Quentin, nice photos! Not just the camera, of course, but your vision behind the capture. They got me thinking about the DP2. I'm deciding what I want in a smaller-camera size. I have the SD1 for infrared work, and have been processing the raw files in the Sigma software to produce tiffs that I open in PS. How do your process the files? Are you shooting raw? And then what do you do? I think I happened onto my workflow because PS/ACR wouldn't open the Sigma files. I haven't checked back on that as I've been absorbed in some other projects. Or maybe you have to upgrade to PS6 (or maybe that doesn't read the Sigma files either.) Anyway, I'd be interested to hear what you do. --Barbara
there is no moire at the limits of resolution, due to the Foveon sensor.
A Foveon sensor is susceptible to luminence moire ... No?
Quentin, very nice photos indeed! Thanks a lot for posting them. May I ask how the focus speed compares to the previous DPs? How well does manual focusing work?
Quentin: What about higher ISO performance? How high of an ISO would you be willing to use in low light? I know that this is subjective, but it's better than nothing to a prospective buyer like me. Thanks.
Hulyss, Hi
Just saw your images- great work. Love it ;D
Are you using the close up accessory lens? I have one on order.
Agree about the camera. Lens is spectacular. Sigma showing what they can do when they put their minds to it.
Quentin
Thanks for sharing all!
...
I would also like to have a compact digital camera with
a prime lens (50 mm range) and one that feels and handles more like shooting film. The DP2M look just like the thing I am looking for.
So my question: In terms of color, detail and feel, how well do u think it behaves like a film camera?
And is the quality of the raw images somewhere as good as the d800's? (not counting sheer resolution)
Oh yes: where have u all ordered one already, and for what price?
Thank you very much!
Cheers,
Ricky
I think the DP2m is the digital equivalent of the kodachrome 64.
Thanks Quentin!
Yes I am looking for a camera that makes me work a little. To slow me down and make me think and look carefully.
This is maybe my main problem with digital and it is why i love film so much: it slows me down and in the end gives me more keepers
and more the feeling I am realy doing work that matters.
How do u feel about the Foveon sensor? (I have no experience yet with it)
It may not like you say be comparible with film, but does it realy have a different 'look' than
a normal Bayer patern sensor photo? (including the incredible sensor in the d800)
I am not saying i am looking for something 'better' but do the prints realy look and 'feel' different than say from a NEX 7?
I hope I am not being to abstract, but I think you will know what I mean.
Cheers,
Ricky
Just a quick note that I wil be reviewing the DP2 beginning this week.
Michael
Just a quick note that I wil be reviewing the DP2 beginning this week.
Michael
Just a quick note that I wil be reviewing the DP2 beginning this week.
Michael
grab an evaluation copy or Iridient Rawdeveloper (and SilkyPix) for raws... SPP is a very limited converter... unless, of course, it is a sunny day and base ISO
I don't see the DP2M listed as supported by Iridient.
Michael
I've had the DP2M for less than a day and only had time to do a few quick test shots. But I have to say that I am knocked-out by the image quality. Some of the issues that I saw with the SD1 remain, some of them are still there. The two reviews that I've read in this thread seem to provide a very appropriate perspective.
Lot's more to say in future but, this is not a camera for pussys.
Michael
I wonder if some of the DP2 Merrill users could comment on the dynamic range. What other camera is it comparable to?
It is excellent. The Cathedral shots I posted earlier in this thread show good detail in the stained glass windows without the need for bracketed exposures. Expose for the shadows, and (within reason) you can recover the highlights.
The DP2M does not lend itself to zone focusing. ... [Much goodness snipped.] ... I have a 40mm Voigtlander that works well.
Michael
Hi Quentin
As a long time Foveon user (SD9, SD14, DP1), my reservations about the technology have always been:
1) Luminance aliasing. This has always been there, given the absence of an AA filter. The new sensor seems no different: there are always visible jaggies on things like angled grass stems. Lot's of people seem oblivious to this but to me it's one of the biggest trademarks of digital imaging. I've been looking at a lot of images from the new sensor and it still seems very obvious to me.
2) Funky colour. Every version of SPP and every new Sigma camera yields a different colour response. I find Foveon has a tendency to overly yellow/orange foliage in warm light and tends to blow reds very easily giving a flourescent radioactive look and also hue shifting to magenta or orange
3) Colour casts. My SD9 is too yellow, my SD14 too green/yellow. Fortunately, DNG profiles help a lot. The DP1 was quite neutral except for an occasional tendency to go magenta
4) Green edges. The DP series has been prone to a green cast at the edges.
5) Shadow noise, especially large blotches that conventional NR software can't deal with (usually considered the result of the huge matrix operations needed to extract RGB colour from the weird colour space of Foveon)
Can you comment on these aspects with the new camera?
:D (my 6 year old insisted on the smiley)
;D for sure :D
EDIT: I modified my review, look at my EDIT in my previous post. Skin color problem can be fixed via PP.
... After R+5/Y-15
Hulyss,
The skin color correction looks excellent in the profile image of the girl's arm and torso profile. However I noticed that the color of a portion of the girl's garment changed from a definite yellow to a definite orange type color. Do you happen to remember what was the true color - was it the yellow (as shown in the pre-correction image) or orange (post correction image) or something in between?
I am very interested in this camera however it's a concern to me if in order to get rid of obvious color transition artifacts that I'll need to do extensive color correction on local areas.
Thank you.
Dan
Hi
Can anyone comment on the dynamic range, I like to be able to raise the shadows sometimes significantly and coming from digital medium format I can so wondered how this fairs? I would live to get access to a raw file or tiff file if anyone is willing to upload one.
Thanks
Jason
A little test I did today. Ok they are not the same tools and the test isn't scientific, at all. But I like it ;) (Be care, big files. let them charging. Exifs inside).
First the DP2m
http://www.hulyssbowman.com/tempo/DP2m.jpg
Second The S2 + 70.
http://www.hulyssbowman.com/tempo/S2.jpg
How can I get this quality lens on D800e?
(... green edges ...)
Still there in shadow or underexposed areas. Probably the wost problem (for me ). Something Sigma need to work on to provide some kind of correction in their software. Of course it is possible to address the issue in Photoshop, but it takes time and is a particular issue with something the DP2M is otherwise very well suited for - stitching
Despite some reported issues with color transitions, based on the good reports here including Michael's review I've decided to take the plunge and buy a DP2M with a Sigma VF-21 optical viewfinder. As with all cameras I've tried to buy in the last year it's on backorder.
Very impressive photos posted by Quentin and Hulyiss. The detail is just amazing to me. I wonder how many of the above shots were hand held and how many were on a tripod. I also started with an Olympus XA-1 in 1979 or '80 but I feel that I have become increasingly dependent on either an image stabilized body (Canon G10, S90 or Sony A55) or lenses with my older Canon 30D. Anyone else concerned about not having an image stabilized system for what appears to be a carry everywhere, jacket pocket size camera? I suppose that the answer is that it depends on technique and how steady you are but being able to do hand held shots with the G10, for example at 1/10 second or slower tends to spoil you.
Jim
Hi Jim
Thanks - most of my shots are handheld. Just can't get over how good this camera is. In comparison some shots I took with the NEX-7 and Zeiss, which I have always regarded as an excellent combination, look lifeless and ordinary. Guess i won't be buying the new Hasselblad compact ;D
The DP2M fits in a large-ish purse. --Barbara
...
Some examples just for the eyes no pp applied and OFC no sharpening applied:
...
Crop
(http://www.chassimages.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=158553.0;attach=543551;image)
...
I have to say I'm very impressed with the DP2M so far. Something about the outstanding acutance and almost film like color response that is special. Love the bokeh also.
It has lots of limitations however as I see it as a ISO 100, maybe 200 camera only. So not selling my D800e.
This camera is all about image quality. Putting adaptor lenses on it would be a sacrilege.
Michael
From a Hasselblad medium format digital back and Canon 5D MarkIII shooter background, I just can't believe I have been hooked with Sigma DP2M's IQ so much. Yesterday for the first time I spent some time and shot a few landscape photos with this little wonder. If you can use tripod, manual focus, manual exposure, low ISO and shoot RAW, you can achieve some amazing sharp images with this camera. The color and DR are fine too. Except the slow writing speed and poor battery life I don't see any major issues for slow pace landscape photography which I do most of the time. A few days ago I posted a message here saying I may switch to Sony RX1, not any more! I may use the money to get the DP1M too!
See attached images and let me know your comments. By the way does anybody try the DP1M yet? From the images posted on Flickr it seems to me the Dp1M is not as good as the DP2M. Posted photos all have strong purple fringes and the details look very harsh. I wish to see some good processed the sample images so I can be convinced to get that camera too.
Thanks,
John
Can you say more about this? or share some images? I am very curious about the higher ISO performance 400, 800, and 1600
Well put Quentin. No pussies allowed.
Michael
Ps: My SD1M review will appear later today or tomorrow. The lens isn't quite as good as the one on the DP1M, but for a WA is is very good. Hard to imagine anything better for the money.
Pps> I went out for a morning shoot in the country the other day. Great dawn light. Choices... D800e, Alpa STC with IQ180, or the DP2M and DP1M in a small bag. Guess which I went out with.
Forget using it at anything above 400 ISO... The DP2M is a specialised niche product with a narrow operating window, capable of genius when used within that operating window, but otherwise limited...
Which is kinda another qualifier that puts it squarely into medium format category ;)
Given the quality of these samples, I hope Sigma come out with a full-frame, 45MP (135MP in their terminology) Foveon sensor soon, with the same pixel density as their current 1.7x crop sensor. In a mirrorless system, it would be the ultimate non-medium-format landscape camera, optimised for low ISO settings. Just pair it with a few nice lenses (Leica with an adaptor comes to mind) and you're good to go!
And with built-in WIFI so you can use a tablet for live view and camera control. That would make an awesome view camera.
Exactly.
Sigma is hardly likely to corner the mass market from Canon, Nikon and Sony. But they can capture the niche markets, which the big players don't cater for - just like Leica and Phase One have done. And, with the Foveon, they happen to have the perfect sensor for low-ISO studio and landscape work. Put it in a full-frame mirrorless body, or a larger-than-full-frame panoramic format (in which case they'd have the entire market to themselves) and provide mounts and adapters allowing for the use of a wide range of lenses, and they'd have a large, if niche market for these bodies. Certainly better than trying to sell crop bodies with fixed lenses and poor high-ISO performance to the budget, sub-$1k crowd...
Gorgeous pano image! Due to the limitation of the 46mm lens of the DP2M I find myself to shoot pano more with the camera to get wider view for landscape images.
I like to know if you used vertical frames or horizontal frames to stitch this pano image? And did you use Nodal plate to move the camera a little bit behind the center of the tripod? Thanks! Here is the latest pano of the fall scene I shot the day before, 3 horizontal frames with DP2M.
John
Forget using it at anything above 400 ISO. Better yet, stick to 100 ISO, and carry a compact tripod. Or another camera with better high ISO performance.
