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uvl

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Re: Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences
« Reply #899 on: March 27, 2013, 06:37:09 pm »

Just an addition to custom modes on the DP2M:

The default custom modes are using Program mode to control aperture and shutter. If you want to control aperture by yourself you need to safe a custom mode from within Aperture (or Shutter) priority mode. The aperture value on display is safed as default in the custom mode. This means you can have your preferred aperture settings ready when you switch to custom mode (i.e. F2.8 for low light or F 5.6 for optimal IQ)
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