Sigma DP2 Merrill Experiences

[Quentin]

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

[michael]

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.

[Hulyss]

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.

I'm actually building a little full res Jpeg pack out of the DP2m. I will post it here later. I won't apply any PP to it.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

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

[michael]

I shot some ISO 800 the other day. Not great, but not really terrible either, especially in B&W.

But this really is an ISO 100-200 camera.

Michael

[Fips]

Michael, that's also my impression. In b&w the decreased contrast together with the rather pleasant noise gives sort of an analog look. One just needs to add some fake vignetting to compensate for the too-good lens. 

[Quentin]

Which is kinda another qualifier that puts it squarely into medium format category

Or even film!  I remember, as I am sure many do, shooting Velvia at 50 ISO or Provia at 100.   We did it for the quality, not for the convenience.  

And yes, medium format digital is also not usually at its best at high ISO.  

It's a good idea to think of the DP2M in the same way.

I look forward to Michael's ruminations on the DP1M.

[Hulyss]

Here is a little Jpeg pack of random photos, for the guys who do not have the beast. No PP have been applied just TIFFS out of SPP and saved as JPG out of Paint dot Net:

www.hulyssbowman.com/DP2m/PACK1.rar

[Quentin]

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

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

[BarbaraArmstrong]

Ooh, la, la!! Wow!! You've definitely put me into a panorama mood.  Just gorgeous!  --Barbara

[EricWHiss]

Hulyss and Quentin,
Thanks for sharing the files.  The crispness of these images reminds me of files from multishot backs.

[shadowblade]

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!

[Fips]

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.

[neways]

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

[RobbieV]

Wow. Every time I check this thread to see new pictures I'm blown away. I have serious considerations to make now when thinking about my next camera purchase...

[Marco Pampaloni]

First of all i need to say Hello to everybody, since this is my first post...i've been reading this forum for years but never posted..i am just shy, you know..

I am really interested in these Sigma cameras, especially the DP2M, since i own and use a Leica M8, which is well known for bad High ISO performance, i'd like to know how the DP2M compares to the Leica, regarding High Iso quality..is it even worst ?

Ciao!

[EricWHiss]

How hand holdable is this camera?  Can anyone comment on what's the slowest shutter speed they are comfortable shooting at?

[shadowblade]

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...

[RobbieV]

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...

What about a crop body (1.5) with good high-ISO performance, great lenses, great sensor, in-camera IS, weatherproofing and a sub $2,000 price? I think the new Pentax offering has great potential, but we'll have to wait and see. Fingers crossed that LuLa gives a review.

There's still something really attractive about working with a specialized system like the Sigma. If only the batteries and the software could be sorted...

[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

Thanks John, Barbara, all.  It was always my intention to use the DP2M for stitching, not necessarily panoramas, but, say, three images to get a wider view and higher resolution (not that the stadard DP2M images lacks resolution, of course).  So what you are doing, John, is spot on.  And usually I shoot in portrait mode for stitching.  The Cannes panorama was handheld (carefully hand-held but I was not planning a panorama so I had to make do).