The DP2M is a specialised niche product with a narrow operating window, capable of genius when used within that operating window, but otherwise limited - but I'm happier with a limited genius than I would be with a multi-purpose mediocrity.
Quentin
Just to check, as I understand it the DP2 Merrill has no B or T setting, but up to 30 sec is available in all modes, including manual?
I was wondering, given the cost of the DP2m, whether you could buy two of them and shoot in unison mounted on something like a RRS CB-10 rail?
Would this work or would I have serious parallax errors not able to be overcome by software or technique? Has anyone tried this?
Besides parallax, how do you focus the 2 cameras at the same distance?
Nice overkill setup Quentin :) Yes a light tripod is mandatory with the DP2m. I think I will use some Novoflex head on light carbon tripod. Did this little example shoot some days ago just for the skin tones, and this afternoon I will test the DP2m in macro mode.
I suppose you can sync it to strobes with PW mounted on the hotshoe?
Thanks!
Where the D800e fail and were a foveon win big times ;)
Of even greater interest to me would be an image comparison between D600 and DP2M.
24MP against DP2M's stated 46, spacial 15, and effective 26 MP.
Is anybody using both these cameras?
I want to give credit to Michael, Quentin, and Hulyss for all influencing $1,500 out of my pocket.
I really appreciate all of your experience and sample images. Thank you!
Finally bitten the bullet and got an ex-demo version from Clifton Cameras for a suitable reduction!
I'm not sure (have an aversion to reading specs) of raw file size or how sensitive read/write speeds are to class of SD card - is a normal Class 10 card sufficient - 30 or 45Mbs? or reversing the question, what sort of card will significantly hamper speed of reording/playback?
ndelvin !! this is a declaration of love ;D I feel you about to crack ;)
The buffer is the bugger, not the card. I've used 30, 45, and 90 MB/s cards and can't tell any difference, even with drive mode at "as fast as possible".
Fwiw, there is very little about the camera that would encourage me to use it for action photography. It is a relatively slow-to-use camera that has many of what are politely called "quirks", and makes files that are awkward to use well. I see nothing about it that rewards creating excess data.
The buffer holds 7 RAW exposures. If your situation requires that you shoot in bursts of more than 7, or more bursts than maybe one every minute (don't have a figure), this is (vigorously) not the camera for that situation.
RAW files are mostly c. 45 MB.
.... dialing-down the sharpening, setting WB and dark/light clipping points......
Looking at the portrait of the girl with the sunglasses, though her facial skin doesn't look too bad, her right arm (left of pic) has a horrid chalky look to it that I last saw from four-colour litho printing machine proofs in the 80s!
I really do understand that for people shooters, as has been indicated elsewhere, this sensor may not offer an ideal solution. This leads me to wonder: if we recognize failures in skin because we are so familar with it, how much failure does it hide in other subjects which we are less familar with to the extent that we don't notice?...
I'm very curious about this camera. Has anyone compared the raw files with the Fuji x-Pro1 raw files? I'm trying to decide between the two cameras. My prints are 24 x 30 inches and larger, usually from stitched files out of a Canon 5D2. Any help would be much appreciated.
I don't know if Sigma has stock right now, but that is where I have made my purchases. --Barbara
Rand, you may not have known that the camera comes with 2 batteries. But don't be dismayed that you have ordered two more. This camera goes through batteries like they are chocolate -- eats them right up! You will be happy to have 4 of them! --Barbara
I've used my DP2M for about a week and I see a problem with how the files appear in Sigma Photo Professional 5.3.2 vs. how they appear in Lightroom (and other color-aware-programs). The primary difference is in color saturation and contrast, but perhaps also in white balance. It doesn't make a difference of what my SPP working space is, nor output color space. The files all look very flat in comparison to what I see in SPP.
I can't effectively edit in SPP, as the difference between what I see there and of the exported file in LR is too great, for many shots. I might as well just output SPP raws to Pro-Photo 16-bit Tiffs and do all edits in LR. The thing is though that most the files usually look 'better' to me in SPP - higher color saturation and contrast (for most but not all photos). Combined with the information I've seen from Michael and others that it's best to do some processing first in SPP (for raw files) and then save the images from SPP as Tiffs to be edited in LR or elsewhere, I find that seeing a big difference in many of the files creates more work for me, and in any case there shouldn't be this obvious difference.
Has anyone else here encountered this problem?
I sent a message to Sigma, below:
"I have a DP2M and like the image quality. I shoot in Raw and I feel there is a problem with the color management in Sigma Photo Professional 5.3.2. The color saturation and contrast, and probably the white balance and color gamut is not the nearly the same when looking at the screen in SPP 5.3.2 vs. l files output from SPP as Tiffs or JPGs viewed with color-aware programs like Lightroom and others. It doesn't matter which preferences selection of working color space I use in SPP and which output file color space I pick (sRGB, Pro Photo, same as Exif, etc.). The files come out the same and they all seem to have lower contrast and color saturation. Is Sigma aware of this bug and is it being worked on?
On a separate note: if would be GREAT if in the future the camera could output DNG standard files, or that you work with Adobe so that I could use Lightroom to work directly with the raw files.
Thank you.
Dan"
... There is no difference between the two software. ... Also, be sure shooting in neutral mode. ...And, never forget to export in SRVB colour profile out of LR. Otherwise there is some problems ....
I have the exact same problem. I believe this is a new problem they added as an enhanced feature in SPP 5.3.2. They removed the vertical banding SPP 5.3.1 was causing, and added this new problem for our pleasure, and to ensure SPP remained a piece of crap software.
... today I'm booked fighting utter trolls on French web site...
"Honey, are you coming to bed?"
"I can't"
"Why?"
"Some guy on the Internet is wrong!"
;D
The problem with staying with SPP 5.3.1, however, is the vertical banding issue that the software creates.
Hi Hulyss,
I posted a message about the SPP 5.3.2 process questions but get no response. From reading your posts I feel you are very knowledgeable about the Sigma SPP software. So could you tell me what is the function of Exporting Setting and Import (under File in Review Window) in the software? How to use them? I played with it but don't see any effects to new images while I opened the saved XML setting.
Thanks.
Sincerely,
John
"Honey, are you coming to bed?"I knew this version : http://xkcd.com/386/ ;)
Hi Hulyss,
Thank you very much for the details explanation. This function is useful for me to work on different computers with the software. So it looks like the saved setting is only limited to Tonal Adjustments not all the other settings, like white balance, color mode, CA correction, noise correction, etc. Have you found a way to save all these settings in the software so you can apply to new files?
Thanks and your English is perfect!
Here is the stitched DP1M image I shot a few days ago.
Happy shooting!
John
I have to echo what Barbara says about ease of processing. SPP is crappy, but frankly I didn't find there was much to do beyond dialing-down the sharpening, setting WB and dark/light clipping points. These things SPP can do alright. Then it's over to LR.
Not an ideal workflow, but not something that would keep one from using the camera.
- N.
[/quote
In the adjustment panel the default value for sharpening is 0 - do you mean set a negative value?
I may be missing something but the white balance adjustment is infuriating. If you can't find a mid grey to select with the eyedropper, there is no fine adjustment of the K value (or I can't find one) - the only other thing is the pre-set values in the drop down box. (and using the eye dropper seems to make my computer crash!
Were both the cameras set to a single setting, say, Sunlight? I have noticed with the DP2M that auto WB is too cyan, but much better set to the appropriate setting for the light conditions, usually sunlight. I have today taken delivery of a DP1M and will see if its colour balance is materially different using the same fixed colour settings.
I used to shoot also with Fuji 617 (using 105 and 180mm lenses) and I would say that the DOF was much more shallow than you can get today with an APS-sized sensor and a 30mm lens.
Set the camera to MF, distance to infinity or just slighly nearer, and take all the shots you need.
If you feel so inclined, you can change the distance to 2-5m, (depending on your foregound), and take another set. Prior to stitching, crop the unsharp part from all images (foreground from the first set, the top portion from the second set), and send it to your stitching program.
All natural goodwill !!
(http://www.chassimages.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=158553.0;attach=560934;image)
Er..... what am I supposed to make of this image - the relationship to the caption is opaque to me. Was this part of a swimwear catalogue shoot - illustrating the fitting guide section perhaps?
Er..... what am I supposed to make of this image - the relationship to the caption is opaque to me. Was this part of a swimwear catalogue shoot - illustrating the fitting guide section perhaps?
;D They are not wrong, they are French.
. . .
It is a bad translation early in the morning :) Keep "all natural" ;) This is swimwear hand made by my wife :) If you like this I have more ;D
OK I now understand! Thanks
Don't get me wrong, I'm French. But if I have one regret in my life it is not to be born in United States of America. Hopefully, I'm young enough to make this dream come true, so i will do my best to have the nationality.
Hi all, this is my first post here :D :D
I got a DP2M after reading you guys' posts ;D
I found that in SPP, the X3F files were significantly darker (around 0.7 to 1 stop) than the embedded jpeg of the same image. Is it normal?
I'm just wondering whether it is the nature of the X3F raw, or my camera actually has problems.
Thanks :)
Come on in the water's fine here in the States! The thing about The US of A is that it challenges the imagination. It is everything good and bad you have ever heard about it. I've lived and worked in Europe and I really like France, Italy, and Denmark. Berlin is great as well. I find the large cities in Europe and the US to be similar in culture, but Europe has better coffee, which is important to me.
T
Don't worry JCL212 this is normal. Do not rely on the Jpeg anyway. DP2m, as well as other SIGMA cameras, are RAW only if you look at quality.
Well I'm British and unsurprisingly have no regrets ;D
I have added a DP1m and I am pleased to say it is very nearly as good as the DP2M. The only real difference in quality is a touch of CA at the edges, which can be eliminated using the default CA checkbox in Sigma Photo Pro And the very slightest sharpness fall of in the corners. it's a good companion for the DP2M
I have just taken delivery of the Cannes panorama taken using the DP2M; here is a quick camera phone shot of it in situ
I have just taken delivery of the Cannes panorama taken using the DP2M; here is a quick camera phone shot of it in situ
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/9806585/Pano_Phonehot.jpg)
Hi Hulyss, busy with the day job so I have not had much time yet to use the DP1M...will try and do so this weekend.
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/9806585/Pano_Phonehot.jpg)
Hi JCL212
Thanks for the kind comments
DP2M, Nodal Ninja 3 Mk2 pano head (perfect for the DP2M), leveling head, lightweight tripod.
Stitching is in PTGui on a Windows 7 machine.
This particular print is a Lambda light jet print by Spectrum Photo (http://spectrumphoto.co.uk/) in the UK, using their perspex system. Very smart result.
The detail in this shot, printed at 24 inches x 100 inches, is incredible - easily large format level across the image. Quite fun to look at and see new details previously unnoticed
Looks geat Hulyss - but as we know, these are not ordinary pixels!
Hello Quentin,
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/9806585/Pano_Phonehot.jpg)
I had my first chance to shoot on Saturday. I am still getting the hang of this camera, and one thing that I miss is the ability to steady your camera on your face using the viewfinder. I have been an SLR-only photographer since age 13, and never realized how much help that third contact point on the face gives to stabilization. DP2M is pretty unforgiving of even minimal movement. Now I am looking into some handy way to hook up the Hoodman to the camera, involving some combination of plastic from milk bottles, velcro strips, and/or elastic to create a harness for the Hoodman. If I like what I make, I may post instructions and snapshot. Re: tripod use: As for the A-S plate, I have a small "universal" plate which works - for portrait orientation, it will be necessary to flip the ball stem into the "90 degree" slot of the head.
SPP - ow! I am more convinced than ever that Lightroom is a brilliant program. SPP falls into the category of "oh well, I guess that it will do..."
The preview is the embedded JPEG in the X3F - you can easily extract / save it via the File menu -> 'convert to JPEG'. The JPEG settings are your camera's picture settings like contrast, sharpness etc.
For Michael Reichmann and other MAC users:
I work with X3F since ages and always used ProPhoto RGB as a working base on my calibrated PC+NEC chain.
Since the SD1m, many photographers start to look at the foveon technology and some are disappointed with the work-flow of Sigma Photo Pro and, often, a problem with colorspaces.
I never experienced such problems with SPP and that because I work on PC platform (I'm very allergic to MAC). At fist there is some basic settings to do in SPP in order to work in the desired colorspace. Just go in file >> preferences >> and, if like me you work in ProPhoto RGB, choose this colorspace like in the picture below:
(http://www.chassimages.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=167590.0;attach=563069;image)
As you can see, there is absolutely no colorshift between SPP ProPhoto working space and my lightroom ProPhoto working space (Same for PS6).
(http://www.chassimages.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=167590.0;attach=563070;image)
The problem seems to be only on MAC (colorshift) , so just pray that SIGMA will improve the MAC SPP. Mabe SIGMA do not like MAC ;)
I just say that because apart the slowness, SPP work exactly as I want in a PRO working and calibrated chain ;)
Nancy: you're right about sensitivity to movement. With the best sensors, figure about 4-5x focal length for the minimum hand-holdable speed to kee full rez. Worse of course if there's a mirror or focal plane shutter involved.
I joked the other day that the DP Merrills are basically minature tech-cameras: tripod based (for both composition and stability, base-ISO, shot with self timer. For optimum results, that's not too far from the truth. Used that way, the camera is potentially a fine-art tool. Used casually, it's just a really bad point and shoot.
Anfat: you should adjust highlight, shadows, white balance and sharpness in SPP. Sharpening is an interesting question. Michael has found (ro heard) that "0" in sharpening is actually not "nill". You have to do in a negative amount to get a truly unsharpened file. Personally, I find 0 to -4 are about right. That still might add some capture sharpening, but I don't object to that. I just sharpen less in LR4 -- which you would do anyway since these files are so sharp to begin with.
Hello kuau,
I always run the latest versions of software and never experienced any problems ;)
And I do not think I'm that lucky.
If you want to lol hard, have a look at this :
http://www.pbase.com/powerdoc/image/143367554/large
This was done with an X"PRO" 1 + a Distagon T* 21mm f/2.8 = 3100 Euros of material.
Have fun ;D
Hulyss,
On your Windows 7 64bit system, are you running a custom monitor profile?
I did the test again and came up with the same results, image does not match from SPP 5.3.2 to LR4 or CS6 when I output to 16 bit tiff ProPhoto , though when I run 5.3.1 perfect match.
Steven
Hello kuau,
I always run the latest versions of software and never experienced any problems ;)
And I do not think I'm that lucky.
...
Of course the rear LCD is a PITA for those of us who need reading glasses - something the smartphone/ipad generation just don't get.They will when they all start needing reading glasses in a few years.
Hey pips,
I'm new here and it's my first sigma. I'm a bit confused actually by the way it works, but it's just a matter of time I guess.
A question I have for you guys, is which settings do you use for street photography ? Point & shoot style I mean. Hyperfocal/DOF or do you just let the AF makes the job ?
Thanks
Thanks for the reply man !
I consider buying a viewfinder actually, because I feel the screen is a bit useless when sun is shining on it. In this case, AF is difficult to use on the subject. What I'd like to do is to set up an infinite manual focus at F5.6 or F8 for example. But how far can I shoot for the result to be sharp for example ? If someone had a table for hyperfocal I'd be glad ! Thanks for your help ! :)
Successfully updated firmware... and told the camera to then reformat the card. Taking "forever" to reformat.... ??? Any secrets I should know about? It has been a full five minutes or so and the "write light" is still blinking away.
HELP!
UPDATE! Solved my own problem by getting bold. Camera wouldn't even turn off - so I pulled the card and then pulled the battery! Yikes. Put the card in my card reader on PC and saw that the update file was gone. Put the battery back in the camera and turned it on and checked for Firmware Version. 1.2! Put card back in camera and did the reformat command which worked immediately. Camera must have 'hung' during reformatting command. All is well. Thought I'd share in case it happens to anyone else.
For Michael Reichmann and other MAC users:
I work with X3F since ages and always used ProPhoto RGB as a working base on my calibrated PC+NEC chain.
Since the SD1m, many photographers start to look at the foveon technology and some are disappointed with the work-flow of Sigma Photo Pro and, often, a problem with colorspaces.
I never experienced such problems with SPP and that because I work on PC platform (I'm very allergic to MAC). At fist there is some basic settings to do in SPP in order to work in the desired colorspace. Just go in file >> preferences >> and, if like me you work in ProPhoto RGB, choose this colorspace like in the picture below:
(http://www.chassimages.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=167590.0;attach=563069;image)
As you can see, there is absolutely no colorshift between SPP ProPhoto working space and my lightroom ProPhoto working space (Same for PS6).
(http://www.chassimages.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=167590.0;attach=563070;image)
The problem seems to be only on MAC (colorshift) , so just pray that SIGMA will improve the MAC SPP. Mabe SIGMA do not like MAC ;)
I just say that because apart the slowness, SPP work exactly as I want in a PRO working and calibrated chain ;)
Saying that SIGMA staff are "a bunch of clowns" will not help in any way, dear Ligament.
I was eagerly awaiting SPP 5.4, so that the program would WORK. The color issues remain broken!
OMFG they STILL have not fixed this? Running OSX 10.8.2 on MacBook Pro Retina with 16GB RAM and large SSD.
Seriously, is there any more significant screw up a raw processing engine can have than not outputting to file the colors chosen and adjusted within said raw processor. What a bunch of clowns Sigma is. My lord.
I love the image quality of the SD merrill series, I own both, but Sigma is too incompetent to write functional software to use these cameras. I'm selling them both and Sigma, you have lost a customer for life for your utter incompetence. You've had plenty of time to fix this issue and you have failed, again.
Nancy: you're right about sensitivity to movement. With the best sensors, figure about 4-5x focal length for the minimum hand-holdable speed to kee full rez. Worse of course if there's a mirror or focal plane shutter involved.
Is that 4-5x actual focal length or 35mm equivalent?
Successfully updated firmware... and told the camera to then reformat the card. Taking "forever" to reformat.... ??? Any secrets I should know about? It has been a full five minutes or so and the "write light" is still blinking away.
HELP!
UPDATE! Solved my own problem by getting bold. Camera wouldn't even turn off - so I pulled the card and then pulled the battery! Yikes. Put the card in my card reader on PC and saw that the update file was gone. Put the battery back in the camera and turned it on and checked for Firmware Version. 1.2! Put card back in camera and did the reformat command which worked immediately. Camera must have 'hung' during reformatting command. All is well. Thought I'd share in case it happens to anyone else.
I'm afraid it is too easy to blame Sigma instead of trying to figure out what is really going on. Take your example: I never had issues (or crashes) with SPP 5.3.2 (apart from the monitor profile bug) and 5.4.0 works like a charm. I run it under Win7 Professional. So here we go: two users, both running SPP 5.4.0 on Win 7 64. One experiences crashes, the other no crashes at all. Who is to blame (or more precisely: what causes the crashes)?
"
... if it can't handle a simple sunfall...
... shooting straight in the sun is possible with any cameras to the contrary of what Slodoban said...
Nancy: you're right about sensitivity to movement. With the best sensors, figure about 4-5x focal length for the minimum hand-holdable speed to kee full rez. Worse of course if there's a mirror or focal plane shutter involved.
Is that 4-5x actual focal length or 35mm equivalent?
Think of it as either, and a range. ie: 4x actual = 1/125th, which to me would be the dead-bottom to achieve full rez, and up to 1/250th (5x 35mm equiv) which is pretty much guaranteed to overcome any vibrations.
There are no real rules, since every situation is different.
- N.
Yes, nice crops. Something cold in your photos, interesting. But your makisushi are too thin ! :D
Anything for me concerning hyperfocal ?
I´ve been following this thread for a while and begin considering buying a dp2m.
However I would like test a few things before spending:
how I get a long with processing dp2m-raw files with spp, if my computer copes with its large files etc.
So could some of you please share a dp2m-raw file.!! (I did not succeed to find a original raw file in the internet.)
Thanks.
How do you focus correctly without dof info on an external finder ? My purpice is buying one for framing but AF by being blind ? :/
Ok I think I won't find anything than crops to promote the camera in here, but no answers. :)
Ok. I've seen some nice street shots made with the oldest version of the DP2 here : http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3105690#forum-post-39975383
It's not a street camera, but for my eyes it looks like it can do the job pretty well actually. Don't you think ? :)
You should admit you just don't know the subject enough to answer. Thanks anyway.
Kind regards.
Nice. Very nice according to the fact you don't know me nor my work. But nevermind. I could simply bring you back to what you wrote about being careful with answers, but what's the point...
I came here for answers to my questions, and except somecrapscrops, there's not much to share as experience except sharpness discussions. Henri Cartier Bresson said once sharpness is a bourgeois concept. It perfectly fit this thread.
I leave you now ladies, gentlemen. Don't worry, I won't ask anymore bothering questions to your perfect and brilliant eyes.
Best regards.
Ok. I've seen some nice street shots made with the oldest version of the DP2 here : http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3105690#forum-post-39975383
It's not a street camera, but for my eyes it looks like it can do the job pretty well actually. Don't you think ? :)
You should admit you just don't know the subject enough to answer. Thanks anyway.
Kind regards.
Skins....Two skins is way better...but a little expensive.
http://aki-asahi.com/store/html/SIGMA/DP2-M/DP2M_LeatherKit.php (http://aki-asahi.com/store/html/SIGMA/DP2-M/DP2M_LeatherKit.php)
Grips....Not bad, but check out the future products below.
http://flipbac.com/camera-grip-design-materials.htm (http://flipbac.com/camera-grip-design-materials.htm)
Future better products slated for production:
Grip: This guy is going to make the anodized grip for the DP2M (plans are done), look at the old DP2 grip on this page that he made.
http://www.kleptography.com/rf/ (http://www.kleptography.com/rf/)
Half Case: I have written this guy...nice half cases for great prices..He has not committed yet to the DP2M, but I think he will......
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Sqinno?ref=seller_info (http://www.etsy.com/shop/Sqinno?ref=seller_info).
Okay Ndevlin...your a Senior Member....I let fly with some links..I should have paid closer attention to the site policy agreement, I hope its okay.....
PS. The AML-1 works fine with the DP2M and it is half the price of the AML-2. A reverse 46mm 49mm Step Up Down ring makes this close-up lens possible to use.
Foveonic
... Here's a taraxacum shot with an old inverted 50mm above the DP2 lens to achieve a macro shot. A personal setup.
...
And here a thyme branch with the same method.
...
Foveonic, many thanks for all the links. Now the perplexing question is, which one? Do we think that a camera outfitted with a skin (or 2) would fit in the Milich grip and L-bracket? How does one "take off" a grip? Isn't it glued on somehow?
Nick, thanks for your response about Michael's post, which I had seen. I've never "accessorized" a camera in this way before. I can see there is a whole new world out there for me to explore and consider.
Idillic, when I am putting more than one camera in a bag together, I pull a sock over the ones I'm concerned about. I pull a lightweight cotton sock over my DP2M and slip it into my purse. Works.
Akira, I did like very much your image of the taraxacum. How does that work, using a 50mm lens in conjunction with the DP2M? I've done very little macro work (just used the 45mm macro -- 90mm equivalent -- on my GH2, so you can see I really have almost no familiarity with techniques for this) and have no idea how you achieved this shot. It is beautiful.
I ordered this camera from Sigma as soon as I saw Quentin's remarks and photo posts, and read Michael's hinting at how impressed he was with it. And I have been pleased ever since to have the pleasure of using it and enjoying the results. If I could figure out how one actually uploads an image onto this site, I might consider whether to post some of my results, but I do feel intimidated by some of what I see here. L-L has been a real source of knowledge and inspiration for me. Many thanks to all who contribute. --Barbara
... Alone in the fog...
Thank you for your email and interest in the Sigma cameras. I understand
your comments about Adobe/Phase One compatibility. A few people have
requested this. As far as I have been told, we have supplied the
information to Adobe so hopefully in the near future our files will be
compatible.
Let's hope the guy is right!
Bruce
There are some amazing shots to be found on this forum and a lot of great info, thank you al very much!
I just recieved my dp2m and since I do not like to compose with a lcd screen, I prefer to use a viewfinder. (most of my shooting is handheld) However, since the dp2m has a 45mm effective view, I cannot decide wether to get a 40 or a 50mm viewfinder (voigtlander)
for it. Using it as a rangefinder type camera, a 40 would be more logical, but since I am so used to my Pentax 67 a 50mm would not be a strange choice perhaps. (The Pentax finder shows less then I actually am shooting)
This might seem a nitpicking question, but I think it is essential in my shooting flow. I'd thought maybe you guys recognise this situation and wanna share some thoughts.
All the best and happy shooting!
Ricky
Very good point Nancy, for scouting I too prefer to use the viewfinder.
Lawrence, thanks for the advice. I agree with you that a tripod is a must in most cases to achieve absolute sharpness and get
the most out of this great sensor/lens combo that is the dp2m. Maybe I find the dp2m to be much less forgiving then my medium format film camera (which I use 80% handheld) The results with handheld MF are great. Although sharpness can be better with tripod, in many cases it just works for me. The 'feel' of a picture is what counts in the end, not the highest posible sharpness. For instance the work of Anton Corbijn is not super sharp most of the times, more raw. But he is concious about it and he uses it in his advantage.
Perhaps I find the dp2m not satisfying handheld at all and i'll switch to tripod completely in the end :)
Great advice guys, thanks again!
Bernard, to check 100% in SPP, open a file, click on the "Full res" tab along the top, which will then load and crunch the extra data in a few seconds, then click on the arrow to the right of the % value under the words "fit in" beside little magnifier glass. Voila.
I'll be interested in seeing others' responses to Bernard's suggestion that the image quality of the DP2M may be "a tad overhyped." My response is, "Compared to what?"
Once you master this little gem, you will be blown away by the IQ.
Bernard, you've set yourself quite a project! I'll be interested in what you discover as to the best ways to work with the DP2M and its files. Let me clarify a bit what I was trying to get at in my earlier post. I've been considering for some time what my next camera and lenses should be to give me larger captures to enable larger printing than I've been doing. (That's not why I got the Sigma -- that was for fun in a carry-around camera.) And then I saw the quality coming out of my DP2M, and started to worry that even low 20's megapixels on a full-frame camera might not give me a comparable result. And I was wondering how others would react to that question -- what camera and lenses do I need to go to for comparable image quality in an interchangeable lens camera with a large enough file for larger printing (16 x 20 or 20 x 30)? --Barbara
And (I can't help it), I have to laugh every time I look at this:
http://camerasize.com/compare/#293,291
For the DP2m and Sony RX100 I prefer comparing images, not sizes. And the good times keep coming ;)
For me though it's different: I have only one tool - the DP2M. A fixed lens camera and georgeous Image Quality.
I always carry the DP2M with me on all my walks. And I have never felt constrained.
As you said, very little adjustments are needed to output a good photo out of SPP. And yes, with a DP2m, even at High ISO, only a sony fan boy can feel constrained ;)
It's raining in Oslo; all is extremely grey... How much rain/moisture do you think The Lady of Supreme Sharpness will endure? Any tips to weather protective gear for a camera like this?
Here's grey weather in Paris:
http://sigmasharpshooter.tumblr.com/image/34524963916 (http://sigmasharpshooter.tumblr.com/image/34524963916)
He was drunk.
100% crop from a shot I took 23 miles away from the actual location. One sharp lens for sure....
You are kidding, right?
In my opinion, it's just what it is: by far the best Image and (fixed) Lens quality in the smallest package currently availabe (and at a very decent price, I might add).
The battery life is just a consequence of the physical constraints thus imposed (like 50 MB of RAW data and the processing needs required).
You seem to veer between lukewarm ('nice') when it comes to the DP2M's strengths and hyperbole ('annyoing design flaw'), when it comes to weaknesses ;)
Maybe, just maybe, the DP2M is not the right camera for you?
Don't worry - I'm relaxed and I think I can clearly see the pros and cons of the DP2M.
I first had a look at your galleries before replying, and if you had asked me straight away: please have a look at my pictures and tell me whether you would recommend the DP2M for me, I would without hesitation have answered: no.
No, because the DP2M might not be versatile enough for you (fixed lens), too slow, questionable battery life, really requires (in my opinion) to shoot in RAW only, etc etc.
In fact, I would never recommend the DP2M for 99% of photograpers - heck: make it 99.9% ;D
The more interesting question for me is: why did you pick up the DP2M (apart from curiousity)?
I think we are serious photographers and we should not fall in technical polemics, if you want.
When someone buy a Sigma he know what he is doing. It's like buying a Leica, you don't do that in a finger snap.
All the "technical flaws" you speak about since ... 2 or 3 pages of this thread are about things who have already been discussed. I think it is important to read the thread. Nobody invest 1000 $ in foveon based camera without reading all the threads and the foveon story and particularity. No ?
Technical endless speech kill the thread, it is very boring :) and I'm sure nobody here want LL falling in the same state of DPreview ...
So please, lets post photos, sensibility, skills !!
So please, lets post photos, sensibility, skills !!
Quite so. That's why this thread is called "Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences".
Here is my attempt at a 3 shot stitch of the house across the street from me. I'm a long term beginner using only Lula approved sources. This should give you an idea of what the average guy with camera/tripod can do. The preview of this post is not showing the pic I am trying to upload. If it doesn't take I've included a link to the dropbox. Warning, a lot of crap pics in this dropbox.
Full: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4mufcrv6se2g9nm/Acrossthestreetfull%20%281%20of%201%29.jpg
Relax, this is just a camera and I am merely being objective about it.
Now seriously, do you think anyone here is capable of being objective ?
Bernard you're a highly accomplished photographer. You lost objectivity about equipment years ago or you wouldn't have the portfolio that you do. You, like all of us with years of experience, have strong preferences and biases based on that experience. And thankfully so.
Bernard, I think you, like me, may have found a new friend in this little camera.
Yup, the battery life sucks/is a joke, but we will all make due around that.
Cheers,
- N.
ps. gee, I wish I were in japan...it's so lovely there in the fall.
...Here is a comparison with the Sony RX-1, which is a more comparable camera (single focal length, non-interchangeable lens, larger sensor):
Here is a comparison with a M9, the M9 being just a tad larger:
http://camerasize.com/compare/#293,213
...
I finally got my hands on a DP2 in a not-so-local photo shop and was very surprised about the huge size. To be honest I was expecting something like the old FF Minox camera. Yeah, I know, DP2 delivers incredible IQ, but for me its not a compact.
Point Lobos, CA
(http://rsadams.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Landscapes/i-V4QGZvm/0/X2/_SDI0202-Edit-X2.jpg)
can anyone guess how the workflow differed btwn these 2? ;)Use of a ladder for the 1st one?
First thanks a lot for sharing your photos and other information about the DP2! Although I do not have a DP2 I am very interested in learning more of this camera, and this thread is impressive.
My very small contribution, and NB its not entirely positive ;) :-[ : I finally got my hands on a DP2 in a not-so-local photo shop and was very surprised about the huge size. To be honest I was expecting something like the old FF Minox camera. Yeah, I know, DP2 delivers incredible IQ, but for me its not a compact. Here is a comparison with a M9, the M9 being just a tad larger:
http://camerasize.com/compare/#293,213
Sorry if I'm a partybreaker, but others than me might have unrealistic expectations :D
I think you will find that the DP2 Merrill is quite a bit smaller to the M9. Don't forget the thickness measurement includes the lens in the sigma while the M9 has no lens. So the M9 is significantly bigger, with even it's smallest lens on, in every dimension. And it would be much heavier than the sigma!
Bernard
magical shots, love the leaves. Are you doing panos by hand or are you using a tripod?
If using a tripod, are you using anything special or just relying on software?
I am wondering about best ways to shoot panos with the Sigma DP2M,
John
- The usability of the raw conversion software is poor
Cheers,
Bernard
Worse than Sony's one ???
But is it possible ??? ;)
Yes the colors in the pictures are wonderful!
It is not the camera - it must be Japan...
Do you say with these pictures Japan is beautiful in autumn? Or is it more local than that?
Thanks.
Fall colors are of course short lived, so you need a bit of luck to be at the right place at the right time. ;)
Beyond that I just used the secret function on the DP2m that frames automatically, it works wonders!
Cheers,
Bernard
AAH- sorry for that!
I of course wanted to say...:
It is not the camera but beautiful Japan + the professional skill of an excellent photographer - as there are not too many around... ;)
Nice image, but one can really see the distortion in that Cafe shot. I hadn't seen that before. I had the impression there was none. I don't understand why that isn't corrected automatically in a camera with a fixed lens these days.
Does it take a cable release?
We should all email him expressing interest!
I think we are talking about a slight barrel distortion.
Comparing different images, taken under differing conditions, online, serves no purpose.
As soon as a production R1 is available for comparison I will be be doing one with the DP2M.
Michael
For some reason I cannot post images.
For some reason we cannot explain why ;)
(Hint: be more specific, tell us what steps are you taking trying to post)
.... What makes up for the difference?
Could you share how to post large images with the link to other photo site step by step? Thanks.
Hasselbladfan, this camera is slow to write to the memory card (one could probably say very slow), and you just have to get used to it and live with it. Those of us who have used other Sigma foveon cameras have already gotten used to it; this wasn't anything new. But the quality of the images from the DP2M leaves us very ready to tolerate the slow pace. One feels very fortunate to have this camera in hand. --Barbara
Been printing with Epson ABW lately....I am close to making the plunge and converting my Epson 3800 to Piezographic inks by Cone Color....anyone gone this direction??
Handheld
f7.1
iso 160
1\320th
Foveonic
Over the last 10 years, I've taken over 2000 images in this location, averaging around 70 per trip. Today, I got less than 30. Fumbling with controls, the use of manual focus and waiting for the camera to be ready for the next image were major contributors to this result.
I sure wish that LR4 supported the camera's raw data.
This forum thread is about the DP2Merrill and not the DP2. You're only missing the point that the DP2 and DP2 Merrill are two entirely different cameras and LR4 doesn't support the Merrill.
No worries. I only bought two DP-2 batteries by accident from B&H when I bought my DP-2"M". Man, did I feel stupid ???
Happy shooting!
- N.
I, too, was interested in the DP-2, ordered it over the weekend and received it Wednesday. My first impressions were much along the same lines as earlier posts, with a couple of differences.
Having spent a couple of hours in a favorite local location taking photographs, I believe that the the DP-2 is much slower than my Canon DSLR's. Over the last 10 years, I've taken over 2000 images in this location, averaging around 70 per trip. Today, I got less than 30. Fumbling with controls, the use of manual focus and waiting for the camera to be ready for the next image were major contributors to this result.
I exhausted the first battery in getting the camera set-up to meet my way of working, like finding how to set the date, setting RAW only, Aperture priority, power-off times and a number of other settings, and taking 41 images. I imagine that the next batteries will last a little longer.
Sigma Photo Pro has a number of major annoyances, it seems to remember settings I'd rather it not remember and forgets settings I'd rather it would remember. It seems to be useful only for setting white balance. Luckily, almost all of today's images were sunlight WB, so setting it was easy. All of the images were then adjusted in LR4. The results were excellent, when viewed on the monitor. I sure wish that LR4 supported the camera's raw data. :(
I would suggest that, while you a waiting, that you download SPP, search the net for sample raw images, and develop your workflow. That was a great help in dealing with today's work.
New SPP software update, and firmware update for both DP2M and DP1M
Firmware: http://www.sigma-photo.co.jp/english/new/new_topic.php?id=323
SPP software: http://www.sigma-photo.co.jp/english/new/new_topic.php?id=324
Rand
If only Phase or Hasselblad would licence the Foveon sensor technology fopr digital MF, and make a full frame 645 sensor in the quality, it would blow everyone's socks off, all over again.
Thank God. I got rid of my DP2M - took it back to B&H, because of the endlessly crashing software in Windows. I mean didn't anyone test it before they released it? Its a truly horrible piece of work, even if they have got it stable.
narikin-
That's strange, I suspect that your computer is at fault. I have been using SPP and the numerous iterations for years with a number of different Sigma cameras and it hasn't crashed on me once. This has been on three different computers...
New to this site and forum. I was vaguely interested in the DP-2, and read nearly every post in this board with relish, then ordered a DP-2 Merrill on sale from B&H. Can't wait to receive it, although I fear my wife will snatch it up and hide it away from me until Christmas. Such valuable and rich information here....
Thanks to all.
Mezzoduomo
Scottsdale, AZ USA
I am glad you posted these photos. I have been dealing with a lot of aliasing as is apparent with the railings and ropes and straight lines in these photos. For those of you who don't know, aliasing is the stair stepping look you see on the horizontal and vertical lines in these photos. This is the price you pay for not having a blur filter or AA like bayer sensors have....you get much sharper pics but this can be an issue for certain targets. I have expiermented with several anti-aliasing plug-ins and have found some relief. When printed at size like 17x20 the aliasing is not as noticebable as it is with digital representation. When zoomed in at 100% on digital displays the aliasing is very minimized....How are you all dealing with this pre-agreed to phenomenon due the the absence of AA filtering???
There has to be a story behind that car. That's an attention-getting image. Thanks.
Bernard... I came across this in other readings today.
Seems that car is getting a bit of attention!
http://jalopnik.com/5965028/wheres-the-worlds-most-expensive-parking-space?post=54863863
scroll to see the comment.
If only Phase or Hasselblad would licence the Foveon sensor technology fopr digital MF, and make a full frame 645 sensor in the quality, it would blow everyone's socks off, all over again.
Beautiful photographs! Were these taken hand-held? What is your experience with street/travel photography with this camera - do you need a tripod or can you work well without one?
Sigma is apparently using a FF prototype to do quality control evaluation of their newest lens lines, for example, that new 35mm f/1.4 FF lens.
Any more on that? A 30mp or thereabouts Foveon sensor coupled with a DP2M quality prime lens would be a dream come true. And a nighmare for medium format.
Not any more on that :)
Sigma swapped the old Zeiss MTF machine with proprietary A1 MTF machine who run with the SD1 sensor. FF sensor in this is only pure speculation :)
The truth is in my hands and my hands are on a magic keyboard who magically found that ;D
http://www.photoclubalpha.com/2012/09/24/sigmas-system-revolution/
Hi Hulyss
Interesting article - it's impressive what Sigma are doing. Looks like the latest generation of lenses will be excellent. I hope full frame Foveon follows!
Quentin
hulyss,
is there a work around for long exposures. I have not needed more than couple of seconds yet, but i might. is it possible to have more than 30 sec exposures? for landscapes it is very important feature.
nandadevieast
Hi Hulyss,
will interval timer help in obtaining longer exposure?
don't know how this works, but read somewhere...
As you can see, there is an edit at the end of the article, and this edit is due to me, poor French photographer. I will now collaborate with SIGMA Japan only.
Now we're into Merril Porn ?
I guess some do like to watch rather than be the shooter. :o
Double thick custom camera skin, Franiec Grip, Voightlander Viewer, Cameta Strap.... The grip is wonderful. It does cover the Sigma moniker, but has a clever Sigma Character stamped on. All in all it improves the grip and functionality of this immensely hard to hold unit.
C'mon, you have to admit this camera wasn't the easiest unit to hold on to with the stock design.
My RRS L bracket with grip will be here tomorrow. I've been shooting with a generic plate mounted and just having the slightly wider baseplate sit in the palm of my hand has made it useable.
Pompous...Declaration ? I thought the question mark and smiley face should would have made it clear I was teasing.
My RRS L bracket with grip will be here tomorrow. I've been shooting with a generic plate mounted and just having the slightly wider baseplate sit in the palm of my hand has made it useable.
Pompous...Declaration ? I thought the question mark and smiley face should would have made it clear I was teasing.
My DP2 Merrill arrives today! ;D Also ordered close-up lens and hood. Can't wait to have fun with this camera.
I printed three 20x30" prints recently. One was from a Leica M8 with a 35mm Leica Summaron 2.8 (uprezzed to M9 18mp dimensions), another was from the Leica M9 with Zeiss 35mm C-Biogon 2.8, and the last was from the DP2m. The only one that held up completely to up close inspection was the DP2m. The others started to get soft and not show minute detail. The DP2m showed every little detail and extremely small background text was completely sharp and easily readable. Amazing really. That said, I was happy with all three.
Source for L bracket for DP1 Merrill, DP2 Merrill. ?
narikin-
That's strange, I suspect that your computer is at fault. I have been using SPP and the numerous iterations for years with a number of different Sigma cameras and it hasn't crashed on me once. This has been on three different computers...
... it is useful for browsing XF3's if SPP is acting up. Irfanview is free.
I think your advice no longer applies. The current release of SPP is stable on both platforms. I've used it for hundreds of images in the last couple of weeks and haven't had a single crash.
So if SPP crashes because it doesn't know how to handle a foreign file type that's an easy user fix. Just keep your house is better order and you won't trip over things.
I assume nothing. If SPP were still crashing for most users we'd all be reading about it.
Here for all, I'm new here and I'm in Spain.
Here is one of my first shot with the DP2M (you can see in flickr with details)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8354/8258718008_86ff83d193_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/71931515@N05/8258718008/)
_SDI0135 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/71931515@N05/8258718008/) por John Loves (http://www.flickr.com/people/71931515@N05/), en Flickr
For your amusement, my video on the DP1 and DP2 with the boys at The Camerastore:Amusement is right. I loved the good cop bad cop routine. Education too. I suspect you have helped to make Sigma another sale.
I'm ordering a DP2M to go along with my RX100. My tiff files from before the RX was supported in LR4 were about 60 mb, which my poor 3 year old MBP struggled to handle in LR4. My question is, what will the Tiff files from the DP2 be when I send them into LR from SPP?
By the way, the deciding factor in my purchase ,was that I just watch Nick Devlin's video on You Tube about the camera.
For your amusement, my video on the DP1 and DP2 with the boys at The Camerastore:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3VjyHQiqdE&feature=youtu.be (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3VjyHQiqdE&feature=youtu.be)
Enjoy and Merry Christmas.
For your amusement, my video on the DP1 and DP2 with the boys at The Camerastore:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3VjyHQiqdE&feature=youtu.be (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3VjyHQiqdE&feature=youtu.be)
Enjoy and Merry Christmas.
- N.
Hi, Can anybody tell me what metering mode (evaluative, center, spot) gives the best results?
Thanks and happy christmas!!
What a weird, mass psychology this is all revealing.
Merry Christmas.
Rob C
86,493 KB is what Windows 7 tells me.Thanks Alan. My computer MBP is not going to be happy running 86mb files in LR4.
Alan
My question is, what will the Tiff files from the DP2 be when I send them into LR from SPP?
I took 145 images today with my DP2M and they range from 49MB to 63MB in SPP. TIFFs output at full size in Adobe RGB and 16 bit are 88.6MB.Thanks for the info and the suggestion KC. I'm going to put tomorrows shoot on my external hard drives and see what difference it makes in LR4.
Put your working files on an external drive and you'll give your MBP a much easier task working with these files.
It depends on what you're shooting and what kind of exposure you want. The evaluative mode works very well for general use.
But I´m; can´t only see images by that friend ,-(
Thanks for that info Patricia. I was on the fence about trying one, think I'll pass. Their human interface sounds as clunky as the one on the cameras. Maybe in time they will grow up and appreciate the buzz fans generate.
Their human interface sounds as clunky as the one on the cameras.Aren't we just talking about one or two idiots in Sigma France?
Aren't we just talking about one or two idiots in Sigma France?
1.
DP1M or DP2M.
I´ve never tested a prime wide lens (DP1M) and I´m very curious about it. On the other hand the more regular DP2M lens looks like the best of the two, even if both are very good and well matched with the sensor...
2.
And the close up aspect. I can only find a close up lens (AML-2) for the DP2M not for the wider sister. I do real macro indoors with a very good macro lens, but a close up approach is sometimes interesting while outdoors.
Thanks for the info and the suggestion KC. I'm going to put tomorrows shoot on my external hard drives and see what difference it makes in LR4.
It is a very good camera, but not 'good enougher' to justify it over the D800E.
Cheers,
- N.
I think they struck it lucky with the first, the 30mm, and that's probably as far as it's going to go; after all, if you make a variety of cameras and lenses, it makes more commercial sense to sell units that the buyer can mix'n'match: it encourages the creation and dependency on system photography, locked-in buyers, as Hassy always knew well! Difference? Their (Hassy) once-upon-a-time was affordable to more buyers, including myself. Frankly, even though I could put down the money, I wouldn't for today's versions.
If one owns neither at the moment....and if you factor in the price differential between the two cameras....and given the price of truly great glass for the D800E....does your perspective change a bit? I.E., does a $1000 camera need to be better than a $3000++ rig?
I doubt it was luck finding that the 30 could be optimized with the sensor. I'd give me them more credit as engineers than that.
And Michael findings on the 19 sound appropriate to me, "Remember, this is a 19mm lens (28mm eqiv). As such it is no different that other high quality wide primes. I don't know any lens in this focal range that is without these issues, including those from Leica and Zeiss. Top quality wide angle primes are simply hard to design and make."
Nick's comment sounds like Nick and appropriate as well for anyone who already owns a D800 at 3 times the cost and size.
Nick's comment sounds like Nick and appropriate as well for anyone who already owns a D800 at 3 times the cost and size.
Three factors control what we buy: want, need and means. Most serious photogs are able to buy a DP1M. If they already own, or are likely to own, another serious system that covers that focal length, they don't need one.
That anyone already owning a top slr system would need a camera such as either of the Merrills is open to debate; that anyone in that position chooses to buy one is another matter, and speaks more abut the collection of toys or cameras for their own sake than it does about photography.Hard to argue need, particularly for an amateur, but surely portability is a consideration that might take the purchase of one or other of the Merrills out of the domain of collecting toys or cameras for their own sake, particularly for landscape photographers who are ageing but still like to get around in rough country.
Hard to argue need, particularly for an amateur, but surely portability is a consideration that might take the purchase of one or other of the Merrills out of the domain of collecting toys or cameras for their own sake, particularly for landscape photographers who are ageing but still like to get around in rough country.
The 30mm Sigma adds what, less than half the price of a sub-$1K camera, and it's as good as it gets.
Cheers,
- N.
Hi all,
I just got my DP2M and was thrilled. However the one I got is defective: when I switch it on, not only it takes more than 5 seconds, but then the displayed preview just a noisy white picture (as if it was massively over exposed). Furthermore, it is sometimes impossible to open the menu and it doesn't take pictures.
Has anyone had this problem before?
Anyway, I'll send it back and request for another unit.
However the one I got is defective: ... the displayed preview just a noisy white picture (as if it was massively over exposed).Hi all
Has anyone had this problem before?
These images were shot with DP2M last month at WuYuan in China (so called "the most beautiful village" in the nation).I took this camera and the Canon 5D MarkkIII with me but end up using DP2M most of the time. The sharpness and film like tonality just blew me away.
(http://forums.dpreview.com/files/t/68ff43f6ac1f4daba50b49930aef09f7)
(http://forums.dpreview.com/files/t/75dbce5f209a4e1caa464d6c70f5119d)
(http://forums.dpreview.com/files/t/2aa9565b6a244187b571fe36856adf93)
(http://forums.dpreview.com/files/t/138c9991857443089ea74106b993e7a8)
(http://forums.dpreview.com/files/t/5672ae5abe594749ad23f5b70f538910)
(http://forums.dpreview.com/files/t/177c8f65763d4097b23adc5d0c6688c6)
(http://forums.dpreview.com/files/t/669687e5231a45e9a84b9fd27320879c)
Comments are appreciated.
John
(http://forums.dpreview.com/files/t/75dbce5f209a4e1caa464d6c70f5119d)
John
These images were shot with DP2M last month at WuYuan in China (so called "the most beautiful village" in the nation).I took this camera and the Canon 5D MarkkIII with me but end up using DP2M most of the time. The sharpness and film like tonality just blew me away.
Comments are appreciated.
John
..I was wondering if anybody could comment on dynamic range or shadow noise. lets say we compare the camera to a recent high quality mft or aps-c sensor.
The DP3 will be announced soon...
I just think about external battery to DP2...
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/894790-REG/Sigma_eya034_SAC_5_AC_Adapter.html
Did anyone check if it can be powered by an external battery?
Hyper Juice or Quantum - it would be perfect
Aha! Sigma France was right. You do seem to have insider information! ;) :) :D
The DP3 will be announced soon (if stars align correctly). The DP3 will be geared with a 50mm f2.8 macro lens, equivalent to a 75 mm f2.8, special portrait and bokeh generator. Yummy !!
The DP3 will be announced soon (if stars align correctly). The DP3 will be geared with a 50mm f2.8 macro lens, equivalent to a 75 mm f2.8, special portrait and bokeh generator. Yummy !!
DP3M - 50mm 2.8?
I'd rather prefer a tilt screen and an IR shutter release (both useful for tripod work) and maybe focus peaking for the existing ones. Three bodies @$1000 is near a grown up interchangeable lens system.
The DP3 will be announced soon (if stars align correctly). The DP3 will be geared with a 50mm f2.8 macro lens, equivalent to a 75 mm f2.8, special portrait and bokeh generator. Yummy !!
I'll be tempted once again. But honestly, how far do these cameras go without Adobe Camera Raw/Lightroom/Aperture?
Man I hope you have some inside info on this one ;) I would LOVE this rig.
- N.
Have a look at this :)
http://www.sigma-dp.com/DP3Merrill/debut/#/home
This is great news. However, I still heave a great sigh over no AdobeRAW support. That and an EVF would be SO convincing.
Adobe support is inevitable.
how do you plan to shoot a 75mm without a viewfinder?
A few more shots from Consuegra (Spain) ;)
hey thanks for all those great full res pics. how did you expose those images? do you think you could expose them a little more and then recover highlights or not? (shadow noise doesn't look to bad but for the very deep shadows, it looks like there isn't much left)
Hi Juan,
Thanks for sharing those images. I'm impressed with the overall sharpness and pretty large DOF for apertures as large as f/5 or f/5.6. Were these hand held or on a tripod?
All the images look great, but I'm curious about something I saw in one of them. In Segovia VIII the clouds in the far background - they are purple and green. Is this from highlight recovery or what happened?
Regards,
Eric
Hi Juan,
Consuegra and Segovia shots look great, but can I see banding in the sky of the first colour Consuegra shot? I like to photograph Spain a lot and particularly like the heavy blue skies you can get there, I also like to post process the skies a lot to get the most out of them. I'm hoping the banding issues with the Sigma aren't going to bug me. Can't tell until I get back to Spain.
Thanks Peter, you're right, in the first Consuegra shot I also see bands in the sky but are not easy to see :)
Yes the banding issues w/the sky - I see them too, but on one of my monitors and not both??? But I also see a lot of purple/magenta in the sky too that doesn't look right and I see that in both screens.
Hmmm...
Eric. All valid points. I was limited by my room light. Tomorrow I will do a test under day light with the lens stopped down.
Although the Hassey was properly focused. I was surprised at the result so I re did the shot many times at different focal lenghts (from 1.5-2M), and the image I posted was the accurate focus. Mirror was locked up as well
One more:
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8511/8385660113_1ec41a42d2_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/71931515@N05/8385660113/)
_SDI0436 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/71931515@N05/8385660113/) por John Loves (http://www.flickr.com/people/71931515@N05/), en Flickr
Hmm... I tnink the car image works very well, and the soft tonality suits the subject, but the headshot doesn't (at least on my calibration of my monitor). It bears the same 'flatness' of a pulled wet print that seems also to accompany several of the shots posted on LuLa to display the glories and virtuosity of the mono Leica M.
IMO, at least, and I'm regularly mistaken.
Rob C
You are perfectly spot on and you are not mistaken. Since I have the DP2 is try to find settings who give me exactly what output in raw the Leica MM. This is not that easy but I think I'm pretty close as you mention it :)
When I was SIGMA evangelist, back in the day ( ;D), I wanted to make a special post and comparison between the MM and the DP2m, because for me, the ultimate B&W machine is the DP2m.
Today I just show my experiments (only the car is a recent shoot) and stopped playing with my "MM settings".
The DP2 Merrill is a Chameleon !
wonderful shots indeed.
would you share with us how you tweak your DP2M to a have a MM look ;D
Just in from Brian Griffith, designer of Raw Developer: Support for the DP1M and DP2M can be downloaded here:
Sincere thanks to Carl Schofield for providing the necessary files to Brian to fine tune the update!
Lawrence
(http://www.iridientdigital.com/products/rawdeveloper_download.html)
I'm having trouble getting the left-right-up-down arrow's to work with the color wheel. I'm on a Mac but can't get them to work with the wheel. Anyone care to share the secret.....Thanks, Max
Hello Max,Hello Huylss, Well I was just trying to use them one at a time. Up,left. etc. Nothing happens, except the screen blinks. Tried holding command key and arrow, etc, with no luck. I should just click on the color wheel center and the arrows should work.....correct?
Do you mean using the both key in the same time, to go in diagonal or just the keys alone ?
@ Larkis >> damn beautiful shoots.
For Cats amateurs :
Hello Huylss, Well I was just trying to use them one at a time. Up,left. etc. Nothing happens, except the screen blinks. Tried holding command key and arrow, etc, with no luck. I should just click on the color wheel center and the arrows should work.....correct?
In his review, MR states "the DP1M and DP2M are limited in print size to what one would get from a 24-28MP camera; let's call it about an 20X30" print".
Assuming a good print would require about 300 ppi, then 20X30" would need 6000x9000 pixels, but the DP2M cameras only have 3136x4704, which at 300ppi would seem to support a print of approximately 10X15" only.
I am interested in buying one of these cameras, partly to allow me to make larger prints, so I would appreciate if anyone could explain this apparent contradiction - am I missing something?
Many thanks
Trevor
Thanks Rand
I had seen Jeff make the recommendation you mention, and it has also become my practice but I did not think it could be used to uprez by a factor of x2. I would like to get the file you offer and will PM you as soon as I figure out how to do that.
Thanks for the link to Quentin's discussion. I did look at the file he uprezzed 200% and to be honest I was disappointed with the result, however he did say he could probably do better, and it was a jpeg.
I need to try this for myself before I buy the cameras, and your file will help me do that - much appreciated.
Regards
Trevor
Models I can work with, Hulyss. :D. Not too temperamental.
White balance is all over the place in that image, but I have another iteration where I have modified it slightly. What intrigued me about the shot is the diagonal line that appears to run through the front mannequin's head at the line of the fringe, and across the whole frame. A confluence of natural phenomena.
Now, about print size, which Trevor and others have mentioned
We need to bear in mind that doubling the size ( i.e. doubling the dimensions, not the pixel count) gives you a near 60mp image which is fairly extreme, being 4 times the pixel count. With a little effort it is possible to get great results at that size, and in my view significantly better than you could achieve from a 24mp camera. Moreover the quality will extend to the edges of the frame, which cannot be said of many DSLR lenses. But Lets not get too carried away because there is only so much data in even a DP2M file and a 4 x pixel count enlargement is a lot.
The DP2m also excels with panos
Quentin
White balance is all over the place in that image, but I have another iteration where I have modified it slightly. What intrigued me about the shot is the diagonal line that appears to run through the front mannequin's head at the line of the fringe, and across the whole frame. A confluence of natural phenomena.
Quentin
Hi all,
I am looking for tips or examples and maybe tutorials on DP Merrill workflow and RAW processing, does anyone of you a few links to share? I'm trying to get the best from my shots and by seeing the work of users here, it seems like I need to improve my post-processing.
Thanks!
BTW, Hulyss, I love your web site. My favorite is the shot of the young lady with the sword and the fox.
Thank you Ken :) For the little story, all my visuals are some kind of work, especially when it come to clothings. At first, I killed a pheasant to stuff her wings then I made the helmet out of leather, goat fur and coper thread. After that I designed the jacket. She's made of raw wool, dear leather, velvet and fox fur. All is hand made by my wife (the model, she graduated at that and do custom clothes for lawyers, weeding high end robes ...). As you can see in this little slide-show, it was a test with very expensive custom profoto soft box ;D Of course I did it with a SIGMA SD15 and the 50 f1.4 EX. This is my "throwaway gear" when I go in rainy environment, in studio I run with Elinchrom.
http://youtu.be/S50N8xyYe6s
Sorry for the little of topic.
Nonsense; that's what makes it okay for non-owners like me to read these posts! Far more interesting having little insights into people's lives than just wordless pictures, however crisp or brilliant or surprising: it's the human bit that does it every time.
Rob C
Thank you Rob :)
In the same league I did the photo of a Pict priestess. The Picts was a people of old Scotland too (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picts) The photo below show a pict priestess, haranguing the hordes before an Epic fight over the Vallum Aelium (Hadrian's Wall). Of course it is done with SIGMA gear ;D The ancestor of the DP2 Merrill : The DP2s.
I'm born in France but my heart is Scot, for ever.
At first I wanted to show history in my photos by adding text with. For me, it is important. But HORDES of photographer blamed me because a photo is a photo and do not need text to be contextualized (I will prove them they are very wrong, just need 30 years of hard work).Don't give up on that one, Hulyss. A photo without text can of course be a fine thing, as can text without a photo, but the combination of the two opens up lots of interesting possibilities, and not only in photojournalism. William Yang is a favorite of mine - see some of his work here (http://www.stillsgallery.com.au/artists/yang/). Look for the handwritten text on or below many of the images.
... I'm born in France but my heart is Scot, for ever.
Don't get me wrong, I'm French. But if I have one regret in my life it is not to be born in United States of America...
How strange: I left Scotland to come and l¡ve in Spain, but I really would have liked to have lived in France!
I love the Dordogne area - perhaps because, perversely, it reminds me a bit of Scotland but with better cooking and wine. Really, though, I know I should have gone to live in Rome because I used to have relatives there and the psychology is pretty much natural to me. You think I'm messed up?
;-)
Rob C
Don't give up on that one, Hulyss. A photo without text can of course be a fine thing, as can text without a photo, but the combination of the two opens up lots of interesting possibilities, and not only in photojournalism. William Yang is a favorite of mine - see some of his work here (http://www.stillsgallery.com.au/artists/yang/). Look for the handwritten text on or below many of the images.
mezzoduomo, I love this BnW image, down to the fortuitous gull in the sky and gull on the pier.
Although already somehow aware of the pros and cons of DP2M, I was still shocked how bad is the software and how good are the sensor and the lens.
What is it, please, mezzoduomo ??? ;)
A bright and beautiful day..
Come to think of it, like most of Sigma colors.For shame! Trollery, from you!
For shame! Trollery, from you!...
...Yes, I know it sounds troll-ish, but I am genuinely puzzled by colors...Point taken and allegation withdrawn. I probably thinking of the response such a comment might provoke on less civilized sites, and/or less exemplary threads on this site.
Could not tell from the picture... it's looks rather dull and muted. Come to think of it, like most of Sigma colors.
Yes, I know it sounds troll-ish, but I am genuinely puzzled by colors, at least as displayed in this thread. At some point in this 30+ pages long thread I actually asked for someone to post skin shots that do not look sick-ishly, puke-ishly, yellow-greenish. The same goes for skies and general tonality. I know, I know, sounds like trolling again, but that is how I see it. For instance, check the page 37, post #725.
Yes, I know it sounds troll-ish, but I am genuinely puzzled by colors, at least as displayed in this thread. At some point in this 30+ pages long thread I actually asked for someone to post skin shots that do not look sick-ishly, puke-ishly, yellow-greenish. The same goes for skies and general tonality. I know, I know, sounds like trolling again, but that is how I see it. For instance, check the page 37, post #725.Hi Slobodan,
The DMR had fantastic color in daylight. That whole generation of Kodak CCD's did - IMHO. But it could do weird things in mixed color or fluorescent.
Any sign of SPP 5.5 yet?
I'm using Snow Leopard (10.6.8) so those of you running a more current OS may/may not experience the freezes.
SPP 5.5 is out, but beware if you're on a Mac. I installed it and it freezes. I trashed it and re-installed it and is still freezes. I then re-installed 5.4 and everything works fine.
There's a bug in 5.5 that needs to be addressed so be advised. I'm using Snow Leopard (10.6.8) so those of you running a more current OS may/may not experience the freezes.
Juan,
Looks like you're coming to terms with the Sigma and producing some fine shots. I noticed some banding in your B&Ws; did you try correcting this in SPP? I'm contemplating one of the Merrills for B&W landscapes, but this banding issue could be a deal-breaker; and I thought this problem had been resolved. Thanks.
From what I gather, this is a well-known issue; thus the reason Sigma added a specific "banding" tool in SPP to address the problem. Just wondering if you had used that specific tool, and if so, to what degree of success. I'm probably going to give the Merrill a try; but as I love to shoot skies, banding is not something I can live with.With the tool "noise banding" in SPP, the banding continue there :( :( :(
i've been thinking about this camera. That banding is worrisome especially as I would use this for prints as a final product. What do people think of using this camera for a simple b&w camera for stitching say 2x and 4x stitches. Skies are oftentimes problematic in stitching landscapes in general because of lens vigneting etc. But specifically what about the DP2 its lens and stitching images with sky. Thanks
i've been thinking about this camera. That banding is worrisome especially as I would use this for prints as a final product. What do people think of using this camera for a simple b&w camera for stitching say 2x and 4x stitches. Skies are oftentimes problematic in stitching landscapes in general because of lens vigneting etc. But specifically what about the DP2 its lens and stitching images with sky. Thanks
Maybe I'm a blind old fool, or maybe I don't know what to look for, but I really don't see banding in these images on my MacBook Air screen. I do however see banding and other artifacts in skies all the time on 500PX and elsewhere when folks push too many sliders too far.
Look for horizontal straight dark lines going through the open sky areas. Helps if you expand the image larger.
Converted to B&W in 5.5.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8511/8522113353_7b18ce6d2a_o.jpg)
Cheers,
Bernard
... the whites especially don't look clean...
I like the shot, Bernard, but I don't think that the file has converted well to b/white. The problem (in my eyes) is that the image looks 'milky' and the whites especially don't look clean. It's something I noticed with my D200 quite often, but haven't with the D700, perhaps because I've made fewer with that camera. I believe that converted colour transparencies make for better black/whites than do digital files.
Rob C
Could you take a screen shot and use arrows to point it out to us, please? I do not see it either.
Hope this helps - and that Juan doesn't mind. From the top left corner of the Camino Yunquera image.
I guess I am glad I am old and my eyes maybe aging and I do thank you for trying to show where the banding is but I swear I still don't see it and I even put my fly tying glasses on to magnify the image.
I recently had some 16x20 prints made and went over them with a magnifying glass and do not see any banding either on these. Guess I will remain blissfully content about my DP2m images because what I can't see can't bother me. ;) I had some of my friends and family look at your example and my images and they don't see anything either and 2 of them are in their 20's ???
But I also have a Sigma DP2 Merrill.
Its a terrific camera and I wonder if it can be used with stitching in
those areas.
Whats the best thing do to to get it right
( panorama head, nodalpoint, software etc )?
Can it in any way replace a tech camera with rise/fall and shift?
How about in this picture? Banding in the beautiful blue sky?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnloves/8504075319/
Yes, I believe that it can. For landscape the very short battery life of the DP2m will be a problem though.
You could start sitching with a really right stuff spherical pano head to see whether it meet your needs. Typically a 2 row x 3 images pano with a 45/50mm lens will cover the same angle as a 24mm lens with enough freedom to correct for perspective (that will adress rise/fall well).
I guess that you mention shift for those cases when you want to avoid camra reflections in a window,...? Well, that is more challenging, you are going to have to position the camera so as to avoid reflections in the first place.
Cheers,
Bernard
Sigma Corporation is pleased to announce that firmware SIGMA DP1 Merrill and SIGMA DP2 Merrill is available for download.
Benefits of the firmware update
SIGMA DP1 Merrill firmware [Ver.1.03] ・Adds the Face Detection Mode ・It is possible to create B/W images in RAW or RAW+JPEG mode.
・It corrects the phenomenon that transferring an image using a USB cable fails occasionally.
・It is possible that non-SIGMA external flashguns can synchronize at a shutter speed of 1/125 second or slower.
・It corrects the phenomenon that JPEG images are not properly displayed in the Adobe RGB color space.
SIGMA DP2 Merrill firmware [Ver.1.04]
・Adds the Face Detection Mode ・It is possible to create B/W images in RAW or RAW+JPEG mode.
・It corrects the phenomenon that transferring an image using a USB cable fails occasionally.
・It is possible that non-SIGMA external flashguns can synchronize at a shutter speed of 1/125 second or slower.
・It corrects the phenomenon that JPEG images are not properly displayed in the Adobe RGB color space.
SIGMA DP1 Merrill firmware Ver.1.03 is available for download at the following site. http://www.sigma-dp.com/download/dp1m-firmware.html
SIGMA DP2 Merrill firmware Ver.1.04 is available for download at the following site. http://www.sigma-dp.com/download/dp2m-firmware.html
If it was only firmware and software problem, this would have been sorted Looooonnnggg ago.
Sedona Arizona on a breathtakingly beautiful Sunday.
ISO 100, f6.3, 1/800.
(http://i45.tinypic.com/2nbdevr.jpg)
Another shot.
Here is a link to a 9 image DP2M panorama of Cannes on the French Riviera.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/9806585/Cannes_Panorama_Printready.jpg (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/9806585/Cannes_Panorama_Printready.jpg)
The printed image is 24 x 100 inches at 300ppi
All images handheld, manual settings, stitched in PTGui. The level of detail in the printed original is quite incredible.
Quentin
Gorgeous pano image! Due to the limitation of the 46mm lens of the DP2M I find myself to shoot pano more with the camera to get wider view for landscape images.
I like to know if you used vertical frames or horizontal frames to stitch this pano image? And did you use Nodal plate to move the camera a little bit behind the center of the tripod? Thanks! Here is the latest pano of the fall scene I shot the day before, 3 horizontal frames with DP2M.
John
Sedona Arizona on a breathtakingly beautiful Sunday.
ISO 100, f6.3, 1/800.
(http://i45.tinypic.com/2nbdevr.jpg)
Lainer: I bought the RRS plate/grip for my 1 and 2...OUTSTANDING. I actually dropped my DP2 before getting the grip, so I really appreciate it. This camera is just that much better with a tripod, and my small, light tripod is the Promaster T525P carbon fiber with a Sunway ArcaSwiss style head.
Sigma hoods, no case, Domke small canvas bag holds the 1 and 2 at the same time. I use B&H almost exclusively for purchase.
...but I don't want to buy something that is overkill. It's all confusing to me.
Quick question about VF21 viewfinder - does it have dioptric adjustment - does it need it for folks who need specs for close vision? (not sure of the optical principles of direct vision viewfinders)
The VF1 does not have dioptic adjustment, but I can use it either with my reading glasses on or off. When I don't use my glasses the image in the finder is less focussed although the frame line seems unaffected. I tend to find using it without glasses easier despite less clarity, but this may be a personal preference.
I would by a L-plate from RRS - a small RRS ballhead - and a carbonfibre tripod from Velbon ( i bought one very cheap and it is just very well made and light )
The RRS is good but very expensive(6x) ...i do not think it will make the difference...
and do not forget a remote control to avoid camera shake..
I use the light Velbon as well as a 7 KG tripod with my nikon d800 but must say the Velbon never lets me down...
i love L-plates and the ballheads from RRS -i have the bh40 and the smallest ; the latter will be sufficient for this merrill and is very lightweight
I would by a L-plate from RRS - a small RRS ballhead - and a carbonfibre tripod from Velbon ( i bought one very cheap and it is just very well made and light )
The RRS is good but very expensive(6x) ...i do not think it will make the difference...
and do not forget a remote control to avoid camera shake..
I use the light Velbon as well as a 7 KG tripod with my nikon d800 but must say the Velbon never lets me down...
i love L-plates and the ballheads from RRS -i have the bh40 and the smallest ; the latter will be sufficient for this merrill and is very lightweight
That's the most interesting moire example I've seen so far (#82). A result of jpeg compression or...?
There is no moire ::) ... This is just optical illusion due to low scale picture...
So can anyone tell me the pixel dimensions of a full sized tiff? :-\
Don't rush, pour another if you fancy it. ;D
Yea, my eyes often bleed :P Shooting humans with the Merrill need some negative luminance setting to be accepted. This is a crop out of the DP2 Merrill :
There is no moire ::) ... This is just optical illusion due to low scale picture...
Maybe this is what Slobodan saw? I did a screen shot before it disappeared. It seemed to come out like that before the image fully loaded.
Yes, indeed! The bullseye effect on the roof cone. I saw it this morning on my iPad. I do not see it now on my iMac 24.
There is no moire ::) ... This is just optical illusion due to low scale picture...
What's next, Hulyss? Scanning electron microscope? (I'm smiling as I say this... ;D ;D ;D)
OK thanks -
Here is a rare (to me) example of a usable DP2M file in colour taken in artificial light in Central World Shopping Centre at ISO 2000 - F4.0 - 1/100th sec.
I cannot understand why this file is usable but pretty much all other high ISO photos I have taken were instant deletes. Maybe the fact that most of my photography is landscape and street shooting in natural light has a bearing on this but most posters seem to agree on 400 ISO being the max for colour.
I would be particularly interested in anyone's comments on black and white processing and the degree to which they use the new sigma 5.0 monochrome in their workflow in conjunction with Lightroom (rarely use PS) and if they find the new monochrome worth using. Also how high of an ISO setting is possible in B&W and what special techniques if any do they use: thanks if anyone has the time to spare.
The other image in that post does it too but to a much lesser degree and it disapperars quicker. I've never seen this happen before.
A question about b&w. I could experiment and find out but that is what forums are for. :)
Is there a difference in quality between shooting in mono and shooting colour>monochrome?
Thanks
G
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?
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
(http://rsadams.smugmug.com/Other/Fine-Art-Photos/i-HkGSt9R/0/XL/_SDI0340-Edit-XL.jpg)
Okay, the set's great, but you should have waited until the model arrived.
Rob C
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.
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
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.
Okay, the set's great, but you should have waited until the model arrived.
Rob C
Hello, im new to the fourm and just finished reading it, but i was wondering if anyone could advise on getting a dp2 vs dp3 ?
heres a link to my flickr photostream for an idea of the kind of shots i do. http://www.flickr.com/photos/barefoot_photog/
thanks in advance..
Uwe: Why can't the Spyder cube be photographed up close and out of focus? Or don't you bother with white balance targets due to shooting under rapidly changing lighting situations? I am curious, because I am taking a face-to-face Lightroom class, and we are covering calibration.Nancy,
I've got a problem and would be grateful for any help in dealing with it.
My DP2M froze yesterday while upgrading to firmware 1.04. The battery was fresh, the firmware was on an sd card, the card in the camera and I'd navigated to the install firmware position of the menu. The first section of the upgrade had been successful, but while the second one was being processed, the screen went dark, all controls were inoperative, the lighted green circle around the on/off switch was steady and it stayed that way until the battery was exhausted!
I do have another fully charged battery but didn't want to perpetuate the symptoms or possibly damage the camera by starting something up before the upgrade had actually finished. Sigma is closed for the weekend and the weather is nice and sunny....
(OTOH, I've got lots of unprocessed files and SPP 5.5.1 to learn!)
Thanks in advance for any help and all the best to each of you,
Irenaeus
The results of last week-end's field trip with Hulyss:
(http://www.mkuhlmann.net/B2.jpg)
(http://www.mkuhlmann.net/B1.jpg)
(http://www.mkuhlmann.net/B3.jpg)
Hope there is more to come dear Palpman...
@palpman: Very fine work! Did you use the monochrome tab in SPP? Or, some other final processing like Lightroom or NIK?
It is indeed fine work. But maybe once is enough for it to be posted.
I shall trouble you no more....I hope you don't mean that literally. Absolutely no problem with the comment - I entirely agreed. But if we are going to repost shots whenever we comment on them, the thread will tend to get overwhelmed, especially when there are four large shots.
Evening light two days ago in the "Baumberge" near Muenster/Westfalia after sunset.
Tasty ;)
We don't see a lot of food photography on LuLa. The DP2 would be well suited.
Michael what is the acceptable size ? I have been having the opposite problem posting too small and losing resolution.
That would be good thing, right?
I mean, I've never seen so much high-res crap as in this thread. High time to post images based on their photographic merit (other than resolution). After gazillion examples of high-res orgy, we got a pretty good idea what the camera can resolve. Now shows what you can do with it.
What sourpusses! The Newbie who asked about image size for posting didn't deserve the discouraging response he got. A major strength of this thread has been the number and variety of images posted. I think that is to be encouraged. Have you noticed the number of views on this thread? Obviously something good is going on. --Barbara
... Newbie who has very politely and reasonably asked a question about procedure for posting...
And I provided a specific answer to that, didn't I? The rest of my post was my general comment about the thread, not about the newbie. To which I am entitled as much as you are.
Another general comment: too many posters simply repost already ginormous previous posts by quoting it. Bad netiquette.
I like seeing them all together as examples of what is being done with this camera...
I started this thread in August last year with the intention that all things DP2M would be dealt with together (I included photos with that first message), and I hope that is the way it stays.
Beautiful colours in the Vienna, Russian-Orthodox Cathedral picture.
What ISO and aperture were used?
That's the most interesting moire example I've seen so far (#82). A result of jpeg compression or...?
Juan, those are wonderful.
Two more from Toledo (Spain).
Nice shots, particularly the coloured one. For me the B&W is rather spoiled by the sky, which is much too bright, so the eye is drawn to the blown out areas at the top.
I agree; the blown clouds don't do any favours.
Quite honestly, the entire shot displays the unconvincing tonality that digitally captured b/white generally seems to produce. I've struggled for years to find words to describe the phenomenon clearly and not met with a lot of luck. It's a kind of unreality that looks as if the different tones don't actually lie alongside one another naturally, but have been plastered into the photograph a tone at a time. As if the picture is made up as a composite of different tone levels in strips.
Not just this pic, I hasten to add, but many, with a lot of my own firmly in the same bag.
Rob C
I'm very happy with the camera and really enjoy it :)
Juan
any idea why DP2 images won't open in photo pro on Mac 10.6? program opens but double click will not open. any thoughts? thnx..timDo you mean JPEGs or the Raw files? The latter probably won't open because Sigma's own Photo Pro software is pretty much the only raw converter that works on them at this point. JPEGs should be fine.
I confess I've spent hours reading through this one particular thread and I'm truly fascinated by the potential of this flawed but powerful tool. Two questions - which may have already been answered:Hi Gavin,
1 - Can a polarizer be fitted to the camera?
2 - Is there any way multiple Merrills can be connected in series to all fire at the same time of ultra-synchronized panos?
I feel quite delighted to finally join the forum. I almost didn't pass the IQ test that is the signup form. After about the umpteenth attempt
I finally figured it out. Must be getting old. ???
I look forward to many a heated discussion.
Cheers
Gavin
I should add that the images open in 4.2 version of Photo Pro, but not 5.5 thnx..tim
I'm sure there is a thread somewhere with thoughts/recommendations on workflow, i.e. how to optimise use of SPP/LR/photoshop. Anyone remember where? (perhaps it's on Get Dpi)
Just one more. I so very nearly bought a Leica M8 for B&W but no need. This snap is a first attempt at B&W with the DP2M. I'm sure with a bit of practice this camera will be excellent.
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5580/15283550705_9f1aa57857_b.jpg) (http://goo.gl/dmupjn)
Morikami Garden (http://goo.gl/dmupjn)
f/5.0, handheld. Click for a full resolution JPG.
...Is there a way how I could obtain a more/less natural shots out of camera...
Hi ongaku,
I use the DP3M for portraits and as it renders colours more accurately I don't have to adjust them that much, except sometimes white balance - thus I don't have good advice for skin rendering using the DP2M. However, what I do for landscapes both with DP1M and DP2M is to set the orange hue between -40 to -55 depending on the pic, and set the saturation to +10ish (in Lr). I sometimes set the hue of the blue channel to +10 as well. I suggest you play around with these (and maybe along with the green channel for portraits) to obtain better results. Shouldn't take long to do. Let us know!
Nope, you'd need a different camera. Puke-ish yellow-green is a signature Foveon color.
SPP I found more bearable if run on SSD drive. But still it was painful.
Gentle reminder for everyone that IrfanView with additional plugins does support X3F and way faster than SPP.
is there a service center in the US that can repair these cameras?There is one in RONKONKOMA, NEW YORK. Here is the official Sigma USA repair request form: